Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
UK government risks infringing nuclear safety legislation over Lydd Airport
Lydd Airport submitted a planning application in December 2006 for a 444 metre extension to its runway and a new terminal to increase its passenger numbers from below 3,000 in 2005 to 500,000 passengers per annum. It ultimately wants the number to rise to 2 million per year. The planning application was taken to public inquiry in 2011, and since then, a decision has been awaited, from Eric Pickles, Minister at DCLG. However, the issue of the proximity of Lydd airport to the Dungeness nuclear power station has always been a serious problem. The Lydd Area Action Group (LAAG) has challenged the manner in which the nuclear issue has been handled by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Now LAAG say that should the government approve the development of Lydd Airport without holding the ONR to account on a range of matters and satisfactorily answering the questions put to it by the European Commission, it ultimately faces the possibility of the case being referred to the European Court of Justice.
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WWF France says Nantes airport at NDDL should not proceed without many more environmental studies
After several months of study of the various arguments about a new "projet d’aéroport du Grand Ouest"airport plan for Nantes at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, WWF France has now made public its position. They say the project should not go ahead without a lot of further studies being done. They are urging the French government to implement a number of additional studies to quantify the actual project impacts on ecosystems and people. Studies already show the importance of the biodiversity of the site but still contain many gaps (flora, birds, insects, reptiles ...). Further studies are also needed on the airport's wider environmental impacts. WWF also considers that flood risk has been underestimated and more work is needed to investigate this. There are also important issues about hydrological impacts on drainage, water supply, and catchment areas on which work is needed as the airport may have negative impacts. Natural areas provide valuable "ecosystem services" at no cost, and these should not be put at risk, just for an airport.
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Heathrow lobbying hard for a third runway again – several possible options for location
Heathrow Airport (BAA as was) is now lobbying hard for a 3rd runway, in a new campaign. It is adamant that there is a lot of unmet need, that the UK must retain the largest hub airport, that having a huge hub is vital and so on. Heathrow states that: "More hub capacity is urgently needed and whilst longer term demand forecasts are inherently uncertain, the more immediate demand case for a 3 runway hub is very clear. The longer term forecasts also show that any potential demand case for a 4th runway is highly uncertain and may not materialise." They are working on a range of plans for a 3rd runway, rather than just the northern option, include putting the M25 in a tunnel under a runway, keeping the existing terminals and filling in reservoirs to build runways to the west of the airport, or almost doubling the length of the current 2 runways to in effect create 4. They are likely to submit plans for these to the Airports Commission. However, DfT forecasts of future passenger demand have fallen continuously over the past decade and are likely to still be over-estimates for the period between now and 2030 as capacity constraints mean passengers are shifting to other European hub airports and the focus shifts further east, to the Middle East.
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Lydd Airport: Wind turbines, a new airport and an atomic plant threaten historic wetlands
A decision on whether to allow major expansion of Lydd airport, less than three miles from the Dungeness nuclear power station, may be imminent. It has been delayed for years. The decision will be made by the Sec of State, Eric Pickles. However, there are many issues that make allowing Lydd airport, which is owned by an Arab sheikh, to expand very problematic. First there is the issue of the nuclear power station at Dungeness B, the operators of which (EDF) opposed the application. Many local residents are also opposed to more local wind farms. The battle over the future of Romney Marsh offers a snapshot of the dilemmas facing a government struggling to reconcile job-friendly "grand projects" with commitments to reduce carbon emissions and preserve the integrity of the countryside.
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Roof of house in Old Windsor damaged by vortex from plane landing at Heathrow
Damage to roofs of homes under flight paths is not uncommon and many incidents happen each year. This time a house in Old Windsor was affected, by a vortex created by a plane using Heathrow, with a number of tiles sucked off the roof leaving holes, open to the elements. The damage is done by a vortex of air, which is churned up by the plane passing overhead, and then descends to ground level. Heathrow Airport said "Only one in 10,000 flights results in a vortex" (well, they mean results in a vortex that causes damage to property). Heathrow sent out a team to fix it promptly - airports are always keen to do this, to limit negative publicity from the incident. This house is the home of a grandmother, who naturally was very alarmed and frightened by the incident, which the first though was a large explosion. Luckily nobody was hurt this time by falling tiles or debris. Some living under flight paths, where there is often vortex damage, fear that in due course there will be injuries.
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European Court of Justice rules on Salzburg airport case needing EIA due to environmental effect
In 2003 the operators of Salzburg Airport, Salzburger Flughafen, applied for apermission to build an additional terminal. Its application was granted and that project was completed without any environmental assessment. In 2004, the airport applied to further expand the airport area.This has been referred to the European Court of Justice, which has now ruled that both the construction of a new terminal and the expansion of the airport should have undergone an environmental impact assessment since they were likely to have significant effects on the environment. The ECJ ruled that not having the EIAs contravenes EU rules. In contrast, the Austrian legislation requires EIAs on proposed a modification to airports only if it will increase traffic by at least 20,000 flights per year. The ruling will have major ramifications for projects across the EU. Member states will no longer be able to place a quantitative size threshold to decide which projects need an EIA. Instead, the threshold must be based on the potential effect on the environment.
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Fantastic demonstration in Luton against night flights
Dozens of campaigners concerned about the proposed doubling of night flights at Luton airport rallied at Luton Town Hall and handed in a 1,000-signature petition calling for planning controls to limit any further increase in night noise and disturbance to people’s sleep. The event was a huge success and shows just what people power can do. To the chant of “What do we want? No More Night Flights! How do we get it? Planning Controls!” the protestors made the point that Luton Borough Council needs to act responsibly in order to limit the continued growth of an airport which campaigners claim is in the wrong place for any further expansion. The airport wants to almost double the number of passengers, up to 18 million per year, and has set such a high night noise quote and noise cap that it could double its night flights to 16,000 per year and still be within its so-called limits.
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Mayor of London reveals set of criteria that his panel will use to assess airport options
In early February Boris appointed what he modestly described as his "mighty team of experts" to look at possible options to build a huge hub airport for the south east of England. There was a GLA consultation on the criteria between 21 Dec 2012 and 8 Feb 2013. Boris has now announced the criteria he is setting out for a new airport - the Airports Commission under Sir Howard Davies are also consulting on their "sifting criteria" for the same thing (their consultation closes on 15th March). The GLA (Greater London Authority) says the Mayor’s recently appointed team "will work with TfL to carry out detailed feasibility studies on that shortlist, to inform the Mayor’s submission to the Davies Commission later this year." Concerns have been raised that the panel is very much biased towards those pro-expansion or aviation industry and lacks environmental or community members.
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Retired pilot Jock Lowe devises £7.5bn plan to double length of Heathrow runways (and lose runway alternation)
A retired Concorde pilot called William "Jock" Lowe has been promoting his £7.5bn plan to extend both Heathrow runways from 3,900 and 3,700 metres, up to 7,500 metres - approximately doubling them. He has submitted his scheme to the Airports Commission (all expressions on intend on such projects had to be delivered to the Commission by 28th February). In the Lowe scheme (if it was to be allowed) the number of flights could be doubled, from the current cap of 480,000 per year up to about a million. This scheme is cheaper than the Leunig scheme, proposed in October, for 4 Heathrow runways, a bit further west. The rise in flight numbers could only be done by "mixed mode", which means having planes both landing, and taking off, all day on both runways. So a plane would be landing on the eastern part of a runway, while another takes off on the west portion of it. This would mean London residents over flown would get twice as many flights as they do now, and they would lose their half a day of peace, which they get from the current runway alternation. It would be deeply and passionately opposed by thousands of Londoners.
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Boris Johnson’s ‘Floating Village’ plans for homes slammed as a titanic mistake
Boris Johnson has announced that he is launching an international competition to find developers to design and deliver a scheme for a "floating village" at Royal Docks, Newham, close to London City Airport. Homes there would be in, or very close to, the Public Safety Zone (PSZ) for the airport, and would be subject to enormous amounts of aircraft noise. It would not be a desirable place to live for anyone bothered by noise - or indeed the risk of wake turbulence. Stop London City Masterplan, the local campaign group, have accused Boris of gross negligence because of these plans for housing close to the PSZ. The floating village would be under and close to Boris's economically unsuccessful Cable Car. Safety concerns were raised during the building of the Cable Car which is in the Crash Zone with the Mayor of London being forced to launch a safety probe. A planning application will soon be submitted by London City Airport to increase the size of it’s stands so bigger jets can be used at the site.