Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
David Cameron says Britain needs bigger airport for London
Mr Cameron's comments came in a speech in London shortly after a meeting of the so-called Quad of senior Tory and Liberal Democrat ministers to put the final touches to Wednesday's Budget. He said:"I'm not blind to the need to increase airport capacity, particularly in the south-east." "We need to retain our status as a key global hub for air travel, not just a feeder route to bigger airports elsewhere, in Frankfurt, Amsterdam or Dubai." "Yes, this will be controversial. We will need to take decisions for the long-term - and we will be bringing forward options in our aviation strategy which will include an examination of the pros and cons of a new airport in the Thames estuary." "The aviation paper that we will be producing will look at a range of options and possibilities, scope the whole issue but also look at what the estuary options are - obviously there is more than one." Hints at expansion at Gatwick.
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“The road to climate change isn’t a road. It’s a flight path.” Subvertising!
Climate Rush have been out subvertising. Subvertising means adding a slightly different message to billboards and posters, subverting the advertising. Heathrow airport has been lobbying MP’s on their way to work with posters and advertising all the way up the escalators with a £100k advertising campaign in Westminster Tube station. The billboards bear grotesque slogans including, ”The road the economic recovery isn’t a road. It’s a flight path”. And then "Which is why we need an aviation policy that doesn't restrict growth [meaning aviation growth]. Climate Rush has now modified them, to give a more climate aware message.
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Observer article on BAA, Heathrow expansion, hub airports, capacity, tax etc leading up to the consultation
"Sustainable" aviation remains an aspiration, and Heathrow continues its lobbying campaign to get its 3rd runway. Justine Greening has said there will be no new Heathrow during the life of this parliament. However, the Observer says "Despite officially ruling out Heathrow expansion, noises emanating from the Department for Transport suggest BAA's claims won't go entirely unheard." One apparent compromise could be getting more planes in and out under "mixed mode" – using both runways as air traffic controllers see fit. John Stewart said: "If you take [runway alternation] away, you could generate revolution in Richmond. It could be even more controversial than a third runway." Environmentalists are not the only ones to query the hub argument: plenty within the industry do too.
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Second consultation at Luton Airport – this time it’s the Master Plan
Back on 13th February, the London Luton Airport Ltd, that owns the airport, launched its public consultation into expansion plans, called "futureLuToN:Optimisation”. This consultation ends on 25th March. But on 14th March, the operators of the airport, London Luton Airport Operations Ltd (LLAOL) launched their own consultation on a new, draft Master Plan, prior to submission of a planning application. This Master Plan consultation ends on 25th April. Both consultations are to increase the number of flights greatly, with the LLAOL proposal anticipating 15- 16 million passengers per year eventually, which is lower than the London Luton Airport Ltd plans. The plans appear to be relatively similar, neither propose extending the runway, and both are unconvincing on noise - which is bound to get significantly worse for all those overflown, with almost doubling of flights.
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Jury still out on Heathrow operational freedom trials
Heathrow has been running its 'operational freedoms' trial for several months, from November 2011 to February 2012. This is the first of two trial periods, with the second during the Olympics, from July to September this year. BAA produces results of the trials, and a daily report, which are very difficult indeed to interpret. The trials are to allow Heathrow to use both runways for takes offs or landings, if a delay builds up, so flights do not suffer more than a minimum delay. It appears that an average of 23 aircraft landed on the ‘wrong’ runway each day during the first two months of the ‘operational freedom’ trials at Heathrow, which compares to a daily average of 12 during the same period in 2010. The number of complaints received by BAA rose significantly but more analysis is being carried out on the reason for this.
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Durham Tees Valley airport lobby to get Public Service Obligation route to London
Phil Wilson, the Labour MP for Sedgefield, will table an amendment to legislation currently before MPs to require airlines to maintain routes if investment and jobs depend on it. He wants to revive air links to London from regional airports such as struggling Durham Tees Valley. The idea will also be put to Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers when a delegation, led by Mr Wilson, meets her on April 24, to discuss the Durham Tees Valley Airport problems. He wants the committee considering the Civil Aviation Bill to examine the possibility of a clause, which would require an obligation to continue to fly because of the impact on the Tees Valley of withdrawing flights to London.
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Frankfurt night flights between 11pm and 5am to be banned
The Frankfurt campaigners have won a partial night flight ban at Frankfurt in the teeth of opposition from the airlines and the regional government. The local government had allowed 17 flights per night between 11pm and 5am. The High Court has now ruledt ht there is a ban on all flights between 11pm and 5am. The number of hours of the ban is similar to the one that operates, in theory, at Heathrow (11.30 – 4.30) but it is a significant achievement for the campaigners. There can still be a total of 133 flights over the full period of 10pm to 6am - so during the periods of 10 - 11pm and 5 - 6am. The campaigners at Frankfurt say: "This Frankfurt decision will encourage you all at Paris, London and Amsterdam, but as well at Madrid, Barcelona and other airports of Europe. Frankfurt will be the first big Hub having a night flight restrictions!"
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Munich now Europe’s 6th busiest airport, overtaking Rome; decision on 3rd runway to be made in June
Munich airport is Lufthansa's 2nd largest base in Germany after Frankfurt. A third runway has been proposed for the airport and last week, a variety of supporters from across the political and business spectrum got together to promote the benefits of an additional runway. A decision is due in June as to whether the airport can proceed with its plans. Campaigners are getting organised to oppose the planned building of a new 3rd runway at Munich. The case for a new runway there is weak because the existing runways are nowhere near capacity, most of the flights from Munich are domestic so could transfer to rail, and there is very low unemployment in the area.
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New York: Jamaica Bay residents oppose plans for JFK airport to expand
Last year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did a study on how to expand capacity at its airports amid warnings the region could lose billions of dollars in economic opportunity in the coming decade if travelers fly somewhere else. This sounds so like London and Heathrow …… New York Port Authority study projected […]
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New GLA report “Plane Speaking” – Tackling air and noise pollution around a growing Heathrow
In a report the GLA Environment Committee calls on the Government to adopt a new method of measuring aircraft noise. It found that the method recommended by the EU more accurately reflects noise disturbance. Under the method traditionally used by the UK Government, just over 250,000 people are said to be disturbed by noise from Heathrow. But the EU method puts the figure at 725,000. HACAN welcomes the report and urges the Government to take account of its findings. The current way of measuring noise says planes are not a problem in places like Putney or Fulham! This is clearly untrue. The EU method gives a more accurate picture of the true numbers affected by noise. In a wide-ranging report, the Committee also recommended that the noise measurements from Heathrow and London City Airport should be combined to reflect the way people who live under both flight paths hear the noise.