Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Residents around 6 Dutch airports set up new group opposing aviation expansion
The people living around 6 Dutch airports joined forces to fight against what they consider the undesirable growth of aviation in the Netherlands. On Tuesday they established a national residents' council on aviation called LBBL (National Residents' Council on Aviation - in Dutch Landelijk Bewonersberaad Luchtvaart). It is calling on the government to prioritise the health of people, the environment and the climate in their plans for aviation in the country. They want train connections with competitive prices, that will make short European flights unnecessary. The LBBL was formed by residents associations from areas around Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Lelystad Airport, Maastricht Aachen Airport, Eindhoven Airport and Groningen Airport Eelde. LBBL already has a first action day planned - on June 23rd, with a national protest against aviation growth in various cities across the Netherlands.
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Edinburgh airport overtakes Heathrow on number of domestic air passengers, though numbers falling overall for both
Heathrow has been trying to curry favour with regional airports, implying that they will get links to Heathrow if there is a 3rd runway. The reality is that many domestic flights are not profitable, and can only be maintained if subsidised by the industry or by government. Now figures show that Heathrow no longer has the largest number of domestic air passengers, having fallen behind Edinburgh. In the past 12 years the number of passengers on domestic flights, to or from Heathrow, has fallen by 28% - while overall passenger numbers rose by 26% (Heathrow and the airlines prefer to use the slots for more profitable flights). In 2017 it handled just over 13,000 domestic passengers per day, compared with over 18,000 in 2005. It now subsidises domestic passengers by £15 per trip. There has been a fall in domestic passengers using Edinburgh too, but only of 14% - so it has overtaken Heathrow. Eight domestic airports are currently served from Heathrow. The only route to have been lost since 2005 is Durham Tees Valley, though frequency has dropped on many routes. Edinburgh airport says with its 12 direct long haul destinations, more passengers can avoid having to travel via Heathrow. Edinburgh airport (owned by GIP) is opposed to a Heathrow 3rd runway.
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Unknown airport operator company ‘very interested’ in talks with Tees Valley Mayor about running Durham Tees Valley
In a key election pledge of the Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, to take an airport into public ownership is now another step closer to becoming reality. Mr Houchen said a confidential agreement is in place with a private "well-known established airport operator" which is "very interested" in running Durham Tees Valley Airport. There have been discussions with the current majority owner of the airport, Peel, that have progressed so far that a "non-disclosure agreement" has been signed, indicating that negotiations have reached a detailed and delicate stage. Mr Houchen said: "It is all in the balance at the moment - we are making some really serious progress with Peel, and the significance of that and signing the non-disclosable agreement shows we are in an advanced stage of talks. ... we have to make sure we have an experienced well-established airport operator to actually run it, and we do have that confidentially agreement in place with a well-established private sector operator who is very interested in coming along on the journey with us to make sure Teesside Airport is what we all think it should be."
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Local campaign gets Glasgow airport to pay up to £8 million to sound insulate 800 badly affected homes
Glasgow Airport is to pay out up to £8m over the next 5 years to help with noise insulation costs for the 800 homes near its runway. The assistance packages, worth around £10,000 per home, will be used to help pay for triple glazing and loft insulation. Recent studies showed aircraft noise levels experienced at night by residents in some areas exceeded substantially the safe levels approved by the World Health Organisation. However they were deemed not high enough to allow properties to qualify for compensation. The airport's owner, AGS Airports, has agreed to reduce the qualifying level for support to homes experiencing the noise, from 66 decibels to 63dB. The effort to improve the situation, particularly in Whitecrook, Clydebank, where the worst levels were recorded, has been driven by a long running campaign by SNP MSP, Gil Paterson. Allegedly the insulation in the loft cut the noise level in a bedroom below to 50dB. when it had been 63dB, with the noise outside at 84dB. It is claimed that upgrading double glazing to triple glazing further cut the noise to 45dB (as long as no window opened ..... and still deafening in the garden ....)
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Residents near Heathrow face MONTHS of noise as over 1,000 boreholes will be drilled – even before a 3rd runway gets government go-ahead
People living near Heathrow are facing 4 months of "noise and disruption" as more than 1,000 boreholes are drilled into the ground to see if it is suitable for building a third runway, investigating the water table etc. Hillingdon Council has issued the warning to residents living in the south of the borough they will have to put up with the drilling, even before a decision to approve expansion has been made by the government. There is a presumption that Heathrow will be given permission to expand, though this has not even been voted through in Parliament yet. The council says it has sought to prevent the proposed works on its land on behalf of residents, but its protest was overruled by the Secretary of State (Chris Grayling). The council said: “There will be increased noise and disruptive activity by Heathrow Airport contractors working on borehole sites on land identified for possible Heathrow expansion." Work was due to begin on April 30 and last for approximately four months. It is to be carried out by Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) and involves ground investigations in Harmondsworth and Sipson. The drilling does not require planning permission to proceed and each borehole will be worked on for a maximum of 4 days.
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Possible £1m of public money in Durham Tees Valley Airport deal to bring in new flights
A £1m deal sweetener to attract airlines to Durham Tees Valley Airport has been recommended for approval. Dubbed the “Air Connectivity Facility”, the deal requires airlines bid for a seven figure sum in return for strengthening ties with the beleaguered airport. The money would be paid out by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) over three years, if the plan is given the green light this week. The money is being offered to help strengthen ties with airlines, and get more flights using the airport. A meeting of the TCVA discussed the possibility of a deal in February with public money earmarked to help reduce the risks for airlines looking to branch out. The importance of flights to Schipol Airport (Amsterdam) from the airport were stressed. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen backed the deal, saying this was a key part of his "longer-term plan if we get hold of the airport.” Passenger numbers are tiny, and fell from 140,902 people in 2015 to 132,369 in 2016. A report on the £1m fund proposal pointed out the airport’s perilous predicament with the continuing decline of the airport labelled a “significant risk” to the region’s economy.
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Gordon Dewar (CEO of Edinburgh airport): MSPs mistaken to back Heathrow ‘monopoly’ that harms Scottish airports
Gordon Dewar (CEO of Edinburgh airport, with same owners - GIP - as Gatwick, so not a fan of Heathrow expansion) says the Scottish Government made a mistake when it supported Heathrow’s third runway, which will create a “huge monopoly” in the South East and undermine Scotland’s airports. He says while Heathrow is spending a lot of time and money trying to get Scottish backing for its 3rd runway, the reality is that allowing Heathrow to become bigger would be "to the detriment of Scotland’s airports and Scottish travellers, and those around the UK for that matter." He says while - in order to secure the Scottish Government’s support - Heathrow's CEO John Holland-Kaye made a number of promises "about the appointment of Scottish suppliers and the use of Prestwick Airport as a logistics hub. He also promised 16,000 jobs, £200m of construction spend and £10m of cash to support route development in and out of Scotland." ....Dewar says those backing Heathrow's runway should "ask how those promises are being delivered and what safeguards are in place to ensure that they are." (None?)
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Boss of Dubai Airports shows just how callous his industry is: wants Heathrow open 24/7 regardless of noise…
Heathrow and its airlines are extremely unwilling to get rid of night flights, regardless of how much health damage (and reduction in quality of life) they cause to people overflown. Now Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, shows clearly just how little the industry cares about the welfare of residents, or the opinions of those negatively affected by his industry. Talking to the Independent, he asked: "Why is the UK persisting with all these restrictions on operating hours? .... imagine all that investment, all that amazing infrastructure sitting idle for a third of the day [which, of course, it is not - flights operate till after 11pm and start at 4.30am...] " He seems to want people to believe that new "quieter" aircraft (only marginally less noisy than those now) will make all the difference ... He also wants Heathrow to work in “mixed mode” for both runways, to get the maximum number of flights. The naked, uncaring, unreconstructed capitalism is stark. MPs take note - this is the sort of man who runs airlines, and wants Heathrow to do their bidding, at the expense of Londoners etc. [Akbar Al Baker, Heathrow board member and CEO of Qatar Airways, did the same in 2014 - to Heathrow's embarrassment...]
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DfT started search for companies to bid for 2 construction projects to link Heathrow to the Great Western Mail Line (WRLtH)
The government has begun the search for companies to finance and construct a £900m rail line linking Heathrow to the Great Western Main Line. The DfT has published a prior information notice for companies to deliver two construction packages that will make up the proposed 6.5 km Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH). Package A requires the construction of two twin-bored tunnels and a 5 km line that will connect to Heathrow T5’s existing rail tunnels. A DfT notice was sent out to gauge market appetite for the construction, finance and maintenance of package A, showing the government favours a public-private partnership (PPP). A second package involves the construction of a tunnel at Langley Junction near Stevenage that will connect the line to the existing Great Western Main Line. Package B is expected to be funded and managed conventionally through Network Rail. The DfT is aiming for work to begin during Network Rail’s CP6 funding period, which runs from 2019 to 2024. The project is expected to complete by 2027.
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Election candidates line up to support campaign against Heathrow expansion
150 candidates standing for the local elections on Thursday 3 May have lined up to back the campaign opposing expansion Heathrow. The election pledge issued by No 3rd Runway Coalition, to candidates, called for their support for the campaign against Heathrow expansion - if they are elected later this week. 81 candidates from Hillingdon and 65 candidates from Hounslow have had their pictures taken with the anti-expansion pledge. Support is strong across all the political parties, including the Conservatives and Labour in both boroughs. The Liberal Democrats and Green parties are national, long-standing opponents of the expansion plans. According to campaigners, the keenness of the large number of election candidates to have their picture taken with the pledge echoes the recent referendum on Heathrow expansion held in Richmond and Hillingdon, which saw voters reject the plans by 72%, with just 28% in favour. Election candidates realise there is low support for a 3rd runway in their boroughs, and not only in Hillingdon and Hounslow but far more widely - in boroughs such as Wandsworth, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kingston and well beyond.