Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
New study links aircraft noise from Heathrow to increased risk of heart disease and strokes
A new study by researchers at Imperial College and King's College in London - and published in the BMJ - has found that deaths from stroke, heart and circulatory disease are 20% higher in areas with high levels of aircraft noise than in places with the least noise. The research compared on day- and night-time aircraft noise with hospital admissions and mortality rates among a population of 3.6 million people living near Heathrow airport. Their study covered 12 London boroughs and 9 districts outside London where aircraft noise exceeds 50 decibels - about the volume of a normal conversation in a quiet room. The researchers made every effort to eliminate other factors that might have a relationship with stroke and heart disease, such as deprivation, South Asian ethnicity and smoking-related illness. This new study confirms the findings of the 2008 "HYENA" study, also by Imperial College, which looked at people living near Heathrow and 5 other European airports. The research is clear that living with a lot of aircraft noise damages health, though this needs further work. The study indicates that planners need to take the health impacts of aircraft noise into account when expanding airports in heavily populated areas or planning new airports.
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EasyJet to fly Newquay to Southend 4 times per week in summer, after it ends Gatwick to Newquay route
EasyJet is to increase its weekly flights between Southend to Newquay from 3 to 4 over the summer period only. This comes after EasyJet recently announced it would not continue its flights from Gatwick to Newquay. Almost 8,000 passengers flew from Southend to Newquay this summer by EasyJet. EasyJet - which took over the Gatwick route from Flybe - said there is not enough demand to run a year-round service between Newquay and Southend, and these route from Gatwick was not financially viable for them. A Cornwall MP said the loss of the link to Gatwick would be a "blow to businesses across Cornwall". EasyJet said : "Following Flybe's decision to cease operating from London Gatwick to Newquay, Easyjet carefully and thoroughly examined the commercial viability of offering year-round services on the route. Unfortunately, after much consideration, all of the evidence clearly shows that there is insufficient demand to sustain a service using an A319 aircraft with 156 seats."
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Gatwick campaign questions Sir Howard’s claim that a new runway is needed
At a meeting on 7th October, Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Airports Commission, gave a speech concluding that ‘we will need some additional runway capacity in the south east of England in the coming decades.’ The Chairman of GACC (the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, Brendon Sewill said: "That was not surprising – if he had said that no new runway was needed he would have done himself out of a job! What was significant was that he felt the need to answer the growing volume of opinion against any new runway. But his statement is bound to add to the worry of people around Gatwick, [and other possible new runway sites] and to the misery caused by blight." In his speech, Sir Howard ignored the impact that a new runway would have on the local infrastructure – the need for more houses (in the case of Gatwick around 40,000), great pressure on local schools, on the health service and social services, and overcrowding/congestion on roads. GACC does not find convincing the case Sir Howard made for rejecting strong arguments against a new runway, and will be taking up his invitation to submit comments by the end of October.
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Sir Howard Davies speech gives provisional support for a new south east runway – but shows how borderline the decision would be
In a speech in central London Sir Howard Davies set out what he described as the Airports Commission's "emerging thinking" after their first 11 months of work. He said it " it would be helpful at this stage to set out some of our early thinking on the issue of overall capacity." He said: "Our provisional view.... is that additional capacity will need to be provided, alongside an overall framework for managing emissions growth, if we are to deliver the best outcomes in both environmental and connectivity terms." Also that: "...our provisional conclusion from this analysis ...is that we will need some net additional runway capacity in the south east of England in the coming decades." He first went through 4 sets of arguments against a new runway (less future demand for air travel than anticipated; future demand can be met by existing capacity; carbon emissions from growing aviation could breach UK climate commitments; regional airports could take the extra demand). He then gave explanations for each why he believed the optimal solution would be more runway capacity. He said, on the guidance from the CCC on aviation CO2 emissions needing to be restricted that: "We are in the process of updating the Committee on Climate Change’s analysis and will present our findings in our Interim Report". Comments on the speech are welcomed by the Commission until 31st October.
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Reigate & Banstead Council urges Airports Commission not to rule out 2nd runway at Gatwick for more detailed consideration
The Leader of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council has written to the Airports Commission, to ask the Gatwick runway scheme to be on the shortlist. Cllr Joan Spiers said in her letter to Sir Howard Davies that the airport is locally important for the local economy and local jobs. But she stopped short of declaring her outright support for a 2nd runway. Council chief executive John Jory said: "This council has not got a formal view yet on a 2nd runway and in no way are we trying to say to the Davies Commission we are giving this the green light and being supportive." The letter to the Commission mentions "concern about adverse and consequential impacts such as noise, air pollution, additional traffic and pressure to provide more housing" from a 2nd runway and says: "... we believe that Gatwick's proposals should be included in the Commission's shortlisted options. This will ensure the fullest possible consideration of the benefits and impacts of a second runway and will allow the Borough Council, on behalf of our local communities, to reach an informed conclusion about the proposals based on robust and comprehensive evidence."
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British Airways considers transferring its hub to Madrid, as CAA lets Heathrow raise charges at rate of inflation
British Airways has warned that it will consider a future outside Heathrow after the CAA revised its proposals to cut landing charges – despite agreeing that the airport was badly managed and staff overpaid. Airlines are annoyed as the CAA ruled that charges will rise at the rate of inflation over the next 5 years instead of the RPI minus 1.3% rate it had proposed in the spring – and well above the real terms cut demanded by airlines. Heathrow has argued for higher charges, so it can give increasing returns to shareholders to ensure foreign investment continues. The airport claims if it cannot raise its charges, it will not be able to invest to make the airport better for its passengers. British Airways accounts for just over half Heathrow's traffic and now threatens making its hub at Madrid as that would be cheaper and more "realistic". The CAA said that its decision to freeze rather than cut landing charges at Heathrow reflected the increasing cost of raising capital for investment. It has allowed Gatwick to increase landing charges by RPI plus 0.5% annually for 7 years and deferred its ruling on Stansted.
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CAA proposes Heathrow charges rise in line with inflation over next 5 years
The airport regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, has proposed that Heathrow should cap its landing charges so that they rise in line with inflation for the 5 years 2014 - 2019. Heathrow is complaining about this, as it wants a much larger increase in its charges and says this price cap would have "serious and far-reaching consequences" for passengers. Heathrow had submitted its request to the CAA for charges to be allowed to rise by 4.6% above the Retail Price Index (RPI), which is a measure of UK inflation. The CAA had initially proposed that the annual increase at Heathrow should be RPI minus 1.3% but said a key reason for its proposal to allow rises in line with inflation was "due to an increase in the cost of capital driven by higher debt costs". If the proposals are accepted it will put an end to over a decade of prices rising faster than inflation at Heathrow. Airlines like BA at Heathrow had asked for a 9.8% a year cut in landing charges over the 5 years. The CAA propose allowing charges at Gatwick to rise by 0.5% above RPI for 5 years, and has deferred a decision on charges at Stansted.
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GMB union slammed for ‘scaremongering and lies’ emails to members, scaring them into signing up to “Back Heathrow”
The GMB Union has been criticised for ‘scaremongering’ its members by making alarmist and false claims on the likelihood of closure of Heathrow. The GMB has emailed members insisting they sign up to the flailing "Back Heathrow Campaign", which is funded by the airport, to try and drum up local support for a third runway. The GMB tell their members, in their email, that: ”Without a third runway, Heathrow will close. No more jobs, prosperity and opportunity.” [Full text below]. The letter says: "A number of very scary proposals are being tabled that could see the end of Heathrow as we know it." and " House prices would plummet as people moved away. Worryingly, such a nightmare scenario could soon be on the cards." In reality, Heathrow would not close, whatever the Airports Commission decides, and its closure is not a serious proposition. Aviation campaigner Alan Haughton said: "What the GMB Union have told members is reckless, unhelpful and could be seen as strong-arm bullying tactics to force them to sign up to the Back Heathrow Campaign."
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Centre for private jets at Southend wants to grow from 4 to 20 business jets per day
Southend Airport is hoping to increase the numbers of private jets it handles, and increase the number from some 3 - 4 per day at present, to more like 20 per day. Biggin Hill is its main local rival for business jets. In 2012, Biggin Hill dealt with 5,335 during the year, while Southend had 1,163. Stobart Air’s executive handling facility at London Southend Airport celebrated its first anniversary this July. In comparison, in 2012 London City airport had 264 business flights (the rest are commercial), Luton had 15,055 and Farnborough had 21,986 - so way ahead of the others. Southend claims that although it is further outside London than Biggin Hill, passengers arriving at Southend can travel into the City in little more than hour, are that they are more reasonably priced than some of their competitors. The airport says one major advantage of their executive handling facility is that it is open 24 hours a day with onsite Customs and Immigration services also available permanently. ie. night flight noise for Southend and Rochford residents nearby.
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Third runway at Heathrow would mean local surface transport chaos
One of the most pressing, but least considered problems when proposals are made to expand Heathrow is that of surface transport to and from the airport. The Campaign for Better Transport, in a recent report, says Heathrow sits in the most congested quadrant of London. The roads around Heathrow are already full and journey times are getting longer. So much so that the Department for Transport has said that it’s likely to need to take action to relieve congestion due to traffic growth regardless of what happens at the airport. The Piccadilly Line, which provides most of the public transport capacity to Heathrow, is already one of the most crowded on the underground. Even if you include Crossrail, it is clear that public transport will not have the capacity to accommodate the extra demand that Heathrow envisages from a 3rd runway - 40% more passengers by 2030 and nearly double that by 2040 - and additional pressure will therefore be placed on the roads. An additional Heathrow runway would cause widespread transport chaos.