Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Failing Durham Tees Valley airport new “Master Plan”; sound strategy – or a last throw of dice?
Durham Tees Valley airport, owned by Peel Holdings, has been doing very badly in recent years. It has twice failed to secure government funding for its expansion, but has now bought land it says could be used for "engineering, storage and distribution operations". Since February it has been involved in taking apart and recycling old planes. The airport's management say they will shortly be putting out a Master Plan, which is an aspiration of how they would like the airport to develop. Peel Holdings said the proposals would safeguard the airport's flights to Schiphol and Aberdeen. A local MP said "This must not become an excuse to transition it being an industrial estate that happens to have a runway." An airport manager commented that few airports can survive from passenger traffic revenue only. Commentators say the Master Plan could be seen as either the last throw of the dice, or a viable and coherent strategy. Though it suggests the airport plans to develop the commercial potential to retain passenger services, the unstated implication is that the battle is lost. Changes in the market and the end of the low-cost air travel boom mean there is no need for another passenger airport between Leeds Bradford and Newcastle.
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Threat of a new Gatwick runway: bad for your health – and for your wealth
New research from Imperial College and King's College, published last week, has found that deaths from stroke, heart and circulatory disease are significantly higher in areas with high levels of aircraft noise than in places with the least noise. The research compared data on day- and night-time aircraft noise with hospital admissions and mortality rates of 3.6 million people living near Heathrow. Though there are fewer people living under the flight-paths at Gatwick, the number at risk may be just as great because the lower background noise makes the noise impact worse. The Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC) says Councils and MPs have a duty of care for the health of the residents that they represent; that means not exposing them to more noise. Could local hospitals cope with these additional pressures of a new runway? The damage that poor sleep does to performance at work would also not help local businesses. The prospect of a new runway would mean house prices depressed in an area that could include over 10,000 home owners. Blight due to runway plans can cause anxiety about not being able to sell one’s house, and can lead people into acute depression.
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Richmond may have the highest life expectancy in the country (and high affluence) but health still damaged by aircraft noise
Research came out a few days ago, both from Imperial College and from researchers in the USA, to say that living with aircraft noise appears to cause an increase of up to 20% in stroke, heart and circulatory disease. In a blog, John Stewart looks at the retort from backers of expansion at Heathrow that one borough that is partly overflown - Richmond - has recently come out top in figures for the longest "healthy life expectancy" (HLE) for the country. "Back Heathrow" may try to imply this fact questions the medical data on exposure to noise. In reality, as has been know for many years, Richmond is one of the most affluent boroughs in London; it has 13 of the richest wards in London; its population in 2001 was 91% White, 9% BME; it has very low deprivation; high employment and high educational standards. ie. it is a very affluent borough, with consequent high levels of health. As John's blog indicates, that does not in any way discredit the high quality research done by Imperial College. Only part of the borough is directly under the approach flight paths from the east, and the impact of aircraft noise may be well masked by the overall very high health - and privilege - of the borough's population
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New rail franchise includes requirement for more night trains to serve Luton Airport
Britain’s biggest ever rail franchise will include a requirement for more trains to serve Luton Airport Parkway station. There have been complaints for years that Luton airport does not have a good enough rail service, to too many passengers arrive by road. Documents supporting the new rail franchise, issued on September 26, stipulate there must be a minimum of two trains per hour arriving at Luton Airport Parkway between 3am and 6.59am from Blackfriars on Monday to Saturday morning, with a maximum interval of 40 minutes between consecutive arrivals. The Department of Transport says the new combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) Franchise will be the largest UK rail franchise ever let. It is anticipated the successful bids will be announced in May 2014. The Thameslink and Great Northern elements of the TSGN franchise will start in September 2014 with the Southern element being phased in by July 2015. The franchise will run for seven years.
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Stop Stansted Expansion calls time on Airports Commission and DfT with High Court challenge on 14th October
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has called time on the Airports Commission and the Secretary of State for Transport and on 14th October will file a Judicial Review application to ensure fairness in determining the way forward on the issue of aviation capacity. Specifically, SSE will be asking the High Court to order the Commission to re-determine the 'sift criteria' (in effect the selection criteria) for assessing airport expansion options and to delay the publication of any shortlist of options until the sift criteria have been re-determined. SSE's legal challenge is on the grounds of apparent bias and concerns the role played by Mr Geoff Muirhead, one of five commissioners appointed to the Airports Commission last year. Mr Muirhead resigned from the Airports Commission three weeks ago, after an initial intervention by SSE's lawyers. Details will be available from 12 noon on 14th October. Brian Ross, from SSE, said: "With proposals on the table from MAG to make Stansted the world's busiest airport with four runways handling up to 160 million passengers a year, there is far too much at stake to allow the issue of apparent bias to go unchallenged."
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New aviation minister Robert Goodwill opposed 3rd runway at Heathrow in 2010
The new aviation minister, Robert Goodwill, was previously a vehement opponent of building a 3rd runway at Heathrow Airport. He was so hostile to its expansion that he staged a ceremony in 2010 at his farm in Yorkshire, twinning it with Sipson, to show his solidarity with people living near Heathrow whose homes could be bulldozed. He marked the occasion by planting an apple tree and said: “I am delighted the Conservative party and Greenpeace are working together in opposing the third runway at Heathrow.” Now Mr Goodwill, a former Tory whip, has been promoted by David Cameron in this week’s ministerial reshuffle to take charge of air policy. One of his main tasks is to oversee the debate on what to do about south east runway capacity. His attitude to the issue may dismay supporters of Heathrow’s expansion.
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London First getting businesses to fund campaign “Let Britain Fly” to press for airport expansion
London businesses are to fund a major campaign for airport expansion after Sir Howard Davies said the Airports Commission provisionally is backing new runways in the South-East. Business group London First will put pressure on the main political parties to heed the Commissions's recommendations when published after the 2015 election. The “Let Britain Fly” campaign will cost £250,000 and London First is seeking £25,000 each from businesses, trade unions and London boroughs. The cash will be used to fund academic studies and advertising. The lobby group insists it will not campaign in favour of one particular airport. It believes extra flights can be put on at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick in the next five years regardless of the outcome of a decision on runways. The City of London Corporation is set to contribute to the campaign, with Canary Wharf Group, Sir Robert McAlpine, the Berkeley Group, John Lewis and Segro also committed. “London First” is an aggressively pro-growth lobby organisation, whose stated mission is to “make London the best city in the world in which to do business.”
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Glasgow Prestwick Airport may be given to the Scottish Government for nothing
The owners of Glasgow Prestwick, New Zealand company Infratil, have suggested they may give away the airport for nothing. The Scottish government has announced it is negotiating to buy the unprofitable airport, and hopes to conclude detailed negotiations with the company by 20 November. Scottish government said it was the "only realistic alternative to closure". In a statement on its website, the company said it did not expect any transaction "to give rise to material proceeds". Prestwick was put up for sale last March after heavy annual losses. Several investors expressed interest but no offers were made. Infratil has also been trying to sell its other unprofitable UK airport, Manston. In May 2013, Infratil announced that it had written down the value of both airports to £11m. Infratil has agreed to ensure the airport is kept fully open and operational during the negotiation process. In 2012 Prestwick had around 1 million passengers, compared to 2.4 million at its peak in 2005.
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Residents near Belfast City Airport alarmed at research linking strokes and heart disease to aircraft noise
Residents affected by aircraft noise in Belfast and north Down, in Northern Ireland, have expressed concern at the findings of a new study - published in the BMJ. The study found the risk of being admitted to hospital because of a stroke or heart disease was linked to the level of aircraft noise to which an individual was exposed; the higher the level of noise, the more likely it was that they would be admitted to hospital with one of those conditions. Likewise with the risk of dying from heart disease. Dr Liz Fawcett, Chair of the Belfast City Airport Watch Steering Group, said the findings raise serious questions about the damage which aircraft noise may be inflicting on the health of people living under the flight paths. In Belfast the City Airport’s own figures show that more than 8,500 local people are impacted by aircraft noise at a level which the UK government considers likely to cause significant annoyance. These people may also be suffering effects on their health, which is unfair on them. Liz said: "It’s also unfair on the taxpayer footing the bill for hospital admissions which, in some cases, may be avoidable.”
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Stop Stansted Expansion says of the Airports Commission: A tainted process – a dubious conclusion
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) is disappointed that the Airports Commission has formed the preliminary view that extra runway capacity is needed in the south east of England. In his speech on 7th October 2013, the chairman of the Airports Commission, Sir Howard Davies said that his Commission had not been persuaded by the arguments against expansion. In SSE’s view, the arguments for more runway capacity in the south east are dangerously weak and they will be taking up Sir Howard’s invitation to comment on his preliminary conclusions. SSE believes the UK, as a whole, already has more than enough runway capacity to meet the DfT forecasts to 2050, and well beyond. Regarding the recent resignation of Geoff Muirhead from the Commission, due to ties with MAG, SSE said they are mounting a legal challenge on bias - due to Mr Muirhead's influence - in formulating the "sift criteria" and there will be more information on that next week.