Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Debt fears by North Tyneside Council mean no loan for Newcastle Airport
North Tyneside Council have opted not to follow the region’s other local authorities in making a loan to Newcastle Airport, which is the North East’s biggest airport. The airport needs to refinance its near £300m debt. Seven local authorities in the North East own 51% of the shares in the airport and 3 of them have agreed the size of their contributions. But North Tyneside has said it is not willing to incur additional debt at a time when local authorities are being asked to make huge budget cuts. The other 6 will have to make higher contributions and hope they will get higher pay-outs in due course, if the airport gets back into being profitable. The other 49% is owned by Copenhagen Airports, which is looking to sell its stake. Annual passenger numbers using Newcastle Airport in 2011 were 4.3 million, compared to 5.6 million at their peak in 2007.
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Kehoe welcomes delay in announcing airports strategy
Birmingham Airport has welcomed the delay to the publication of the Government’s future strategy on aviation. It believes that the decision to push it back until the end of the year suggests the Government is taking the matter seriously and will be consulting more widely. Paul Kehoe said: “Birmingham Airport called for a proper debate on aviation and the delay shows that the Government has listened. “For too long, aviation strategy has been determined by narrow self-interest, and the very important needs of London and the South East have been conflated with the wider national interest. Now we all have the time to come up with a strategy which will benefit the whole of the UK.” Meaning Birmingham.
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Comment on the government aviation consultation from RSPB, Stop Stansted Expansion and AirportWatch
There have been several comments from environmental groups to the government aviation policy consultation. Below are those from RSPB, from AirportWatch, and from Stop Stansted Expansion. The RSPB said “The government has also delayed consultation on the economic arguments for a hub airport until later this year, and in doing so has harmfully segregated the debate. We cannot consider the economic arguments for expansion and specific hub proposals without taking into account the environmental impacts such as noise, pollution and climate change. We need a bold new vision for the UK’s wider transport strategy. Instead of thinking about aviation expansion, the government should be investing much more in improving the UK’s surface transport network, in new technologies for efficient and electric vehicles, and in using existing airport capacity better.”
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MP Kwasi Kwarteng’s Heathrow report suggests Stanwell runway – in his own constituency
The lives of thousands of residents’ would be blighted if the Spelthorne MP’s plan to demolish parts of Stanwell to build a 4th runway at Heathrow go ahead, say those living under the threat of airport expansion. The report, co-written by MP Kwasi Kwarteng, advocates two more runways for Heathrow Airport, one on the traditional site of Sipson, to the north, and the other in his own constituency to the south. This has led to opponents labelling the proposals "political suicide". Geraldine Nicholson is chairman of the No Third Runway Action Group explained that residents in Spelthorne could expect blighted lives, broken down communities and death to the soul of their towns, if the plans were taken seriously. Like Sipson, which has suffered from years of blight, and dismantling of the community, from threats of a 3rd runway. It is astonishing for an MP to want to ruin a large part of his own constituency.
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Jumbo row over Leeds Bradford Airport policing hits new heights
The government has been forced to step into a row over who should pay for policing Leeds-Bradford Airport. Justine Greening will rule on the issue after police and airport bosses failed to reach agreement despite months of talks. Under the 2009 Police and Crime Act, parliament said airport operators should pay for specific policing costs caused by their activities. West Yorkshire Police last night refused to comment on the current level of policing at the airport, how much it costs or whether it is adequate.
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Peter Mandelson, in the Times, says Heathrow decision needs an independent panel
Peter Mandelson says Heathrow can be massively expanded even with Committee on Climate Change carbon targets, and "more flights need not be at the expense of tackling climate change." He says "politics and the search for partisan advantage make decisions about big infrastructure projects difficult. Local communities and pressure groups usually oppose them. The economic benefits of new developments are long-term and spread widely, while the drawbacks are more immediate and tangible for those affected." And "ministers should take the ultimate decision with due accountability to Parliament and the public." But "My proposal would be for the parties to hand the issue to an independent panel of wise people which, working to a clear timetable, would assess the evidence and recommend the best approach."
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Nantes: success of the European Forum against GPII (Useless Imposed Major Projects)
Several thousand people in western France have held a 5 day meeting at Nantes, against GPII (les Grands Projets Inutiles Imposés). People came from other countries, to share their struggle against huge infrastucture projects such as the plans for a huge new airport for Nantes, at Notre Dame des Landes - a fertile farming area. They regard these large projects as unnecessary, wasteful of public funds and socially unjust, undermine local culture, and are environmentally destructive or dangerous. They also fear such huge schemes exclude people from decision making. Most of these projects take up farming land, making it less likely an area can have food sovereignty.
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Airport capacity consultation delayed by coalition tension – main policy consultation to be published today
The government will today publish its consultation on future UK aviation policy, covering noise, night flights, carbon emissions, air quality and regional airports. The more controversial part, on expanding south east airport capacity, with perhaps a new runway, or runways, has been so contentious, and caused such internal difficulties for the coalition government, that it will be postponed till an unknown date in the autumn. The line the industry and the media are all taking on the news is to bemoan the delay in dealing with the south east because expansion is, allegedly, so important to business. The media are also disappointed that for them the “sexy” part of the consultation has been delayed, particularly as many of them are under the impression that the Government will name airports, which is unlikely. The delay to the second part of the consultation is not a huge problem, but the current consultation is absolutely key, because it is the basic document which will set overall policy; if and where expansion is needed (the second paper) will fall within that framework.
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The Times says the aviation policy consultation to be published on 12th July, but capacity consultation delayed till autumn
The Times reports that part of the aviation policy consultation will be published tomorrow but that the call for evidence on airport expansion will be delayed until September. The consultation released on 12th July will be restricted to proposals on emissions, night flights, noise levels and regional airports. Justine Greening is expected to announce, tomorrow, that the Government is ready to listen to arguments on expanding Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted, or building a new hub airport in the Thames estuary — but not yet. The delay is due to the internal political problems the coalition has on the airport issue, which it is finding hard to resolve. It is speculated that the Tory MPs keen on a 3rd Heathrow runway see the delay as evidence that the Government is coming round to accepting their case - in spite of Justine Greening's firm opposition.
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Massive “Save The Planet” and “STOP” human frescoes by Nantes protesters against “grands projets inutiles imposés”
The airport campaigners at Nantes have produced a spectacular visual image, created by hundreds of people in a green field. Their message, in English this time, to get to a wider audience than only France, reads "Save The Planet" and "STOP!" They are opposing not only the unnecessary and highly damaging airport planned for Notre Dame des Landes, but have joined with other campaigners from other parts of Europe opposing other bits of, what they call "grands projets inutiles imposés" (useless imposed mega-projects), which they describe as "white elephants". Some of these are HS2 in England; a rail line in Stuttgart; and the Lyon-Turin TGV in Italy. Susan George, attending the protest, said these bits of infrastructure were damaging and costly for communities, and there are better things to do.