Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Daniel Moylan and his bizarre plans to fund an estuary airport by cutting Heathrow down to one runway …
Daniel Moylan, who is leading Boris Johnson's submission into the hub airport review being led by Sir Howard Davies, says he does not believe the case for a new hub rested on closing Heathrow. He outlined a scenario that saw Heathrow becoming "a smaller point-to-point airport serving the West London and Home Counties premium leisure market". With one runway. Relocation of major airlines, including BA, to the new hub would see Heathrow passenger volumes fall from 70 million to 20 million a year. Daniel Moylan says his plan would involve billions of pounds of compensation BAA, as well as airlines forcibly relocated, with industry experts believing the bill could easily reach £15bn - on top of at least £50bn for the new airport. And that funds could by generated over a 10 to 15 year transitional period by raising landing charges at Heathrow, cutting capital expenditure, and partially redeveloping Heathrow for commercial use. (It doesn't make much sense at all...)
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Policy Exchange produces report hoping to shift Heathrow a few km to the west, with 4 runways over the M25 …
The Policy Exchange, which says it is a leading think tank to deliver a stronger society and a more dynamic economy (nothing about care of the environment) have put forward a proposal to expand Heathrow, by building 4 new runways. And moving the existing two a mile or two to the west, on top of the M25. Then there would be a two more runways, one parallel to each of the shifted runways. The Policy Exchange then says that if this cannot be built, 4 runways could be be built at Luton instead. They claim around 700 properties (in Poyle) would need to be demolished compared to the 1,400 that would need to go to make way for the estuary airport, and its purpose would be to send a "much needed signal to people that Britain is open for business." They dismiss the problem of carbon emissions by presuming that all homes in the UK will be insulated, so leaving fossil fuel for transport - and that travelling is much more appealing so we can "have the money and carbon allocation to see the world." A very odd report, with some very dubious logic .....
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Boris Johnson: Estuary airport to cost taxpayer £30 billion for the road and rail links alone
It has emerged that the cost of road and rail links from his proposed Thames Estuary airport to London would be around £30 billion, over 15 years, and that would have to be paid by UK taxpayers. Boris believes a new estuary airport would cost at least another £50 billion, and that could be financed entirely by the private sector. Boris gave a speech at County Hall, to business leaders, Boris attacked the so-called “dither and delay” over formulating its aviation policy, and warned that future generations "would believe the Coalition had 'frittered away their futures' by delaying a decision until after the 2015 election. Mr Johnson’s team denied that today’s remarks were intended to steal Mr Cameron’s thunder at the Conservative party conference.However, his airport comments appear to be linked with his positioning himself within the Conservative party. He is also keen on expanding Stansted, as another alternative.
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HS2 rail line could be re-routed to Heathrow if Davies Commission goes for Heathrow expansion
The Telegraph reports that Patrick McLoughlin has signalled he could reroute the new high-speed train line towards Heathrow if the Davies Commission recommends - in 2015 - developing Heathrow. This would be welcomed by campaigners trying to protect the Chilterns. Despite strong opposition, the government continues its support for HS2. Mr McLouglin has now said that HS2 may have to be “adapted” depending on what Sir Howard Davies concludes, and said: “I hope if anything needs to be adapted we will have time to do it.” Tricky with the decision being in 2015. Aides acting for the Transport Secretary made clear that HS2’s route could be redirected towards Heathrow if necessary. If the HS2 line is rerouted towards Heathrow, it will probably go to the west of the Chilterns. The blight along the proposed route means estate agents say many properties along the line are not selling at any price even though work on the London to Birmingham stretch is not set to begin until 2018.
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Scottish pressure to get more Heathrow slots for Scotland
The director of the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS) - Dave Duthie - argues that in order for there to be more flights from Heathrow to Scottish airports, market intervention to protect Scottish and regional links is necessary unless the government commits to expanding Heathrow. BA plans to retain just 2 of the 6 daily Heathrow flights operated by BMI from each of the Scottish cities in its upcoming winter schedule. Tje CAA have ring-fenced 7 of the 14 Heathrow remedy slots being sold by IAG for Edinburgh and Aberdeen, but beyond that, there is no long-term guarantee of Scotland's connectivity. The problem is that Scottish links are not as valuable to airlines as international, long haul routes, and while Heathrow slots are very expensive ($15 million and more for one pair) airlines will not choose Scottish destinations. Duthie therefore argues that slots are expensive because there is a constrained supply of them, so their high price makes Scottish routes uneconomic. (This argument seems much more simply sorted out, by allocating some slots for domestic routes, than demanding a new runway).
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Concerns raised by Richmond Heathrow Campaign over BAA’s complaints log
At its public meeting, the Richmond Heathrow Campaign heard complaints that BAA had never responded to people's queries. BAA said that from July 1, the start of the second phase of operational freedom trials, to September 26 it had received slightly more than 4,000 comments about noise. A local cuoncillor advised people to also lodge complaints with Richmond Council. Professor Ian Bruce, giving a detailed review of the trials, said the first phase had not successfully proven the benefits of reducing runway alternation, and the extension of the current 2nd phase to 9 months gave the impression that BAA was trying to experiment with a long term arrangement for the future. It is important for people to register their complaints to BAA as often as possible, because this was the only way the trials would be measured from the environmental noise perspective. John Coates from the council’s environmental team, said there was also a current breach of Heathrow’s nitrogen dioxide limits, set by the European Commission, which could expose the UK Government to a £300m fine if levels were not reduced by 2015.
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2M group of London local authorities say “Heathrow won’t stop at third runway”
The 2M Group of local authorities (that now represents some 5 million people in London) has warned that allowing Heathrow to build a 3rd runway would inevitably lead to demands for a 4th. The 2M Group is an all-party campaign alliance, which includes more than 20 councils, including Wandsworth, Richmond, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham. They understand that the 'hub' airport model needs high volumes of short-haul 'feeder flights' to attract enough passengers to fill its long haul services. And that means that if Heathrow added more long haul routes, it would want even more feeder flights to fill the extra seats. That would lead to high peaks of demand throughout the day. leading to the airport then wanting yet further runway and terminal space. 2M warns that these pressures give hub airports an insatiable appetite for expansion. That kind of growth blights the lives of too many people.
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Transport Minister Norman Baker urges no expansion at Gatwick
Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, has said here should be no expansion at Gatwick, but a high-speed rail connection with Heathrow – dubbed 'Heathwick' – should be looked into. He made the comment at the Lib Dem conference during the debate on the Policy Motion, “A Sustainable Future for Aviation.” Mr Baker outlined his strong commitment to ensuring that the environment does not play second fiddle to airport expansion, and underlined the Lib Dem manifesto commitments - “no” to a 3rd Heathrow runway, “no” to airport expansion in the South-east and “no” to an airport in the Thames Estuary. He said the Lib Dems "will not walk away from our commitments to the environment“ and that there is spare capacity at Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Luton and Stansted, contrary to what is often reported in the press, and using this capacity better is a priority for the short term.
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MP raises Prestwick Airport investment fears
Local MP, Brian Donohue, has complained that a lack of investment in Prestwick Airport by its New Zealand-based owner Infratil is damaging prospects of a sale and jeopardising its future. Upkeep at the airport had suffered following Infratil's decision to put it on the market in March 2012 - and there is no progress yet on selling it. Numbers of passengers and freight at Prestwick have fallen markedly in recent years. Infratil said: "The reality is that when a business is for sale, the current shareholder is unlikely to spend any more than they need to." Passengers were down 47% in 2011 compared to the peak in 2007, and freight was 71% down in 2011 compared to its peak in 2000.
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Councillors pledge to protect Plymouth Airport site
Flights from Plymouth airport stopped in July 2011. Councillors have pledged to protect Plymouth's former airport from future development by using planning powers and by lobbying the government. A company called Sutton Harbour has a 150 year lease on the site, and closed the airport in December, saying it was no longer financially viable. It has issued its "vision" for an urban centre which includes housing, shops, a primary school and nursing home, public spaces and a theatre venue. The airport site is protected until 2021. The council wants the site protected for airport use in future, and wants government intervention to prevent other use. But the council does not have money to subsidise it. A group of businesspeople called Viable believes the airport has a commercial future as an airport.