Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Third runway shows what our leaders believe in
Agreement on a 3rd runway at Heathrow may become, literally, one of the most costly environmental decisions ever made. It sets a trajectory for aviation to emit more than a third of the UK's greenhouse gas emission quota by the middle of this century. This will limit the options for growth of our domestic industries, energy infrastructure and agriculture. It will also seriously damage our international standing on climate policy. (Scotsman)
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Frankfurt To Get Fourth Runway With Limits
Frankfurt's international airport has been cleared for expansion by Hesse's Administrative Supreme Court. The airport can soon begin to build a 4th runway north of the current airport perimeter with an opening date of 2012. Fraport and Lufthansa also have to deal with the court's preliminary statement that the planned night flight restrictions are not far reaching enough. The 4th runway will only be used for landings to take into account noise, (Aviation Week)
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Heathrow runway ready by 2015 under new laws
The new runway could be built 5 years earlier than expected as Government rushes the process to prevent opponents from blocking it. The £9 billion expansion, which will increase Heathrow’s capacity by almost 50%, is likely to be one of the first considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission, due to be appointed this year. The inquiry will be much shorter and simply consider whether the application complies with Government aviation policy. (Times)
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BAA given Heathrow runway deadline
BAA must accelerate its plan to build a 3rd runway at Heathrow under government proposals. Ministers said the 3rd runway should come into operation as soon as possible after 2015. Both BAA and BA had insisted a 3rd runway was unlikely to be in use before 2020. Hoon wants it brought forward to be operational "early in the period between 2015 and 2020". It is likely to take up to 2 years to prepare the planning application. The cost is estimated at £9bn. (FT)
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MP John McDonnell is suspended to the cheers of an admiring kingdom
Fists clenched, John McDonnell advanced down the Commons gangway towards Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and was so darn angry, his jaw twitching with such (completely understandable) fury, that for a moment I thought, ‘oh boy, he’s going to hit him -he’s going to thwup Hoon on the hooter!’ Sadly it did not quite come to that, richly though the evasive Hoon deserved it. (Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail).
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DfT releases Heathrow consultation responses – showing an overwhelming NO
The public overwhelmingly said "No" to Heathrow expansion during the Government consultation held last year. Of the nearly 70,000 consultation responses, only a little over 8,000 wanted any form of expansion. That is just 11%. Noise and air pollution were the biggest concerns, with nearly half the respondents expressing worries about these issues. There were 306 responses from aviation and airline companies but only 241 from all other businesses. (HACAN)
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Geoff Hoon’s ministerial statement on Heathrow on 15th January
The Department for Transport have released the text of Geoff Hoon's statement in the Commons, and also the results of the consultation last year. Full text available.
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Stop Stansted Expansion demonstration at 2nd Runway Inquiry meeting
People from across the region will demonstrate their opposition to plans for a ‘quick and dirty’ public inquiry into BAA’s planning application for a 2nd runway at Stansted Airport. Their protest will be at the start of an Inquiry Programming Meeting on Monday, 19 January. There will be a colourful display to make clear to the inquiry Inspector,that the Inquiry must not be rushed through and must be subject to a thorough, fair and transparent process. (SSE)
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Opponents vow to fight plan for Heathrow third runway
A coalition of opposition parties, protesters and green groups are warning there will be a long and bitter struggle to secure the expansion of Heathrow after giving the go-ahead to controversial plans for a third runway. Environmental groups dismissed a string of last-minute concessions won by cabinet ministers who had doubts about the £9bn project. Opponents said Gordon Brown's reputation on green issues was in tatters. (Independent)
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Hoon gives go-ahead for new Heathrow runway
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon has told MPs in Parliament that the government has approved plans to build a 3rd runway. The Cranford agreement will end. The Tories called it a "bleak day for the environment" and said they would "fight it every step of the way". the debate was halted when local Labour MP John McDonnell shouted "disgrace" as the transport secretary said MPs would not get a vote on the decision. After refusing requests to end his protest he was ordered out of the Commons and suspended for a week. (BBC)