Airport News

Below are news items relating to specific airports

 

Tories have accepted over £290,000 in donations in kind from UK airports

Airport operators have lavished Britain’s last three prime ministers with VIP services worth more than £200,000 since the 2019 election, analysis by openDemocracy has found. Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May are among the Conservative MPs who have accepted more than £275,000 in donations-in-kind from airport operators, while Conservative Party HQ has also taken more than £13,500 in donations from airport operators.  This is mainly in the form of luxury suites at the airports, with chauffeurs, meals etc. It comes as the government signals its backing for airport expansions, in contrast with advice from its own climate advisers, the Climate Change Commission, that adding runways to Heathrow and Gatwick would be incompatible with the UK’s net zero goals. The Department of Transport told openDemocracy it was “supportive of airport expansion where it can be delivered in a sustainable way”.  There can be little doubt that these gifts in kind to politicians are to make the recipients favourable to aviation sector expansion plans. Other named Tory MPs have accepted gifts in kind from airports.

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Planning Inspectorate approves Liverpool airport expansion plans

The UK Planning Inspectorate has granted Liverpool John Lennon airport’s (LJLA) Lawful Development Certificate (LDC) appeal for a large area of land that is to be utilised for the continued expansion of the airport.  The local Council, Halton, rejected the airport’s initial LDC application, once it became aware of the actual facts behind the loss of the land.  The airport plans 14 acres of solar panels east of Dungeon Lane, the energy from which will be used by the airport. However, the airport appealed and this may been influenced by politics. Local campaigners are devastated at this news, since the evidence against the airport expansion in the case was damming.  The solar farm is part of a wider £100m project by the airport. Other components of the initiative include a new road for the airport, a large warehouse to the south of the airport, expansion of the existing terminal, and extension of the runway.

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Gatwick airport expansion: people have till 29th October to register to be an “interested party”

Gatwick  has now had its expansion plans - to convert its emergency runway into a full runway, for take-offs only - accepted by the Planning Inspectorate.  This is part of the DCO process (Development Consent Order) as the Gatwick expansion is called as a project of national significance.  So the plans will go into the examination process, by which organisations and members of the public can give their opinion on the plans.  This means submitting evidence and applying to appear at the public hearings. The cut off date to register to be an "interested party" is  Sunday, October 29th. That means people can give their opinion at a later date.  People can register online.  After October, 29 the Planning Inspectorate then has 6 months to carry out an examination. During this time registered commentators will be invited to give further details about why they have responded in the way they did. The inspectorate's report will then be sent to the relevant Secretary of State, who will make the decision to grant or refuse development consent.

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CMA upholds CAA cut to Heathrow’s landing fees

The UK competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has provisionally upheld a ruling to force Heathrow to cut its landing fees in a long-running dispute between airlines and the airport.  The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the industry regulator, in March ordered the airport to cut its charges to airlines from £31.57 per passenger to £25.43 from next year.  Both sides lodged appeals with the CMA, as Heathrow wanted there to be no cut and airlines wanted a larger cut. The CMA's recent provisional ruling found “the CAA was not wrong in most of [its] decisions”.  It noted  that the CAA was “wrong in relation to one small element” of the calculation it made for an allowance for exceptional events that might reduce passenger numbers, and it had not fully taken into account the impact of Covid on air travel demand. But the CMA said these were expected to have “only a small net impact” on the level of the charges.  The CMA will make its final ruling on October 17th.

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People should have their say on Stansted noise – by 28th August

Stansted Airport is currently consulting on its Noise Action Plan (‘NAP’) for the next 5 years. Members of the public are free to comment either on the airport’s proposals or by simply putting forward their own proposals for reducing Stansted's noise impacts. Stansted Airport Watch (‘SAW’) strongly encourages local residents, parish and town councils and others to have their say on the draft Stansted NAP, but time is short because the consultation closes at midnight on Monday 28 August 2023.  All major UK airports have a legal duty to produce noise action plans every five years and to consult the public about their proposals for limiting the noise impacts of their operations.  SAW's Martin Peached said of the NAP that "it lacks ambition. It contains 50 so-called “actions” but these are generally of a minor issue and many are quite meaningless. All too often Stansted Airport only gives a commitment “to consider”, “to review”, “to monitor” or “to discuss”, and so on. The commitments need to be much more meaningful and more ambitious.”  SAW gives details for people wanting to comment about issues such as night flights, reverse thrust on landing and the noisiest planes.

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Official opening for Southampton runway extension on 21st September

The first plane has taken off from the newly extended runway at Southampton airport.  The extension will allow larger planes, to more destinations, for more passengers.  They will largely be people flying abroad on holidays. The runway extension was fiercely opposed, but finally upheld by the Court of Appeal.  Construction of the extension began in April 2023.  An official opening will take place on September 21st.

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Gatwick Airport’s two-runway expansion plans that would double its capacity

Gatwick's Development Consent Order (DCO) papers have been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, and can be seen by the public. The DCO hearing will probably last for about 6 months, and start by the end of 2023. The airport’s current annual capacity is 32.8million passengers. It wants to double that by building space for an extra 100,000 flights a year, partly by making even more use of its one full runway, and by changing the emergency runway, so it can handle take-offs (it is too short for landings). The project "would also include the development of supporting infrastructure and facilities to enable increased capacity at Gatwick airport to service 75 million passengers per year by 2038". Final sign off will be decided by the Secretary of State.  There is a consortium of 10 local councils (Tandridge, Crawley, East Sussex, Horsham, Kent CC, Mid Sussex, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Surrey CC and West Sussex CC that is opposed to the expansion plans. They had significant concerns about the poor initial consultation, and poor engagement with the public, by Gatwick before the application was submitted.

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Heathrow asks airlines to carry excess fuel despite carbon impact

Airlines flying to Heathrow have been told to carry as much fuel as possible in their tanks because of supply problems at the airport, between Sunday 23 July to Monday 31 July.  Also to take off without too much fuel, loaded from Heathrow.  For planes to fly to Heathrow with more fuel than necessary means they are heavier, and therefore burn more jet fuel. That increases CO2 emissions.  Fuel tankering, ie. buying more fuel than needed at an airport where it is cheaper, should be discouraged due to the higher CO2 footprint.  The airport declined to comment on the cause of the supply issue. It does not have day-to-day control over fuel supply, which is handled instead by Heathrow Hydrant Operating Company and Heathrow Airport Fuel Company, which are both owned by consortiums of oil companies.  So large is the demand for fuel for Heathrow that it requires a constant supply transported via pipeline from ExxonMobil’s Fawley refinery near Southampton.  ExxonMobil is also building a replacement pipeline to the airport.

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New NEF report indicates UK airport growth and air travel growth do not boost the economy

A new report, by Dr Alex Chapman of the New Economics Foundation, sets out the real environmental downsides of the growth in flight numbers.  It shows that the the sector has no realistic way to cut its carbon emissions. And contrary to the apparent impression given by the industry and the UK government, the economic assumptions that underpin support for growth in air travel are dated and have not been reviewed for some years. Contrary to expectations, growth in business passenger numbers has effectively ceased and new passengers now derive exclusively from the leisure market. Though there are social benefits from flying on holidays or to visit friends and family, these may be largely for a minority - and the negative impacts are felt by far more.  The airline sector is one of the poorest job creators in the economy per £ of revenue. Two decades of evidence confirms that air transport growth runs counter to the interests of the UK’s domestic tourism industry, as far more money is taken out of the country than brought into it. The net national effect is a large travel spending deficit which contributes to the UK’s overall current account deficit. There is an urgent need for new, comprehensive UK aviation policy, and assessment of impacts of its future growth.

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Heathrow, consultation on Noise Action Plan, called to act on noise disturbance

People around Heathrow are being asked to respond to a public consultation on how to limit noise disturbance coming from the Airport. Its Noise Action Plan 2024-28 is, in theory, trying to devise a strategy for how it aims to limit disturbance caused to those living nearby. The strategy is required by law, and the Airport administration is currently running a consultation on its proposals. It aims to develop a preferential night route trial for planes aimed at providing predictable periods of respite from night operations.  It also proposes work on a Noise Insulation Scheme (NIS), which provides noise insulation for households and community buildings, with first beneficiaries set to be contacted this October.  The West Windsor Residents Association (WWRA) which has concerns about the health impacts of the noise and sleep disturbance caused, which cause more illness, earlier death, reduced work performance, and impaired learning. WWRA councillor, Wisdom Da Costa, has encouraged people to report noise disturbances at night directly to Heathrow, which can be made using an online form, by email to noise@heathrow.com or by calling 0800 344844.

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