Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Qantas trials used cooking oil from SkyNRG (Netherlands) in biofuels flight
Qantas will use recycled American cooking oil to help power a biofuel trial flight tomorrow (13th April). The aircraft will use a mix of biofuel and conventional jet fuel for the Sydney-Adelaide return service. Produced by Dutch firm SkyNRG, the fuel has been used by several other airlines. Qantas claims its "life cycle" carbon footprint is around 60% smaller than that of conventional jet fuel. It is part of a long-term plan to reduce a fuel bill that totalled A$3.6 billion last year. Last year they were enthusiastic about algal biofuel, but there is no mention of that now.
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British Airways to axe 1,200 jobs in bmi takeover
BA says it has began consultation with trade unions on the integration of the loss-making airline, bmi. IAG was given regulatory clearance to buy bmi from the European Commission 2 weeks ago. Bmi is losing more than £3m a week, is not a viable business, and, without the acquisition, was facing closure with the potential loss of all 2,700 UK based jobs. The consultation proposes the full integration of bmi mainline into BA securing approximately 1,500 jobs. The integration proposals could result in up to 1,200 redundancies. Jobs secured under the proposals include the transfer to BA of around 1,100 cabin crew, pilots and engineers based at Heathrow and up to 400 passenger services jobs at Heathrow Terminal 1. The UK redundancies will mainly be at Castle Donington and at regional airports.
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IAG keeps 42 pairs of slots at Heathrow out of the 56 acquired from bmi
ABA's parent company, IAG, has to give up 14 pairs of daily take-off and landing slots at Heathrow, in order for its take-over of bmi to be approved. BA gains 56 pairs of slots per day, so without the 14, is gaining 42 pairs, which will be used to expand BA's operations at Heathrow with new destinations and more schedules. Seven of the relinquished Heathrow slots must be sold to operators providing flights to Edinburgh and Aberdeen. IAG must also provide competitors with access to seats on its UK and European services, allowing airlines such as Virgin to book journeys for passengers who wish to transfer on to its long-haul flights. Completion of the sale of bmi by Lufthansa is anticipated to take place around 20 April. Walsh said IAG would operate bmi's published schedule in the short-term but soon expand IAG's long-haul network, announcing new destinations in Asia.
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Two local farmers from Nantes and local politician on hunger strike against the planned airport
The campaigners against the proposed new NantesAirport just outside the city at Notre-Dames-des-Landes have entered Nantes with sheep and tractors and “plan to stay a while” ! They are supporting two peasant farmers who have gone on hunger strike because they have had papers served for the compulsory purchase their land to make way for the airport. What is particularly dreadful about this is the fact that the authorities who want to build the airport are still facing legal challenges from the campaigners. If these legal challenges are successful, the airport make be stopped but peasant farmers will have lost their land and their livelihood.
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Manston’s night flight proposals are opposed by 73% (by 89% of those under flight path)
The majority of people living near Manston Airport are against plans to operate more night flights, research by Thanet District Council has suggested. They say 73% of 2,000 residents questioned were against the proposal of the owners, Infratil. People cited potential noise levels and disturbance to sleep as their primary reasons for objecting. The airport is desperate to get some night flights for freight, to try and make a bit of money, and say they have to be given some "flexibility". The Thanet District Council report goes to Cabinet on Thursday 10th May and will then be considered at an Extraordinary meeting of Full Council on Thursday 24th May. Canterbury City councillors have concluded that flights between 23:00 and 07:00 were ‘not justified’ given strong opposition from Herne Bay residents, and they will submit a formal objection.
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British Airways plans to cut almost 600 jobs at Gatwick Airport
Almost 600 BA employees at Gatwick could lose their jobs or be transferred to another company as part of BA plans to cut costs. It plans to cut 170 customer service and management support jobs and outsource 400 ramp worker roles. The jobs it plans to outsource include baggage, de-icing and coaching operations, and the arrivals baggage service. BA has begun consultation with unions over the plans. The GMB said the announcement was a "disaster for staff morale". Unite said the plans were "extremely worrying" and called for the airline to guarantee no compulsory redundancies. BA is the only airline operating out of Gatwick with its own ground staff workforce. BA overall employed 7.7% fewer staff in 2010 than in 2009.
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Emirates wants to be allowed to fly A380s over London at night except 1 – 4am
Emirates wants to be allowed to land its A380s at Heathrow, at night, except 1 - 4am. The number of night flights - which are deeply hated by tens or hundreds of thousands of London residents, whose sleep is disturbed by the noise - is around 16 per night, between 23:30 and 06:00, and those flights are mainly between 04:15 and 06:00. Emirates claims is A380s are quieter than most 747s on take off and landing, but the difference is small. To someone sleeping below the flight path, it is still a noisy plane going overhead, even if it is a fraction less noisy. Emirates wants to land at an angle of 5.5 degrees, rather than the usual glideslope of 3 degrees, so making less noise further from the runway. There is due to be a night flights consultation starting later this year - hence the Emirates hopes.
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Frankfurt night flight ban between 11pm and 5am upheld by higher court
A German court on Wednesday ruled in favor of a night flight ban at Frankfurt airport, Europe's third busiest, dealing a blow to German flagship airline Lufthansa and airport operator Fraport. Lufthansa says it needs Frankfurt night flights so its cargo operations can compete with fast-growing Gulf airports and it will be hit financially if there is a ban. In 2009 the local government said it would allow 17 flights between 11 pm and 5am from the end of October 2011 on economic grounds. Then residents under the flight paths took the case to court. Their complaint was upheld in October by a local court just before the opening of the 4th runway. Now a judge at a higher court in Leipzig confirmed the ban and said the federal state of Hesse must make a new decision on whether to allow night flights. This will have implications for other European airports like Paris Charles de Gaulle and Heathrow.
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Birmingham LEP chairman wants Heathrow 3rd runway as well as Birmingham airport growth
The Chairman of the Birmingham Local Enterprise Partnership, Andy Street, who is also MD of John Lewis, is a key member of the organisation called London First, which produced a report in Feb 2012, wanting a 3rd Heathrow runway, mixed mode on both Heathrow runways, as well as a new hub airport, more lax planning restrictions, and public subsidy for aviation. As well as pushing for growth at Birmingham airport, Mr Street is also pushing for a new Heathrow runway, and has somewhat upset his colleagues in Birmingham by not seeing "the issue from a national perspective and neglects the valuable role regional airports can play in satisfying this demand in both the short and long term.”
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Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith warns of Heathrow expansion backlash
Zac has warned that a Government u-turn on Heathrow expansion would have “crushing political ramifications” for his party. He says if the Tories back reconsideration of a third Heathrow runway, it would be an “unbearable betrayal” for the 2 million residents living under the flight paths - and he threatened to resign if the Conservative Party went back on its pre-election pledge to block Heathrow expansion. He appreciated that the Heathrow controversy helped him win his Richmond seat, one of the biggest victories for the Conservatives in the 2010 election. Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham, declined to say this week whether he would quit if the Government reconsidered a third runway.