Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Four important councils say DfT’s Heathrow 3rd runway inquiry “illegal because ministers are biased”
Four Conservative-run councils (Windsor & Maidenhead, Hillingdon, Richmond & Wandsworth) say pro-Heathrow statements made by Conservative ministers including Chris Grayling (Transport Secretary) could mean that the current DfT consultation on adding a 3rd Heathrow runway is unlawful. They say that “A consultation, to be lawful, must be approached with an open mind”. The intervention by the councils will increase and prolong uncertainty over the expansion of Heathrow - or any other new runway. The second consultation by the DfT (itself highly biased in favour of adding a 3rd Heathrow runway) on the expansion of Heathrow (the Airports National Policy Statement consultation) ended before Christmas. The four boroughs questioned the legality of the inquiry in their responses. Their submissions cite pro-Heathrow comments from Mr Grayling and Lord Callanan, the former aviation minister. The transport secretary said in October that the government was “aiming to give [the third runway] the formal go-ahead in the first half of next year” and that the expansion would “make a difference right across this country”. The boroughs are members of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, which has long argued that expansion should be stopped.
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Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, gets home visit from carolling anti-3rd-runway campaigners
A group of residents facing the misery that would result from a 3rd Heathrow runway made a light-hearted festive protest outside the home of the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling by singing re-worded Christmas carols -on the last night of the government Draft Airports NPS consultation. Only a couple of the campaigners knew the destination in advance so it wasn't until leaving Harmondsworth that everyone discovered they would be singing outside Grayling's house, his retreat from the daily grind of plotting the destruction of other people's homes. Grayling himself was in Parliament at the time, and no family members appeared to be at home. The protesters drank mulled wine and festive drinks, and sang their own renditions of well-known carols, with suitably altered, anti-runway, words. A Stop Heathrow Expansion spokesperson commented "Looking down the drive from the road and seeing the sprawling detached house with it's huge Christmas tree displayed in the un-curtained front window, it is easy to see why our Secretary State has no comprehension of the misery he will inflict on others with a third runway." And they hoped Grayling would "spare a thought for people who face another Christmas under threat and reflect on their situation."
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Heathrow says it will cut costs of 3rd runway by £2.5 bn – not adding a new terminal
Heathrow has said it has identified options which could reduce overall cost of its 3rd runway expansion plans by £2.5 billion, so the overall cost would be £14 billion. The reduced cost options, developed with input from airlines which want a lower overall cost, will be consulted on in January 2018. Savings would be by three things: (1). Repositioning new buildings over existing public transport and baggage infrastructure. This includes building additional capacity at both Terminals 2 and 5 rather than a dedicated terminal or satellite building between today’s northern runway and the new northwest runway. (2). Technological advancements which reduce the amount of terminal space required to process passengers "without compromising" the passenger experience. (3). More efficient phasing of capacity construction – incrementally increasing terminal capacity in blocks to better match growing demand. That means more planes would have to cross the northern runway, to get to the new runway. Heathrow will be launching a 10-week public planning consultation which will run from 17th January to 28th March 2018. The consultation will be in 2 parts - the first on infrastructure design options, and the second on the future design principles for airspace around Heathrow.
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Heathrow seeks Chair for new “independent Community Engagement Board” – applications till 14th January
Heathrow and the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee (HACC), have launched a campaign to recruit a high-profile Chair to head a new "independent Community Engagement Board (CEB)." Heathrow says the "CEB will take on the role of the current consultative committee and was a recommendation by the Airports Commission, drawing on best practice from European hub airports. ... The influential Chair will lead the CEB which will play an important role in building trust between the airport and its communities making sure that Heathrow delivers its commitments today and in the future. It will also play a crucial role during the planning process for the proposed expansion of Heathrow to check that communities are meaningfully engaged in Heathrow’s public consultations over the coming months and years." The CEB is not only for local communities - it is to "play a key role in ensuring airport stakeholders, local authorities, communities, passengers and interest groups." Applications for the role are through Gatenby Sanderson, with the deadline for applications the 14th January 2018. "The Chair will be appointed by a panel representative of the existing HACC, government, Heathrow and a nominated community representative" ... The job of Chair will be two days per week, working for and paid by Heathrow, salary to be agreed. The Chair will lead the "CEB through its formative stages, setting strategic direction and overseeing the delivery of a work programme as well as creating a diverse board."
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Guidance from the No 3rd Runway Coalition on how to respond to the DfT 2nd NPS consultation. Ends Tues 19th Dec.
The DfT is consulting on its revised draft Airports National Policy Statement (NPS). This second consultation comes after an earlier one in February. The deadline for the revised draft NPS consultation is Tuesday 19th December. The No 3rd Runway Coalition (NoR3Coalition) has put together some simple guidance for people trying to respond. There are dozens of documents in the consultation, most hard to locate, making responses very hard indeed for non-expert laypeople. The consultation only in fact asks one question: "Do you have any comments on the revised draft Airports NPS or any of the documents set out in the table on pages 7 and 8?" In reality, there is a great deal more that people should respond to. The NoR3Coalition has set out some key points on the issues of air quality, noise, economics, surface access, regional connectivity, health and climate change. People are encouraged to submit a response, in their own words. This need not be long or complicated, but just express key concerns. Responses can be by the online form at https://runwayconsultation.dialoguebydesign.com/ or by email to RunwayConsultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk
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Mediators on the proposed new airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes submit report to government – a decision in January perhaps?
On 13th December the French government got the report from the three mediators, who are looking into the proposed project to build an airport in Notre-Dame-des-Landes (NDDL), north of Nantes. President Emmanuel Macron had announced that he would take a decision in January on this complex issue. The mediators had heard evidence both for and against the construction of a new airport on a site currently occupied by the project's opponents or the extension of the runways at the existing Nantes-Atlantiques airport. The mediators point out that both have disadvantages and there is no "perfect solution". Building a new airport would mean more urban sprawl and damage and destruction of an environmentally sensitive site, as the protesters and farmers who have occupied the site since 2009 have continued to point out. The main argument in favour of the new NDDL airport is increased noise for those under flight paths of the existing airport. The new airport would probably cost the French taxpayer up to €920 million, and extending runways at the existing airport might cost €545 million. At the NDDL site there are 650 hectares of farms, whose owners refuse to give up their land. In addition, the place is a wetland, home to a large number of protected species. Some of the facts and arguments are set out in these articles.
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Bristol airport hoping for expansion of long haul routes, to divert people in the south west from using London airports
Bristol Airport is planning a major expansion which could see it provide more long-haul routes for passengers from 2018, which it desperately wants. Bristol has had some direct holiday flights this year to Florida and Mexico, and may get some to the Dominican Republic in 2018. The airport’s runway is certified for code E aircraft, which allows for trips to North America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and parts of the Far East. Daily departures to New York operated in the past, before being scrapped in 2010 due to the retrenchment of the airline market - but the airport hopes this could happen again. Major investment in the South West, including the development of Hinkley Point C in Somerset, is expected to further boost demand for business travel to and from the region. There have been recent initiatives to promote inbound tourism, eg. with VisitBritain, that just might bring in more overseas visitors. The airport is asking the public for their views on 3 separate scenarios which include the possibility of a new terminal, more car parks, more hotels and an ‘employment’ zone for businesses. Bristol hopes (unrealistically?) that their passenger numbers will increase by 10% every year. They want to provide flights that get residents in the south-west to use Bristol, rather than airports in the south-east (Heathrow and Gatwick), hence perhaps cutting some of the demand for Heathrow.
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Heathrow have announced two ‘consultations’ in January 2018 which they labelled as the ‘next step in delivering expansion.’
Heathrow have announced two ‘consultations’ which they labelled as the ‘next step in delivering expansion.’ These will be launched on 17th January 2018, and will run for 10 weeks until 28th March.This is a separate consultation to the Government’s Airports National Policy Statement consultation, the second part of which closes on 19th December. The consultation will have two parts: the first will be on “infrastructure design options” and mitigation measures, while the second will focus on the future design principles for airspace around Heathrow. There will be around 35 consultation events – details of these will be published after 17th January. Paul McGuinness, chair of the No Third Runway Coalition, said the announcement was "disingenuous" and "To claim that the public are being consulted, when the only subjects up for discussion exclude the matters on which the public is most concerned, is little more than a charade." Mr McGuinness added that locals want to be consulted on "the flight paths for the extra 250,000 extra flights each year, and to learn which communities will start to be adversely impacted by aircraft noise for the very first time". Heathrow is trying to find ways to build the 3rd runway scheme, but at lower cost. It says part of the consultation will be about options like the "reconfiguration of the M25".
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Heathrow air cargo at Christmas. Do items like Christmas lights, Calendars and dried flower need to be air cargo?
Heathrow is proud to boast about the amount of cargo it handles, in the run-up to Christmas. It publishes a chosen few of the statistics, for the month from 24th November to 24th December from a year earlier. These show the huge tonnage of items that are air freighted, but are not perishable - and presumably could perfectly well be transported to (or from) the UK by ship. Heathrow says the data "reveals sharp spike in exports of seasonal essentials including Christmas lights, calendars, fish, lobster, and meat." The press release is a bit unclear about just how much of the cargo is exports, and how much is imports - or cargo in transit through Heathrow. But it celebrates air freighting items like books, Christmas lights, calendars and dried flowers (sic - dried, not fresh) for decorations. Heathrow only mentions the non-EU destinations for cargo. They are very proud of huge tonnage of salmon that is shipped abroad (salmon farming does a huge amount of environmental harm, which is increasingly becoming known to the public). Heathrow now also exports trout (also farmed) and lobster. These are the items being flown over people's heads, as they suffer the noise of Heathrow's planes - or the items in lorries adding to local air pollution. Essential??
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Gatwick to increase size of the North Terminal Pier 6 to deal with more passengers
Gatwick plans to more than double the size of its North Terminal’s Pier 6 to keep pace with the rising number of passengers it is hoping for. The pier is part of Gatwick's 5-year capital investment program, and will cost £180 million. Before work on the extension can start, however, two major enabling projects must be completed. These involve moving the stand for the Airbus A380 from its existing location on Pier 6 to a newly created stand on Pier 5 and widening and re-aligning a taxiway to allow A380s to move between the runway and the new stand. Gatwick's construction director said the scheme is "complex, as it is right in the heart of our airfield". The work will be done by US-based contractor Bechtel. Work is scheduled to start in 2018. in four phases, the last of which will be the building of the western extension of Pier 6. This is expected to be operational by the spring of 2022.