Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Standard reports that Shadow Transport Secretary, Maria Eagle, is “warming towards” a Gatwick runway
The Labour Party shifted last year from its post-election position of being against a 3rd runway at Heathrow to being “sceptical” about it. Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle has publicly ruled out a new Heathrow runway, and also a Thames estuary airport. However, the Evening Standard reports that Ms Eagle is now understood (how is not explained) to see a new Gatwick runway as a stronger contender than a new runway at Stansted, if the Airports Commission concludes that the South-East needs extra aviation capacity. Gatwick is opening new routes, including to the Far East, as it seeks to become a rival to Heathrow while Stansted still has spare capacity. While at the end of last year Labour was pressing for the Commission to report earlier than 2015, it now says it will await the conclusions before drawing up its new policy. Supporting expansion at Gatwick, or Stansted, has not been agreed by the shadow cabinet.
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Adobe earth houses in school playground give pupils refuge from Heathrow noise
Pupils at the Hounslow Heath Infant school ( children aged 3 - 7) just under a Heathrow flight path, have very loud and intrusive aircraft noise from the planes flying some 180 metres approx overhead. The problem is so bad that BAA (as it was) paid for the construction of some adobe structures in the playground, so the children can spend at least part of their time outdoors in places where they can hear each other speak. At some times of day, there is aircraft noise for 25 seconds out of every 90 seconds. Classes of up to 30 children can be seated inside the main dome, and inside the noise is reduced by some 17 decibels. Outdoor learning is valued by teachers and is also a statutory part of the national curriculum. The headteacher said the adobe structures are important as refuges because "When kids are playing they are also developing their language skills, and in the playground again they're being interrupted." Schools should not be located under flight paths where planes are low.
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Stop Stansted Expansion says majority of night flights are unnecessary and should be phased out
SSE has called for night flights to be progressively phased out at Stansted in order to reduce sleep disturbance for local communities. This is part of SSE's submission to the Government's current consultation on night flights at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Because of its quiet, rural location, aircraft noise - especially at night - is more intrusive than in noisier, urban areas with higher background noise levels. The adverse economic impacts of night noise have been consistently underestimated. An independent study by consultants CE Delft last year showed that the cost to business of a ban on night flights at Heathrow would be outweighed by savings made through the reduced costs of sleep disturbance and stress caused by night flight noise. SSE believes this would also be the case at Stansted where the vast majority of night flights are not business related and do not need to operate during the night. Stansted is currently allowed 12,000 flights a year between 11.30pm and 6.00am - on average, 33 per night. This is more than twice as many as allowed at Heathrow even though Heathrow. The actual number of night flights at Stansted last year was just over 8,000. SSE wants the new cap to be well below this figure.
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Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted face regulatory shake-up by CAA and pricing changes
The CAA has the responsibility of setting the maximum level of airport charges, every 5 years, for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted -the 3 "designated" airports. On 30th April the CAA is expected to announce its initial plans. It will make a final decision in January 2014. The landing charges generally rise a bit faster than the rate of inflation and the RPI (retail price index) and charges are passed on to passengers, increasing air fares. Since the last 5 yearly review, the three airports now each has a different owner, whereas before all three were BAA owned. The CAA is not expected to allow Heathrow to increase its landing charges of 5.9% a year above inflation - which it has requested - and which have enraged the airlines. Gatwick airport has been campaigning to be permitted to strike commercial deals with major customers such as easyJet, which it says would reduce its fares. Gatwick already has different landing charges in summer and winter. The CAA’s announcement is expected to trigger intense lobbying by airports and airlines over the regime for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
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In its submission to the Airports Commission SSE rebuffs claims that the UK faces an airport capacity crisis
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has rebuffed claims that the UK is facing an airport capacity crisis which is damaging the UK economy. Contrary to aviation industry pleading for more runways, SSE says there simply isn't the demand for more business flights or more routes to emerging markets. The SSE comments appear in their submission to the Airports Commission discussion paper on 'Aviation Connectivity and the Economy'. SSE makes it clear that it is the corporate interests of the UK aviation lobby rather than concern for UK Plc that is driving calls for additional runways, highlighting specific examples to back this up. Heathrow, for example, flew more people to Miami last year than to the whole of mainland China, and more people to Nice than to either Beijing or Shanghai. SSE also reminds those caught up in the whirl of aviation industry spin that London continues to be independently ranked as the best city in Europe for doing business and as the city with the best transport links with other cities and internationally. Their submission is well worth reading.
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Heathrow award for top airport for shopping for 3rd year. Net Retail Income per passenger £6.21 in 2012 (£5.64 in 2010)
For the third year, Heathrow got the award (within the airports industry) for the top airport for shopping. Heathrow has over 52,000 square metres of retail space and more than 340 retail and catering outlets. Heathrow overtook Dubai International to win the title of “World’s Best Airport for Shopping” for 2012. Heathrow has the highest retail sales of any airport in the world ahead of Incheon airport in South Korea. Figures from the Moodie Report in February 2013 said that Net Retail Income per passenger at Heathrow was £6.21 (up 4.4% on 2011, partly due to the Olympics) in 2012 and £5.95 in 2011, while it was £5.64 in 2010. (By comparison the Net Retail Income at Stansted in 2012 was £4.27 per passenger). At Heathrow in 2012 the gross retail income increased +5.7% to £460.1 million
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Fear that ‘Heathrow noise reduces pupil learning by third’ – as Hounslow opens its Heathrow consultation
The head teacher of an infant and nursery school directly under a Heathrow flight path, close to the airport in Hounslow, has been speaking of the impact of the planes on the learning of children at her school. Kathryn Harper-Quinn, who runs Hounslow Heath Infant & Nursery School said a recent study had highlighted the dramatic impact planes thundering 600-feet overhead have on children's learning. Asked to recall factual details from an outdoor lesson, she said, a class of 7-year-olds could remember about a third less than those hearing the same lesson in a specially built noise-insulated hut. When the study was repeated with a fictional story, there was no noticeable difference in performance - a result Ms Harper-Quinn put down to pupils being able to fill in the gaps more easily. Speaking at the official launch of Hounslow Council's consultation on Heathrow, she claimed a 3rd runway would blight thousands more children's education. The consultation questionnaire contain 11 questions, and the deadline for responses is May 16th.
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Lydd airport expansion: planning advice is ignored over building near nuclear sites
Writing in the Observer, Jamie Doward points out that Ministers have chosen to ignore warnings that residential and commercial property should not be built too close to the UK's nuclear power plants. Documents released under FoI show that the government rejected advice from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), regarding the lessons to be learned following the Fukushima disaster. The ONR recommended restricting development near nuclear plants, advice that was overridden last week when the government approved the expansion of Lydd. A legal challenge is already underway against this decision. Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) did not wait for the decision by Ministers, as they had anticipated the worst and worked on a case last year. The European Commission accepted the case and has already started infringement proceedings under the pilot mechanism. Environmental NGOs have condemned the government decision to expand Lydd saying any benefits from the airport would be far outweighed by the environmental damage to the area, and expansion would irreversibly damage specially protected areas nearby.
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Farnborough Airport: Airport safety zones come under fire
A forum group for Farnborough Airport - the Farnborough Airport Consultative Committee (FACC) - has expressed concerns over how new public safety zones (PSZs) at the airport were decided. New PSZs were proposed by the CAA and are expected to come into force soon. The changes mean the PSZs will decrease in size and include 50 fewer homes. but the FACC has suggested there was a lack of information given about how the new PSZs were calculated. For reasons of commercial confidentiality the changes in modelling assumptions cannot be made public – and are therefore unavailable for expert scrutiny. Critics, including Geoff Marks who has worked on the issue for many years, say the PSZs, are ‘oversimplified’ and suggesting they should be wider. Other criticism included arguments that ‘narrow triangles’ are the wrong shape for PSZs, as an aircraft in distress might not follow this line if coming down to crash.
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Cabinet minister (Defence Secretary) Philip Hammond calls for 2nd Gatwick runway
Philip Hammond (the Defence Secretary) has become the first Cabinet minister to call publicly for expansion at Gatwick - writing in the Surrey Herald. He is opposed to expansion at Heathrow, opposes a Thames Estuary hub, and also opposes the idea of a large hub airport at Stansted, as it would do economic damage to the Heathrow area. Last year he was enthusiastic about the Heathwick idea - a joint hub with Heathrow and Gatwick linked by high speed rail (an idea rejected by both airports). Now he has publicly said he wants a 2nd runway at Gatwick, followed later by a 2nd runway at Stansted. Mr Hammond is MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, an area affected by planes from Heathrow. Mr Hammond's comment has been criticised by Brendon Sewill, chairman of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), who said: “I doubt if he has walked around the area — if so he would see there is no room for a 2nd runway.” Mr Sewill said expanding Gatwick would be another example of the “short-term solutions” that had blighted British aviation policy for 60 years.