Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Revised Public Safety Zone at Leeds Bradford airport – public consultation
In the UK there are 31 airports with Public Safety Zones. These are triagular shaped areas at the ends of runways, which show the areas where the risk of an aircraft crash is significant, and the risk contours. The area of a PSZ corresponds to the 1 in 100,000 individual risk contour, with additional lower risk contours. The CAA is now in charge of these PSZs, and reviews them every 7 years to take into account anticipated changes in air traffic over the next 15 years. The PSZ gets larger if there are more planes flown. There is a general presumption against new development within PSZs due to the safety risk, though existing activities are allowed to continue within a PSZ. The PSZ for Leeds Bradford is now being reviewed and was out for public consultation until 4th April 2013. In the new revised PSZ 60 properties have been included in the new proposed PSZ area and a further 32 houses have been removed. The PSZ areas each end of the runway now cover a slightly larger area. Some residents have been shocked to find they are in the PSZ without being aware of it.
Click here to view full story...
More Northern Ireland residents using Dublin Airport
New figures from the Dublin Airport Authority show more than 500,000 Northern Ireland residents used Dublin Airport last year, a 15% increase on 2011. The number of Northern Ireland-based passengers using Dublin Airport has almost doubled since 2010 - the vast majority (70%) for holidays or leisure trips - and only 20% for business. The effect of Air Passenger Duty is not mentioned, as it is only £13 for short haul journeys, and has been removed from longer journeys from Northern Ireland. The Irish flight tax is only €3 per flight (it was higher till 2011). Dublin airport says the new road network has made travelling from Northern Ireland to Dublin faster and easier. In 2011 Dublin airport had around 18.7 million passengers, Belfast International had about 4.1 million and Belfast City airport around 2.4 million.
Click here to view full story...
Heathrow airport passengers up 1% in February (cf. last February) due to larger planes
In February, Heathrow had 1% more passengers than it had in February 2012. For all the airports that Heathrow Ltd owns, the increase in passengers for February was only 0.6% above their level in Feb 2012. Heathrow Ltd said the rise in passengers at Heathrow was due to the use of larger planes, after British Airways' take over of BMI, and higher load factors. The average number of seats per aircraft rose to 198.4 seats, and the load factor rose by 2.4% to 69.6%. That still means most flights are still almost a third empty. For the 1% increase in passengers, there was a - 4.2% reduction in air transport movements at Heathrow, and a fall of -5% for all its UK airports, which now no longer include Stansted or Edinburgh. The amount of traffic to and from Europe was 4.4% higher, but Heathrow says the amount of traffic with China was up 29.8% in February.
Click here to view full story...
Important economic information on Redhill aerodrome hard runway application kept secret
Redhill Aerodrome has been trying to get a hard surfaced runway to replace its current three grass runways for many years. It submitted an application in July 2011, which was refused by Tandridge District Council (TDC) and Reigate & Banstead Council (R&B). Redhill Aerodrome then submitted a very slightly changed application in June 2012. The concrete runway would enable the aerodrome to increase flights from 60,000 to 85,000 a year including larger planes. There are problems with the application in relation to drainage and a local brook, as well as traffic impacts. But the aerodrome was asked by the councils to supply more detailed information on future activities of the aerodrome. This information is being used to back up the aerodrome's claim for special grounds for building in the Green Belt. The aerodrome asked both councils to sign a confidentiality agreement so that the economic information supplied (eg. employment) would not be published. R&B signed the agreement, but after taking legal advice Tandridge refused to do so. Local campaigners say the application cannot be assessed without access to the financial details including employment and impact on the economy.
Click here to view full story...
Possibility of more night flights to Heathrow over Windsor rather than West London
Plans drawn up by the DfT could see hundreds of night flights diverted away from the homes of 110,000 residents of the west London areas like Richmond, Kew and Hounslow, over the Windsor area. There could be an extra 1,500 - 1,700 night flights per year over Windsor, starting at 4am. About 90% of the flights at night are between 4.30am and 6.00am, waking people up and making it difficult to many to get back to sleep. The local MP for Windsor, Adam Afriyie, is concerned on the negative impact the change would have on the quality of life of his constituents. The Queen often spends weekends at Windsor, and also many weeks during the year. Under existing rules Heathrow is allowed 5,256 incoming scheduled night flights a year, so Londoners have to put up with around 16 planes overhead every night. Due to the wind direction, about 72% of the time they come from the east over London. The DfT is now considering ordering pilots to approach from the west unless a tailwind of five knots or more makes this impractical. This is part of the current night flights consultation, which closes on 22nd April.
Click here to view full story...
Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport decision delayed by at least several months
It is now certain that the construction of the new Nantes airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes - if it starts at all - will at least several months delayed. It should have started this spring. A Committee on dialogue has been set up, and has been taking evidence from proponents and opponents of the airport scheme. The Chairman of the commission is careful not to take sides, but has said that after going on for so many years since first proposed, the arguments for the airport have changed and other arguments now have greater priority. More information is needed on the alleged economic and employment benefit of the scheme, and on the transport network. He says."Our report will present the advantages and disadvantages of the new airport, and the government will decide." A prominent member of the National Assembly said it is necessary to continue dialogue but before starting any construction work a national plan of airport infrastructure.should be developed.
Click here to view full story...
Many MPs want Sir Howard Davies to name his favoured airport site by the end of 2013, rather than in 2015
The Sunday Telegraph reports that the Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, is due to produce its interim report by December. He is considering ways to improve the capacity at Heathrow, in the short term, and taking evidence on whether there is a need for more airport capacity, and if so, which schemes should be taken forward. MP Zac Goldsmith now says ministers are now considering asking Sir Howard to choose one airport option, when he makes his report at the end of the year, rather than deciding this two months after the 2015 election. Zac (who bitterly opposes Heathrow expansion) says this would enable Sir Howard and his Commission to spend the time in 2014 and 2015 in working out how to deliver the preferred option. Zac said: "I cannot think of a single MP who supports waiting until after the election before forming a policy.” Any suggestion that a decision on airport expansion was being brought forward would anger the Lib Dems, who oppose any increase in runway capacity. There are so many complex arguments and so much detail to be digested that a measured and fully considered decision on a new runway/runways cannot sensibly be taken so fast.
Click here to view full story...
Heathrow night flights are “inhumane” and the airport is urged to stop them
There is pressure on the management of Heathrow to justify the use of night flights. This has been discussed at the London Assembly's environment committee. There are some 15 flights that land at Heathrow between 11.30pm and 6am every day and which activists say have an impact on 100,000 West Londoners. For many people the first plane coming in at 4.30am is their alarm clock. As well as campaigners against Heathrow's expansion, senior local council executives say the flights are “inhuman” and there is an economic cost to sleep deprivation. Colin Ellar, deputy leader of Hounslow Council, said "even a quiet airplane is very noisy. It will wake you up when it’s still dark, you might get back to sleep, you might not.” “I’d say it’s the equivalent of a lorry coming and revving its engine just outside your bedroom window several times a night,” Heathrow say night flights boost the economy by £340m a year and by 6,600 jobs (evidence for that?)
Click here to view full story...
Manston campaigners find cost-cutting Kent County Council to spend up to £100,000 relating to KLM flights
Campaigners at Manston report that they have had to resort to the threat of a Freedom of Information request to find out if Kent County Council has been giving subsidies to the airport. They have managed to get the following statements from KCC: "I can confirm Kent County Council has not been asked for any contributions from KLM nor have we been asked to fund KLM. We were however, asked by the owners of Manston airport if we would contribute to a marketing package to market both the route and the opportunities in Kent. We have agreed a contribution of up to £100,000 subject to approval of a marketing plan and for the monies to be managed by Visit Kent." So that means rate payers in Kent are to contribute up to £100,000 in order to encourage flights to Schiphol from Manston, which looks like a bribe or subsidy, at a time when KCC has had to make around £94 million of cuts to its budget, including cutting £18m from its adult care services, and £5.3m from its childrens' services.
Click here to view full story...
Cliffe Airport plan being promoted, again, by John Olsen
Ten years ago, proposals for a 3 runway, 24-hour, hub airport at Cliffe, on the south bank of the Thames estuary, on the Hoo peninsula, were rejected. It was abandoned in December 2003 on the grounds that the costs of the coastal site were too high and the airport would not be well used. But this scheme, put forward by John Olsen with what he calls his "Independent Aviation Advisory Group" seems unwilling to go away. He was pushing it again back in 2011, and has again given evidence to the Transport Select committee recently, promoting it. Mr Olsen was the commercial director of Cathay Pacific and ex-head of the failed airline Dan-Air, and wants an airport based on the one in Hong Kong. He wants the Airports Commission to look again at his Cliffe proposals, with claims about the Thames Gateway regeneration project, and the creation of thousands of jobs to deprived areas in north Kent and south Essex. He says the Cliffe project would prevent "malnourished and ill-educated children growing up”