Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
FT says Tories now back Heathrow 3rd runway, if they can get outright majority at next election
The Financial Times says that David Cameron has now quietly swung his support behind a 3rd Heathrow runway, but this is deeply opposed by the Lib Dems. Therefore, though the coalition is committed to no 3rd runway in this term of parliament, the Conservaties would now try and get it passed, if they won the next election (? May 2015) by an outright majority, without the Lib Dems. There will be the two aviation consultations this summer (July probably) on aviation policy and hub capacity, but the FT says - after discussion with a senior government figure - that "the official response to this – a final policy paper on hub airport capacity which was earmarked for March 2013 – is now set to be delayed for several years, effectively postponing any firm decision until after the general election. The next three years will therefore feature efforts by the coalition to prove it can improve Britain’s hub airport capacity, while making no big-ticket decisions.".
Click here to view full story...
Frankfurt airport protesters sleep in the airport terminal – as it is too noisy at home
Dozens of protesters at Frankfurt have held a sleep-in at the Departures Terminal at Frankfurt airport. Their protest is against the aircraft noise, which is causing an intolerable situation, and they say they cannot sleep in their own homes, due to noisy night flights. Their banners say "We cannot sleep at home: night flight ban from 10pm to 6am !" Many say their homes suffer 80 decibel noise at night, with 60 decibels indoors. Though there is meant to be a total ban on night flights between 23:00 to 05:00 almost every night there are late arrivals and departures or flight tests. The nights are not quiet. People say they cannot live on only 6 hours sleep per night, and that is not enough to perform properly at work or at school.
Click here to view full story...
Justine Greening confirms, in Parliament, no new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted and no Heathrow mixed mode
Transport Secretary Justine Greening has insisted the Government will stick to the coalition agreement's restrictions on airport expansion, ruling out a 3rd runway at Heathrow. She also confirmed the government's support for the full agreement, signed between the Tories and Liberal Democrats, which also rules out further runways at Gatwick and Stansted. The question she was asked, in Parliament, was (by Julian Huppert, Cambridge Lib Dem) "Will the Secretary of State confirm that the Government will stand by the whole of the coalition agreement in this area? Will she confirm that they will stand by the cancellation of the third runway at Heathrow, as she has said, will refuse additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted, and will rule out mixed mode at Heathrow?". Her reply was: "I think I have been very clear: the coalition agreement, in its entirety, stands. That is the position."
Click here to view full story...
HACAN welcomes Willie Walsh’s recognition that a 3rd runway at Heathrow is off the agenda
HACAN has welcomed the recognition by British Airways chief Willie Walsh that a 3rd runway is off the agenda at Heathrow. Walsh also ruled out mixed-mode which he said would make the situation at the airport worse. Speaking in a debate organized by the Evening Standard in Central London last night Walsh admitted that, while he had supported a 3rd runway, he now recognized that it would not be built. He said that decisions about his business were now being made on that assumption. He cited, for example, that BAA had acquired BMI in order to get more landing slots at Heathrow. HACAN applauds Willie Walsh’s honesty. When a straw poll was taken at the end of the debate a large majority of the audience voted against a 3rd runway.
Click here to view full story...
Report on the Evening Standard’s Great Heathrow Debate
The debate hosted by the Evening Standard took place last night in London had an unbalanced panel, with four speakers broadly in favour of expansion, and only one against. The speakers were Alain de Botton, Willy Walsh, CBI chief policy director Katja Hall, the Mayor’s adviser Daniel Moylan with the lone “anti-expansion” voice of the panel, Tamsin Omond leading member of Climate Rush, among other things. The debate was a missed opportunity for a high level debate, not having sufficient speakers from the opposition, but it was of a higher quality than expected. Willie Walsh confirmed that he is not expecting a third runway at Heathrow, and is not planning for it. He also agreed that the presence of a new runway would not determine whether business is attracted to London. No convincing arguments on the economics of a hub airport, or of a new runway, were put forward.
Click here to view full story...
12 areas in UK refused reprieve on air quality standard by EU (not Heathrow)
Government plans to delay air pollution improvements in 12 UK areas have been refused by the European Commission, which says air quality must improve. The UK may now face fines if it fails to improve air quality quickly. Government figures show air pollution reduces life expectancy by up to 8 months, mainly from lung problems. The pollution mainly comes from road vehicle, and around airports, a large proportion of the air pollution comes from the roads. A judgement will be made at a later date on government plans to delay meeting NO2 standards in major cities until 2020 - or in the case of London, 2025. London has the worst air of any European capital, and the UK is likely to be fined over the failure.
Click here to view full story...
BA uses its new BMI slots at Heathrow, not for emerging economies, but largely leisure destinations. As usual.
BA got 42 daily Heathrow slots from taking over BMI. And it said very publicly, in March, that it would be using these to fly to the emerging economies - in Asia, Africa and Latin America - which is part of the myth that the aviation industry is peddling at present. So what are the slots actually being used for? One flight per day to Seoul. The rest are domestic UK (Aberdeen Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester, Leeds Bradford), or Zagreb, Las Vegas, Barcelona, Marseilles, Phoenix, Zurich and Bologna - with more flights to some. So that is where the money is. So much for the allegedly desperate need for slots to fly to second tier Chinese cities. This really proves what a lot of misleading PR is being put out by BAA and the airlines at Heathrow.
Click here to view full story...
Excellent article by Simon Jenkins, in the Standard, on Heathrow etc. “It’s all about greed”.
Jenkins has seen straight through the aviation industry spin and PR, and is not remotely taken in by it. In a brilliantly written piece, this are some quotes: "BAA and BA have been wrapping themselves in the flag of “growth” and “UK plc” for years, as if Heathrow had anything to do with some wider public interest. It does not. British aviation is chiefly about shifting millions of leisure travellers, mostly British tourists going overseas" And ". A mere 13% of British airport passengers are in any sense “business”, and that embraces company junkets, conferences and trips on expenses. The industry may present Heathrow as the throbbing hub, the nerve centre, of the nation’s economy but only 30% of its passengers are in any sense “business”, which is why it is designed like a supermarket. Gatwick and Stansted are barely 15% business travellers. This whole enterprise is dedicated to inducing Britons to holiday abroad."
Click here to view full story...
Birmingham Airport Challenges UK Aviation Policy
Birmingham Airport has released a report by Paul Kehoe that, he says, challenges orthodox opinion about aviation policy in the UK. He says that t in order for the whole of Britain to capture the economic benefits of changes in global travel the Government must fully utilise existing airport infrastructure and pursue a balanced aviation strategy. The report, Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket: a challenge to aviation orthodoxy, argues that Britain needs several airports capable of delivering point-to-point connectivity to emerging markets, and the hub and spoke concept is not working well. He wants the regional airports, especially Birmingham, to expand and take the pressure off Heathrow, with the expectation that the 6 largest regional airports could add 116 million of passenger capacity to the network by 2050.
Click here to view full story...
8,000 Frankfurt protesters form a 4 km human chain to show their opposition to aircraft noise
About 8,000 protesters linked hands to form a human chain along the bank of the Main river, which they see as the boundary between the south of the city, badly affected by aircraft noise, and the quieter north. This included a massive Mexican wave along the line. Those campaigning against the noise from Frankfurt airport are calling for the extension of the ban on night flights from 2300 to 0500 or 2200 to 0600 and a cap on aircraft movements. The huge and effective German protests against aircraft noise started at Frankfurt, after the opening of the 4th runway that opened in October 2011. Now aircraft noise is being seen not as a regional problem but a national German problem, and also a European problem. Citizen groups across Germany are collaborating with each other, and with those in other countries.