Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Heathrow to raise its airline charges, from current £17 per passenger, to raise £3 billion for huge modernisation
Heathrow airport will announce modernisation plans later this month. These will cost some £3 billion and cover the period 2014 - 2019. This follows a £5bn investment plan between 2008 and 2013. Heathrow is also intending to increase its airline charges, with rises in costs rising from the current level of £17 per passenger to perhaps up to £25. These rises are above the level of inflation. Heathrow says it is raising the charge because it has had 10% fewer passengers than originally predicted using the airport recently due to the recession. This means Heathrow now has to cover a £646m shortfall and it needs to make up the difference by higher charges. Heathrow airport is also still paying for investments made in the new Terminals 2 and 5. Colin Matthews, the chief executive of Heathrow, says the modernisation is needed in order to keep Heathrow as the UK’s leading airport. The investmentwill include investment in Terminals 5 and 2, as well as improving baggage handling facilities and building new stands for the Airbus A380.
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Whisper it! Heathrow 3rd runway is losing the support of business – John Stewart blog
John Stewart, writing in a blog for HACAN (the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise), says the enthusiasm even of the two big business organisations, the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and London First for a 3rd runway at Heathrow is reduced. Business people tend to be realists. Many now believe that, in the real world, a third runway will not happen. All political parties are opposed to a 3rd runway. Many politicians realise, and have for some time, that a third runway is politically untenable. British Airway’s boss Willie Walsh is planning his business on the assumption it will not happen. ?A Heathrow 3rd runway cannot be the quick, relatively cheap solution business and government are looking for. Even if a new government gave it permission after the 2015 General Election it would be over a decade after that before a runway would be up and running. - and that is assuming the opposition wouldn’t kill it off a second time.
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Government’s new air traffic forecasts show no case for Stansted expansion
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE), commenting on the new DfT air passenger forecasts, say that even in 2050 Stansted would be able to meet all its market demand without any need for a second runway. For Stansted, which handled 17.5 million passengers last year, the DfT predicts unconstrained demand of 26 million passengers in 2030 and of 38 million passengers in 2050. SSE say“These new official Government forecasts are far more credible than anything we have seen before, and far less threatening. The new DfT forecasts are also very much in line with the aspirations of Stansted’s new owners, Manchester Airport Group (MAG), whose Chief Executive, Charlie Cornish, has set his sights on restoring Stansted to its 2007 traffic peak within a decade. That would mean a return to an annual throughput of 24 million passengers by 2022. SSE say that amidst all the hot air from Boris about building a 4-runway ‘mega-hub’ at Stansted, it’s refreshing to have some realism from the DfT and MAG. SSE hope that removing the threat of a new runway once and for all would will lay the foundations for a vastly improved long term relationship with the local community.
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Heathrow spur from HS2 put on hold, causing continuing uncertainty and blight
Phase 2 of High Speed 2 has been announced, and the planned spur taking HS2 to Heathrow has been put on hold until after the Davies Commission’s review of Britain’s hub capacity is completed in 2015. The HS2 document says: “there would still be the opportunity to consult separately at a later point and include the Heathrow spur in legislation for Phase Two without any impact on the delivery time if that fits with the recommendations of the Commission.” This leaves uncertainty for local communities that could be blighted by the Heathrow link, and people want to know if local areas still be safeguarded and eligible for compensation. Nobody knows yet if Phase 1 will continue to be built as proposed, in order to keep options open – causing uncertainty, blight, and suffering to residents and businesses whilst leaving them ineligible for compensation. The Government has also launched a consultation on an Exceptional Hardship Scheme for Leeds, Manchester and the proposed Heathrow spur, to assist people who need to urgency sell their home or business.
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Luton airport planning application would increase night flights (11pm to 7am) by 50%
Local campaign group HALE (Hertfordshire Against Luton Expansion) says that Luton Airport’s expansion plans are based on projections to increase flights at night by 50%. This is based on information in the airport’s planning application which shows that the number of take-offs and landings between 11pm and 7am is projected to rise to 52 by 2028, compared to 34 in 2011. HALE points out that this is just the average figure – during the summer peak there could be as many as 80 flights each night. There is a public consultation on the application until 18th February. HALE is urging people to respond to this planning application by demanding that Luton Borough Council forces its Airport to reduce, not increase, night flights; to monitor and fine night arrivals as well as night departures; and to install a noise monitor on the approach to runway 08 for the purpose.
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Phase 2 of HS2 announced, with no spur to Heathrow – though that could be added later
The government has announced details of the 2nd phase of High Speed 2, from Birmingham north to Leeds and to Manchester. The Chancellor, George Osborne, predicted the investment would become “the engine of growth” in the north of England and the Midlands. The government is due to finalise the precise route of HS2 next year in advance of legislation in 2015 - though it is likely to be delayed by a flood of judicial reviews and court actions over the legality of the consultation process. These could delay planning authorisation, and ultimately require routes to be heavily redrafted. Instead of work on the first phase, to Birmingham, starting in 2017, it could be delayed till 2022. A planned spur taking HS2 to Heathrow has been put on hold until after the Davies review of Britain’s hub capacity is completed in 2015. The HS2 document says: "there would still be the opportunity to consult separately at a later point and include the Heathrow spur in legislation for Phase Two without any impact on the delivery time if that fits with the recommendations of the Commission." Meanwhile, a useful piece by Christian Wolmar sets out the main reasons by HS2 is not a wise plan, and not value for money, or even of environmental benefit.
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Architects, Grimshaw, with complicated London Hub City proposal, for future airport capacity. Bit of an unrealistic muddle.
Grimshaw, a firm of architects that have offices in London, have put forward their own idea for what should happen about airport capacity in the south east. Their idea is to focus on London, the city, as the hub rather than any one airport. They want to have a 3rd runway at Heathrow, so it can deal with problems like snow, and then link London from Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and an airport in the Thames estuary, by high speed rail to London No one airport would be the main hub. They rather unrealistically anticipate that many transit passengers would want to break their journey at Heathrow, then travel into London on a special ticket on fast rail, to do a bit of tourism and spending, before getting their return flight. This scheme needs to have very efficient immigration and baggage transfer facilities to avoid being a nightmare. The report questions whether the view of the airlines, on the need for a hub airport, should dominate the planning of capacity for London. It also says that: “It is extremely difficult to predict what will happen to aviation beyond the next few years. Recent decades have demonstrated this” And it cites Stansted’s decline. However, they say “Looking ahead, we might confidently predict growth in aviation”.
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New research suggests a hub airport (eg. Thames estuary) for London cannot be built without public subsidy
A report by the economic consultants, Oxera, commissioned by the Commons Transport Committee has shown that a massive hub airport in the Thames estuary would only be viable if it had a subsidy, from UK taxpayers, of some £10 - 30 billion (in today's money). Oxera looked at various scenarios, and found that otherwise such an airport would not be viable or provide the sorts of returns that a private investor would require. Depending on the airport's design, it could cost £20 - £50 billion. The potential impact on Heathrow and other airports - and necessary compensation - were had to be taken into account, and would have an impact on a new hub airport's commercial viability. Transport committee inquiry chairman Louise Ellman said: "The results suggest a new airport would require public investment and have considerable impact on Heathrow and other London airports. The research findings also shed significant light on the scale of investment required to deliver essential related surface transport links for any new airport. "We hope this work delivers something new to a crucial debate."
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DfT night flight proposals might cut noise misery for thousands under Heathrow flight paths
The DfT has launched its consultation on the new night flight regime. The intention is partly to examine what could be done to make life easier for residents near Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - while not unduly affecting the airlines. Heathrow has a much larger noise problem than the other two airports, due to the number of flights, the geography of their flight paths, and the sheer numbers overflown. There is also the problem that the planes that come in at night - some 16 per night between 11.30pm and 6am are from long haul destinations, and are larger, heavier and noisier planes than those for short haul European destinations. There are also around 60 flights per night at Heathrow between 6 - 7am. The consultation proposes a range of measures to cut the noise nuisance, such as requiring aircraft to have a steeper angle of descent into the airport than the current 3 degrees. Another proposal is to reduce the proportion of flights landing from the east from the current 70%, which could lead to an estimated 110,000 people experiencing less noise as a result, thought another 15,000 people would face more disruption.
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Operational freedoms trial at Heathrow to end a month early, on 28th February
Operational Freedom trials at Heathrow started in November 2011 and ended in February 2012. The second phase of the trial started in July 2012 and due to go on until the end of March 2013. In November 2012, BAA announced that two parts of the trails would not take place (Phase 2, Operational Freedoms 2 and 3 – about delaying flights from 4.30 to 5.00am in exchange for more flights from 5.30am to 6am; and re-directing departing aircraft from their route sooner after take-off). Simon Burns has now announced that the trials will end a month early, on 28 February 2013. Some specific tests scheduled for March will be brought forward into February, which will accommodate the space left behind by the early morning arrivals freedom being inoperable during the trial period. Simon Burns says: "The revised end date will enable the overall analysis of the trial to begin sooner and support the government’s objective, as announced in the Autumn Statement, to bring forward the consultation and final decisions by ministers on whether an operational freedoms regime of some form should be adopted on a more permanent basis at Heathrow."