Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Manchester Airport Group confirms Stansted takeover deal – and Ryanair cuts its Stansted flights
The Manchester Airport Group (MAG) has now completed its £1.5bn acquisition of Stansted, from Heathrow Airport Holdings. MAG already owns Manchester, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports. Stansted's main traffic is budget airlines such as Easyjet and Ryan Air flying to Europe, and Ryanair accounts for around 70% of its traffic. MAG wants to return Stansted's passenger numbers to what they were 5 years ago by 2018, as it is now 47% below capacity and has been losing passengers for years. MAG wants to improve the shopping experience at the airport to encourage passengers to spend more before they board flights. They also intend to lobby transport chiefs about improving rail links between Stansted and London in the medium-term. On the day of the take-over Ryanair announced that it had been planning to expand its routes from Stansted by 5% from April, but would now cut them instead by some 9% or 1 million passengers per year, allegedly due to a 6% increase in charges (or the recession?).
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Virgin to launch domestic UK sub-brand called “Little Red” at end of March to compete with BA
Virgin Atlantic has unveiled details of its UK domestic service, which is being called, Little Red. It will launch on 31st March in Manchester, 5th April in Edinburgh and 9th April in Aberdeen, with a total of 26 daily services to Heathrow. Little Red will be Virgin’s first ever domestic flights in the UK. Virgin won key Heathrow take-off and landing slots after Bmi was taken over by IAG last year. Virgin hopes these domestic flights will feed traffic onto its international service. Virgin says Little Red will compete with BA on domestic air routes. BA operates around 52 daily flights between Heathrow and Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. BA also runs services to Scotland from Gatwick and London City airports.Apparently Virgin has partnered with a number of brands "to offer exclusive products on board including Irn Bru on Scottish flights, plane shaped Tyrells crisps and Bacardi Martini miniatures. It will later offer Krispy Kreme doughnuts, yoghurts from The Collective Dairy and Rude Health granola" ! Why ?!
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Ballot for all residents on the Hoo Peninsula to gauge opinion on Thames estuary airport
More than 20,000 people who would be affected by the building of a Thames Estuary airport in north Kent are being asked for their opinion on the proposals. Volunteers for Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless are delivering ballot papers to 6,000 homes on the Hoo Peninsula. Mark Reckless said "This is a chance for people across the Hoo Peninsula to have their voices heard and help me get the Davies Commission to rule out an estuary airport once and for all.” Residents will be able to choose a "yes" or "no" answer and return it to the MP. The ballots will be collected and presented in one of three ways: as a petition in Parliament, to the Commission or to Boris Johnson, who supports the idea. Meanwhile John Olsen has been pushing his plan for a Cliffe airport again, ten years after it was rejected last time.
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Calls to delay Luton’s expansion plans after news of airport sale by Abertis
Calls to delay planning permission for Luton airport's expansion have come following news that the airport may be sold off by its Spanish owner, the infrastructure group, Abertis. Protesters against the expansion of Luton argue any plans should be put on hold in the wake of a potential sale. Andrew Lambourne of HALE - Hertfordshire Against Luton Expansion - said: "In terms of Luton airport expansion the timing of this news couldn't be worse, since it clearly threatens the investment on which their hugely expensive expansion plans are based. "The airport has not yet secured its planning permission - and given the significant grounds for objection, this is not going to be an easy ride. " HALE said that a postponement of the planning application may well be in the best interests of Luton. "The last thing Luton Borough Council would want is for them to overstretch and then go bust."
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All Richmond residents to get the chance in May to vote on future of Heathrow
There will be a borough-wide ballot in Richmond, aimed at showing the Government and the airport lobby the strength of opposition to any expansion of Heathrow. The Council says all residents in the borough will be sent a polling card in April that will ask them to declare their views both on expansion of the airport and the future of night flights. Last year the Council unanimously reaffirmed its position to resist any proposals to expand Heathrow after 2015 and resolved that any expansion of the airport should be blocked permanently. Residents will have 4 weeks to return their ballot vote with a big polling day event being held on the 16th May. Information will also be provided at local hustings events, briefings and a manifesto. Leader of the Council, Lord True said: “Together with Hillingdon Council we need to send a strong message to Central Government that further expansion of Heathrow is simply not acceptable to the majority of people in West London."
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Abertis considers sale of UK airports – Luton, Cardiff and Belfast International
Abertis, the Spanish owner of Luton, Cardiff and Belfast International airports, may sell them. According to The Sunday Times, Abertis has decided to sell the 3 airports as part of a review of its €1 billion transport division, and Citi and AZ Capital have been appointed to review the division. Luton airport has been surrounded by controversy over its development plans with the local council opposing Abertis’ plans for its development. The Welsh government is reported to be on the verge of buying Cardiff airport, which has had a large drop in traffic during the past few years. Albertis' airport assets in Bolivia were nationalised by President Evo Morales last week, and it has lost money in Spain in recent years. Campaigners at Luton said the timing of the sale was unfortunate, with the airport's current planning application - for which planning permission has not been secured. The sale threatens the investment on which the airport's hugely expensive expansion plans are based.
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Airports want easier Chinese visas for the UK as Chinese spend so much at the airport
Airport owners and retailers claim Chinese tour operators are “striking Britain from their itineraries” because of the UK’s “cumbersome” visa system, which is costing the UK economy £1.2bn in lost tourist revenue. (They are not blaming APD). The Airport Operators Association and the UK Travel Retail Forum have written to 4 cabinet ministers, including George Osborne and Theresa May, outlining the problem. Airport operators and retailers say Chinese visitors spend 9 times the amount of US visitors passing through duty free. The airports etc want the Government to simplify the UK’s visa regime because at present, Chinese visitors view the UK’s visa system as “expensive, bureaucratic and lacking in transparency”, and it is easier to visit Europe (which can be done on just one visa, which is cheaper than the UK visa). Currently, Chinese nationals wishing to visit Britain on holiday have to get their fingerprints taken at one of 12 authorities in China. They also have to fill out a lengthy application form and pay more than if they were to visit the Schengen area of 26 European countries.
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Nantes: Opponents apply to European Commission to look into breaches of EU law by French government
The opponents of a new airport at Notre Dame des Landes, near Nantes, have applied to the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament on breaches of European law, by the airport project. They are asking them to get the French government to look possible infringements of Community law. Opponents say there has been non-compliance with the Directive on the assessment of environment, on the water framework directive, and with what the directive says on "Birds" and "Habitats." Brussels confirmed it has requested information from the French government. Sandrine Bélier, a Green member of the European Parliament) said the Commission shared their analysis of a potential breach of Community law and they have launched a pre-litigation procedure called "EU Pilot". Sandrine said there is still time for legal, economic and environmental sense to prevail and for the repeal of a costly and mammoth project, which is contrary to the law.
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Heathrow resurfacing work on southern runway all summer means more noise for Kew and Barnes
Due to works to resurface Heathrow's southern runway, all night flights will be landing on the northern runway. This will mean flight paths at night will be directly over Kew and Barnes – between 10.30pm and 6am, for most of this summer from early March until the end of October. Heathrow says they need to carry out the resurfacing, and this has to be done about every 10 years. They say this has to be done at night, as the airport is so busy during the day. There is no increase in the overall number of flights but it does unfortunately mean people under the northern runway flight path will have more noise during the early morning whilst those near the southern runway will have less. Leader of Richmond Council, Lord True, who has arranged for a borough-wide ballot on Heathrow expansion to take place in May, said anyone disturbed by night flights should protest. People want most night flights to be stopped during the resurfacing, rather than having to endure the ordeal of weeks or months of broken sleep, with 4.30am wake up calls and insufferable noise.
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Welsh government buying Cardiff airport from Abertis in £50m cash deal by the end of March
The Welsh Government is expected to complete its acquisition of Cardiff Airport by the end of March in a straight cash deal understood to be around £50m with current owner Abertis. A due diligence process is being undertaken on behalf of the Welsh Government. The deal will not see the Welsh Government taking on any debt at the airport – which posted pre-tax losses of just over £300,000 in 2011. In the short to medium term the Welsh Government would need to inject about £6m a year in capital expenditure and airline route development support – including agreeing to underwrite any losses in the first few years accrued by airlines establishing new routes out of Cardiff. ie public subsidy. It is understood that representatives of the Welsh Government have already sounded out a number of low cost airlines over setting up operations, including Ryanair - which was asking too much. Discussions are continuing. It is unlikely that the airport, post deal, would be directly owned by the Welsh Government but by some special purpose vehicle instead.