Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Transport Minister orders Public Inquiry of Southend Airport runway extension road closure
Date added: 25 February, 2011
Philip Hammond has called a Public Inquiry into the Stopping Up (closure) of
Eastwoodbury Lane. SAEN learned the news in a letter from the National Transport
Casework Team. The Minister’s decision was taken in the light of objections to
the Stopping Up order from members of the public, including members of SAEN. The
closure of the road essential to the airport’s plan to extend its runway. The
economic, environmental and social costs of the road closure outweigh any benefit
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Group claims London City Airport’s Crash Zone “Corporate Conspiracy of Silence”
Date added: 25 February, 2011
Questions have been raised about why London City Airport did not raise objections
to the planned cable car due to its route passing through the Public Safety Zone.
The Cable Car is a joint application between Transport for London and the London
Development Agency from whom London City Airport have received £millions in taxpayer
subsidies. Newham council appears to have omitted important details on the PSZ
in their approval.
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East Midlands Airport “is a step closer to providing its own bio-fuel to power terminal”
Date added: 24 February, 2011
More than 390,000 trees will be planted by the aiport on land near Castle Donington,
which covers about 32 hectares. The first of 3 phases of planting started March
2010 and the airport hopes to harvest its first crop in 2013. The willow will
be used in a bio-mass boiler, due to be fitted in 2012 – and save 350 tonnes of
CO2 per year (about the same as 10 planes on return flights to Greece). The airport
hopes to become "carbon-neutral" (ignoring the flights).
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Lydd Airport: local resident group sends simple message to the Secretary of State: “This is an inappropriate site for a regional airport”
Date added: 23 February, 2011
The Lydd Airport Action Airport Group (LAAG) QC, Matthew Horton told the Lydd
Airport Public Inquiry at the Tuesday 22nd February opening session: “A simple
common sense approach would dictate that Lydd Airport is an inappropriate site
for a regional airport, direction to this effect should have been given much earlier
in the planning and regulatory process. We would like this simple message to be
conveyed to the secretary of state.”
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Nuclear risk from plane crashes is higher than estimated, Lydd inquiry shows
Date added: 23 February, 2011
The risk that planes will crash into nuclear plants and release potentially lethal
clouds of radioactivity is significantly higher than official estimates, according
to expert evidence to the Lydd airport expansion public inquiry. Studies submitted to the inquiry cast doubt on assurances from the government's
HSE that the dangers of accidental plane crashes are too small to worry about,
and could underestimate the risk by 20%. (Guardian)
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Plane Stupid demo at Manchester airport increased emissions, court hears
Date added: 22 February, 2011
The trial of the 6 Manchester climate protestors continues. The court heard that
during the 30 minutes when the airport was closed, the protest about aviation
carbon emissions actually led to an increase in pollution. Allegedly the delay
caused burning £1,500 extra fuel as the Monarch plane left late and attempted
to make up lost time and 6 planes were diverted elsewhere. The protestors were
tired of being "fobbed off" by the airport on climate issues.
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Hammond lends an ear to jet din protest in Egham and Thorpe
Date added: 18 February, 2011
A public meeting to discuss the growing frustration at aircraft noise over Egham,
Egham Hythe and Thorpe has been called by Transport Sec and Runnymede & Weybridge
MP Philip Hammond. Research carried out by residents attributes the increased noise to Heathrow's
policy of using fewer take-off flight paths and restricting the aircraft to a
narrower band of space. Aircraft flying lower and the increase in flights at Heathrow are also blamed.
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Jo Johnson MP opposes Biggin Hill airport plans
Date added: 17 February, 2011
Jo has said he is “strongly opposed” to the airport’s plans to seek changes to
its Lease, and has said so in his submission to the consultation. He feels running scheduled services and carrying individual fare paying passengers requires
the explicit permission of Bromley Council, as landlord. If these restrictions
are lifted, even if temporarily for the Olympics, the Council risks undermining
a key point of principle and getting larger, noisier planes.
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NOT GUILTY of annoying the airport by complaining for 4 years about Gatwick aircraft noise
Date added: 16 February, 2011
An elderly lady, Ann Jones, was recently arrested, at the instigation of Gatwick Airport, for lodging too many complaints with the airport noise complaints line. She was charged with the criminal offence of using a telephone to cause annoyance or anxiety – although she only spoke to an airport answerphone set up to receive noise complaints. She was taken to court but found not guilty. GACC said it was a disgrace the case had ever been brought, wasting public money. Ann Jones had adopted the tactic of ringing the airport answerphone each time she heard a plane. Although unusual, the court decided that this was not illegal. As Ann said: “What is the point of having a complaints service if one can’t use it to complain?”
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Arab millionaire’s plan for Kent airport meets mass opposition as Inquiry starts
Date added: 16 February, 2011
The Lydd airport inquiry has started and may run for 13 weeks. The airport, which
handled only 588 commercial passengers in 2009, aims to upgrade its facilities
to allow regular flights by planes as large as Boeing 737s. Environmental and
tourism groups have voiced fierce opposition. There were 12,000 objectors to the
original application, including the RSPB, whose Dungeness reserve lies close to
the airport's flight path.
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