Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
London Assembly says Heathrow night flights ‘disturb sleep and should stop’
London Assembly Health & Environment Committee has submitted its response to the government consultation on night flights. The Committee, chaired by Murad Qureshi, says they would wish to see night flights stopped altogether, or reduced to an absolute minimum. At the margins "quieter" aircraft cut the disturbance for residents at the edges of the noise footprint so their introduction is of benefit. But modern ‘quieter’ aircraft are still loud enough to wake people & do so regularly after 4.30am, so their number should be reduced. The Committee says Heathrow should adopt a 59 dB Lden threshold for determining areas eligible for insulation, not the current 69 dB Leq or proposed 63 dB Lden. If night flights do continue, an easterly preference at night would help achieve more of a 50/50 split between directions, as at present more come into land from the east over London. Some night flights are because planes are delayed etc so the Committee suggests a reduction in Heathrow daytime number of ATMs would help, so flights do not have to be accommodated at night. They want Heathrow to work towards WHO guidelines; the objective should be to reduce the area within Heathrow’s 40dB night noise contour.
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Blog by John Stewart: Can a Four Runway Heathrow Really be Quieter?
In an interesting and detailed blog, John Stewart (Chair of HACAN) sets out what the effect will be of having a 4 runway Heathrow, as proposed by the Policy Exchange last year. Their plan is for 4 runways parallel, some 3.9 kilometres further west than the current runways, all of which could work at once. And they claim this will cause less aircraft noise for Londoners. John assesses this claim, and finds that the plan envisages up to 960,000 planes per year (cf. 480,000 now) and there would be no rest periods for Londoners during the day. Though the plan is for there to be no night flights, and for smaller planes to come in to land over London at higher altitudes due to a steeper glideslope, there is not likely to be an improvement in the noise experienced. Though smaller planes may be able to come in at a 5 degree glideslope, the noisier planes will have to continue on a 3 degree approach. What thousands of Londoners want is runway alternation and respite periods. They will not get these from the Policy Exchange proposal.
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Lydd Airport expansion plans given government approval
Plans to expand Lydd airport have been approved by the government following a pubic inquiry. This tiny airport, on Dungeness and close to a nuclear power station, has ambitions to handle half a million passengers per year, and wants an extended runway and a new airport terminal. Shepway District Council gave permission for the expansion in 2010 but the application was called for a public inquiry. Now both Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government (Pickles) and for Transport (McLoughlin) have approved the development - subject to environmental, noise and traffic conditions. The safety issue of an airport so close to a nuclear facility have not been examined fully or properly at the inquiry. The main opposition group, the Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) has fought tenaciously on the nuclear issue for years, and the European Commission has already started infringement proceedings under the pilot mechanism relating to the Nuclear Safety Directive. The government is also liable to legal challenge due to infringements of the EU Habitats Directive.
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Dialogue Commission on Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport reports: project delayed but confirmed
The dialogue commission looking into the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project at Nantes has produced its report. There were also two reports on the impact on water and wetland and impact on local agriculture. The commission has said that substantial adjustments are needed to the original draft of new airport designed to replace the existing Nantes Atlantique airport. This means there is an indefinite postponement. It had been planned to open in 2017. The dialogue commission has had to decide on the usefulness of the project , and also on changes and improvements needed to the project, to which is strongly opposed locally - and also by many across France. There now needs to be a new assessment of redevelopment costs of the existing Nantes Atlantique airport, and whether it could be adapted to take larger planes. Also the impact of a new airport on other airports nearby. The commission has questionned the way in which wetland would be dealt with, and the impact of loss of farms and farmland. Opponents now believe their concerns and opposition has been vindicated, but they will continue to occupy the land and fight the plans.
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Isles of Scilly transport group wants government to pay £1.5 million for hard runway at Land’s End
A transport group on the Isles of Scilly is calling on the government to help pay for a hard runway at Land's End Airport. The airport has just opened a new £1m passenger terminal at the airport. The Friends of the Isles of Scilly Transport say islanders suffered badly when Land's End was waterlogged for 2 months and they need a hard runway which would cost about £1.5 million. They also say it would be "an awful lot of expenditure for the company to take on" and so want government money. The DfT said it could not yet comment "as no request for help in funding has been received." Earlier in the year, plastic mats were put down to strengthen the grass runway and flights were diverted to Newquay.
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Catalogue of delays and problems for the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (Willy-Brandt)
Brandenburg (Willy Brandt) airport has become a symbol of how, even for the remarkably technologically successful Germans, things can go horribly wrong. There is currently no opening date set. It has a range of problems, many caused by such complicated and advanced computer systems and technologies, that engineers cannot work out how to fix them. Thousands of light bulbs illuminate the gigantic main terminal and the car park 24 hours per day, which is a massive cost and waste of energy; officials cannot work out how to turn them off as the computer system that's so sophisticated it's almost impossible to operate. Every day, an empty commuter train rolls to the unfinished airport over an 8 km stretch to keep the newly-laid tracks from getting rusty - more waste. Several escalators need to be rebuilt because they were too short; and dozen of tiles were already broken before a single airport passenger ever stepped on them. Then there are the fire system problems - with some technology that is so advanced that technicians can't work out what's wrong with it.
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Short haul flights clogging Heathrow runways with some 25% to short haul destinations
A new study HACAN of flights using Heathrow has revealed that out of the top 10 destinations, by number of flights, only one, New York, is long haul. The rest are European or British destinations. Based on number of daily flights, New York, with 61 flights a day, tops the table. It is followed by Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and Edinburgh. Overall around 20 - 25% of flights from Heathrow are to short haul destinations. That is around 100,000 flights (out of a total now of nearly 480,000 annual flights). Although the mix is slightly different in 2013 from earlier research in 2006, the proportion is about the same. Of the European flights, some 45% are over distances of less than 500km, which could be made by rail. Many of these journeys have the potential to transfer to high-speed rail. Due to the rise of Eurostar, flights from Heathrow to Paris have fallen from 60 per day in 2006 to 35 now. And Brussels flights have decreased from 30 to 19 in that time. It makes much more sense to use Heathrow for long haul flights, especially to the new "growth" economies.
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Critical week for the “Ayraultport” at Nantes – with report by dialogue commission
The dialogue commission looking into the proposed new Nantes airport is due to give its report on Tuesday 9th April, to Jean-Marc Ayrault - the Prime Minister and ex-Mayor of Nantes. There have been about a hundred evidence sessions to the commission over the past 4 months. The commission's chairman remains of the opinion that an airport is needed in due course, though there are some doubts about some or the arguments in favour of it. Opponents know of the apparent bias, but hope that at the least, the recommendations will be for more studies, for example on future air traffic. Two other reports are expected in the next few days. One is on the validity of the method of compensation for environmental damage proposed by the developer of the airport, Vinci. The other is to analyse its agricultural impact. On 15th April the French government will meet the EU about breaches of EU directives on water and environmental assessment.
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Concern in boroughs near Heathrow about aircraft noise threat from new runways
The flight paths, and areas to be affected by aircraft noise if Heathrow was allowed to build a 3rd and even a 4th runway were revealed earlier this week by the 2M group. People in Richmond are very concerned about the even greater noise intrusion into their lives that would be caused. A Richmond Cabinet member said Heathrow expansion would make cause blight to spread to parts of the borough that are currently less affected whilst increasing the disruption for those who already suffer the burden of continual aircraft noise. Residents in Surbiton are also very concerned that their area may suffer from a large degree of noise. One resident said it would probably force her to move out of the area, and "It is greed, it is capitalism. I care greatly about the environment and we are already wrecking what we have got.” Another said the plane noise puts him off living in the area. Richmond are holding a referendum in May, as are Hillingdon and Hounslow councils, to show the Airports Commission and the industry that Heathrow is not an acceptable location for expansion.
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Southend residents urged to respond to the JAAP consultation that encourages expansion of the airport
Southend and Rochford Councils are currently conducting a JAAP (Joint Area Action Plan) public consultation on Southend airport and its environs. The consultation has now been extended to 26th April. The JAAP refers to a range of policies that support further expansion at the airport. It is important that local people living in the vicinity of the airport respond, as they will be affected by proposed changes. The JAAP, once adopted, will form part of the Development Plan for Rochford District and Southend-on-Sea Borough. The council documents and process are not very clear, so local group SAEN (Stop Airport Expansion and Noise) are advising residents how to respond. Some of the issues in the JAAP are that Southend Airport is surrounded on all sides by large numbers of houses, and local councils have done nothing to limit or reduce the number of people who suffer from aircraft noise. Safety issues associated with the public safety zones have also been identified. The claim that expansion at the airport is creating jobs is also challenged. The job creation claims are not credible and have been exposed as such. SAEN is undertaking a mass leaflet campaign to ensure that everyone entitled to claim compensation for loss of value of property does so.