Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
What the Evening Standard has been putting out recently in its Heathrow PR campaign
The Evening Standard seems to have taken it upon itself, under the editorship of Sarah Sands, to persuade Londoners and the government that a third runway at Heathrow is needed, and must be built in order to save the UK from an economic fate "worse than death". It has produced about one article per day on the subject, over the past 2 weeks or so. Even though there is no new news, and nothing new to say - other than to keep trotting out the same arguments and the same people. To keep tabs, here is an (incomplete) list of the recent articles. You wouldn't want to miss one! There are bound to be more ... we'll try and keep track with them. And there's a link to John Stewart's blog on this strange, biased, one-sided barrage of pro-Heathrow PR that the Standard has embarked upon.
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Northern Ireland Affairs Committee told NI ‘does not need two airports 14 miles apart’ in Belfast
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has been told it is not sensible for Belfast to have two airports that are just 14 miles apart. This was the evidence from BALPA, which said its members agreed Northern Ireland only needed one main airport. BALPA said the decision on whether it should be at George Best Belfast City Airport or Belfast International was a matter for politicians - and that there was currently over capacity in Northern Ireland and it was the "wrong sort of capacity". MPs have already taken evidence from representatives of both airports, as well as from City of Derry Airport and will hear more evidence next week
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Declan Collier wants to increase London City Airport passengers from 3m to 7m by 2016
Declan Collier took over as MD of London City Airport in March. He plans to expand the 130-acre site's runway area and invest in new stands as part of a drive to reach 7m passengers annually by 2016 (it handled 3.3 million at its peak in 2008). There was a serious decline in passengers since 2008, though they increased by 7% in 2011 compared to 2010, but are still only around 3 million. Collier wants to put in place an investment and infrastructure plan to facilitate growth, and this may involve new investors coming in and current infrastructure fund owners GIP and Highstar Capital diluting their holdings. There are plans to increase the number of stands from 18 to 23, and "build a new runway area to increase 'movements' from 36 to 41 an hour "and introduce a new generation of aircraft to increase passenger numbers.
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Peaceful protesters clash with police in Frankfurt at departure of pro-airport Mayor
There have been peaceful, but noisy, protests in the centre of Frankfurt, against the expansion of Frankfurt airport. The protests happened in the city centre, outside St Paul's Church were Chancellor Angela Merkel was attending the retirement ceremony for the Mayor, Petra Roth. Angela Merkel praised Petra Roth as being one of the most successful mayors in Germany. The Mayor has been in favour of expansion of Frankfurt airport and the new runway, which has been the cause of the new aircraft noise problem that so many Frankfurt citizens are suffering. This protest, by perhaps 1,000 people, who threw foam balls, let off sparklers and banged drums, was in addition to the weekly protests against the noise that take place at the airport. There were some scuffles with the heavy police presence.
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Birmingham advertising campaign and website pushing the idea they are the “solution”
Paul Kehoe, the boss of Birmingham Airport, is launching an aggressive advertising campaign across London as he hopes to claim for Birmingham a slice of London’s “overheating” aviation market. He continues to press for regional airports, like Birmingham (and Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol and Newcastle) to take on a larger share of UK passengers, from the London airports. There is a new website to push this. Kehoe says his airport and other regionals can help solve the so-called “capacity crunch” in the South East, at little extra cost. Paul Kehoe is lobbying the Government hard, to get expansion at Birmingham. He says it is only 70 minutes by train from central London to Birmingham, and this could come down to under an hour with rail upgrades. Kehoe wants the UK to have several hub airports, Birmingham being one, Manchester another, being complimentary.
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Zac Goldsmith ‘would quit as MP over Heathrow runway’
Zac Goldsmith has said he will not stand as a Conservative MP at the next election if the party supports a third runway at Heathrow. Zac, who is MP for Richmond Park and north Kingston says the focus should be on improving how Heathrow manages its flight capacity. On the BBC's Sunday Politics Show he said he said if the Conservatives stand at the next election with a manifesto which includes a third runway, a number of what are existing Conservative seats would no longer be Conservative seats in west London. Theresa Villiers has reiterated her concerns about the environmental impact of a 3rd runway and the potential for it to damage people's quality of life, and said she does not see "any technological solution on the horizon which could see us change our minds."
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Opponents of the Munich airport expansion hang “Stop the 3rd runway” banner on Siegestor tower
Campaigners from Robin Wood, and Plane Stupid Germany have carried out a spectacular action in the centre of Munich, protested against the planned third runway at the airport. They fixed banners reading “Stop the third runway madness!” on the Victory Tower (Siegestor). They also had banners saying “No on 17.6. because they are asking the electorate to vote against the construction of the runway in Erdinger Moos in the referendum on 17th June. They are also demanding a statement from Mayor Christian UDE (SPD), on how he is able to justify supporting the expansion of the airport, as well as the Festival for the environment and sustainable mobility ,as patron of Streetlife.
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Charles Dickens’ grandson on how estuary airport would ruin area made famous by Great Expectations
Charles Dickens' great-great-grandson has spoken out against plans for an estuary airport, which would ruin the marshlands and countryside made famous his ancestor. This area provided the setting for Great Expectations - one of Dickens' greatest novels. He is horrified by the plans to build on the marshland, bordering the area of Kent where Dickens lived and died. This year is the bicentenary of Dickens' birth, with a festival all weekend in celebration in north Kent of his life and work. In the opening scene of Great Expectations, Dickens describes the marshes as a "dark, flat, wilderness... intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it". Dickens loved this part of Kent, he lived and died in Higham, he took his honeymoon in Chalk and he often walked across the Marshes for inspiration.
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Rival plans for Luton Airport expansion to be merged
Not altogether surprisingly, the hitherto-separate plans produced by the airport owner and the airport operator have been combined, and the airport operator's concession to run the airport has been extended to 2031. That takes some of the urgency out of the need to produce planning applications as the 2014 break-point in the concession is no longer a factor. There is likely to now be a planning application later this summer. More details will be released when the plans are finalised in July. The new scheme is likely to have a passenger throughput up to "about 18 million a year" and an additional 40% more aircraft movements a year. However, earlier this year the operator -London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL) - said 15 million was more realistic.
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“Chocks away as Birmingham Airport hits road to London” – ad campaign
This is yet more publicity for Birmingham airport, to position itself as the solution to the airport capacity problem that is alleged for the south east. There are now roadside billboards in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire warning motorists of "Heathrow: congestion ahead" and questioning whether or not they are "Going in the right direction?" if heading to a London airport. And the strap-line of this high profile advertising campaign delivers the main message: "Birmingham makes more sense." Paul Kehoe continues his campaign to boost his airport, saying that after a £200 million investment programme, they could handle an extra 9 million passengers a year. etc