Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Ministers to ‘call in’ plan for new runway and terminal at Stansted
Ministers are expected this week to "call in" BAA's application to build a 2nd runway and 2nd terminal at Stansted airport. A public inquiry into the project is likely to start next year amid fierce opposition from environmental campaigners, local residents and local authorities. BAA proposes to create the capacity to handle 68m passengers a year, the equivalent of Heathrow, by about 2030. The first phase of the £2.5bn project could open in 2015. (FT)
Click here to view full story...
Public ‘misled’ over Heathrow pollution
The government’s adviser on air quality, Mike Pilling, has warned that ministers are "pulling the wool" over the public’s eyes to justify building a 3rd runway at Heathrow. He said the public were being misled over claims that expansion would not cause unlawful and dangerous levels of pollution, and the DfT should go back and do some more calculations. Ruth Kelly has been forced to postpone her decision on expansion, whihc had been due this summer. (Times)
Click here to view full story...
Stansted to be given permission to increase passengers numbers to 40m
Decisions on the airport are expected to be announced this week by Ruth Kelly. It is expected that BAA’s controversial plans for a 2nd runway at Stansted will be sent to a public inquiry - but they will at the same time be given permission for a big increase in passenger numbers, from the current annual cap of 25 million to 35 or 40 million. ATMs would rise to 261,000 pa. A final decision on a 2nd runway is not likely before 2011 at the earliest. (Times)
Click here to view full story...
Paul Kehoe named as new Birmingham Airport chief
Birmingham Airport has announced that its new chief executive will be Paul Kehoe, currently in charge at Bristol Airport. No date has been set for Mr Kehoe to take up his new appointment, and there is no comment about the future of the current acting managing director, Joe Kelly. Mr Kehoe was previously managing director at Luton and Belfast Airports. (Birmingham Post)
Click here to view full story...
EXETER AIRPORT’S AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR GROWTH REVEALED
Exeter airport's delayed draft master plan, which is published today and is available for public consultation until September. By 2030, they hope the airport will cater for 3 times as many passengers as now, offer more flights to Canada and the United States. There will be no new runway, but an extension of the landing strip - something which could pave the way for jumbo jets. Also a slight increases in night flights and noise. (Express & Echo)
Click here to view full story...
David Cameron goes hippy on Heathrow runway – airport economics examined
Some of the calculations behind the argument for and against expanding Heathrow. Estimates have not factored in an oil price pushing $140 a barrel. Add another runway, says OEF, and Britain would get an extra £7bn of economic benefits a year by 2030, or a boost of £2.5bn a year from "mixed mode" operations. The DfT includes £3.1bn benefits for Air Passenger Duty, which according to Theresa Villiers, makes no sense. (Telegraph)
Click here to view full story...
Southend Airport boss looks for boost
Southend Airport could soon be offering regular holiday flights to the Mediterranean, as boss Alastair Welch hopes to model the airport on the success of Southampton. Southampton, which generates £86.5million a year, has similar constraints to Southend as it is edged by housing developments and yet every year it serves almost 2 million passengers. (UK Airport News)
Click here to view full story...
Don’t run Heathrow into the ground – Richard Branson on why he thinks Heathrow needs a third runway
Richard Branson goes through the arguments why Heathrow and UK plc need a third runway - important hub, transfer flights, being left behind competition from European airports, lots of destinations, lots more holidays and business fights, massively quieter planes, massively more green planes etc etc. (Times Online)
Click here to view full story...
Rail campaigners target Heathrow’s ‘absurd’ domestic flights
The campaign for a British high-speed rail network has gained further momentum after it emerged that 2.5 million transfer passengers a year (about 4% of all passengers using the airport) fly into Heathrow airport from British destinations. Opponents of the proposals claim that the latest figures prove that many Heathrow slots are used for unnecessary flights that could be replaced by high-speed rail routes. (Guardian)
Click here to view full story...
(Stansted) Let the train take the strain
SSE is calling for major improvements in the rail service to and from Stansted Airport regardless of any plans for a 2nd runway, to which SSE remains fiercely opposed. SSE's support for rail investment comes in its response to a current DfT consultation. The proportion of airport passengers travelling to the airport by train has declined from 29% in 2004 to 24% last year. BAA makes a considerable profit from car parking. (SSE)