General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
UK Agency, UK Export Finance, has backed billions’ worth of aviation deals in recent years
UK Export Finance (UKEF), a UK government agency, has financially supported the aviation industry with billions of £s since the Paris climate agreement was adopted, despite it being a high carbon emitter. The effective subsidy for new airports abroad, aircraft and maintenance comes despite the agency believing the oil-dependent sector is unlikely to begin cutting emissions “materially” before the next decade. UKEF offers a range of loans, insurance and guarantees to help British companies secure business abroad. It said in 2021 that it would not support fossil fuel projects, but it continues to support Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Boeing and British Airways (BA). Almost none come with any climate-related conditions attached. The UKEF could play an important role in decarbonising UK exports and working towards "net zero," but its continued support for the expansion of the aviation industry today is instead locking in more carbon emissions for decades to come. UKEF says it is working to decarbonise the sector. Between 2016 and 2023, £18.5bn of UKEF’s nearly £36bn in listed financing went to the aerospace sector. Of this, 46% has gone to civil aviation; £3bn went to BA; Airbus £2bn, Boeing £1.7bn and Rolls-Royce £1.3bn.
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Climate change will mean aviation will have to change, even if very reluctantly
Though the Dutch government lost its legal battle recently, trying to limit the number of flights using Schiphol, this was not the triumph the airlines hoped for. Airlines are scared that governments, realising the high CO2 emissions from the sector and no realistic plan to reduce them for several decades, will bring in measures to limit flights or demand for air travel. UN secretary-general António Guterres has said that the latest report by the IPCC showed a “quantum leap” in climate action was now required - and that should include aviation. The Dutch government only lost its case, on a technicality - so it may press on. The aviation sector may try to bring in restrictions itself, in the hope of avoiding more draconian measures being imposed. It is increasingly apparent that the sector’s decarbonisation road maps, largely relying on huge amounts of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), operational efficiencies and technological breakthroughs, will not deliver the "net zero" emissions target by 2050 - especially while the sector tries to grow each year. The chief executive of French airport operator Aéroports de Paris has openly admitted that demand growth has to slow for a time — at least in developed countries
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Dutch court in Haarlem blocks flight cutback plan for Schiphol airport
The Dutch government cannot introduce a cap to lower flight numbers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport later this year, a local court has ruled. This blocks one of the most high-profile attempts yet, anywhere, to reduce the aviation industry’s environmental impact. A Haarlem court ruled that the Dutch government could not cut flight numbers by 8% to 460,000 per year, as it had not gone through the correct procedures when it introduced the rules as temporary measures. The court ruled that “According to European rules, the state can only reduce the number of air transport movements at an airport after going through a careful process.” The airline industry had brought the case against the government, claiming (despite growth plans) that it was working hard to reduce aircraft noise levels and CO2 emissions. KLM, easyJet, Tui and Delta were also involved in bringing the case, which was based on the local impact of flying, including noise and NO2, and could have become a test case. Dutch public policy contrasts with the UK, where the government has said airport capacity growth is consistent with its so called "net zero" 2050 targets.
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Doncaster Council considers leasing closed Doncaster Sheffield Airport at considerable expense from Peel
Doncaster Council could lease Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA), which closed recently, from its owners, Peel L&P, under plans being considered. The airport was wound down by Peel in November 2022, citing the financial viability of the site. At a meeting later this month, the council is set to discuss ring-fencing more than £3m for a compulsory purchase order to buy the airport. The council said Peel had recently offered a lease of the airport. The council hopes to reopen the site, and provide jobs. The order to potentially buy DSA from Peel is expected to initially cost up to £3.1m in legal costs. A report looking at what can be done to reopen the airport is set to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 12 April. The plan is for the area around the airport to contain a cluster of businesses to compliment the site. The Mayor of Doncaster said, rather over-optimistically, that the airport "has the potential to be the jewel in the crown of the Doncaster and South Yorkshire economy." In fact, it will generally just provide holiday flights, taking local residents to spend their money abroad.
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European airline sector fears competitors from outside the EU that don’t have CO2 reduction goals
European airlines fear losing out to rivals based outside the EU that can ignore the bloc's emissions-reduction rules to become carbon neutral by 2050. The EU's "Fit for 55" package sets out an initial goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% in 2030 compared with the 1990 level. This involves EU obligations to scale up the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to be blended with fossil fuels in all flights departing from European airports. SAFs come from sources such as municipal solid waste, leftovers from the agricultural and forestry industry, used cooking oil, crops and plants, and hydrogen. The makers of the fuels claim they have considerably lower CO2 emissions than conventional kerosene (though about the same when burned in a jet engine). SAF is still in its early stages, with very little produced - and it is much more expensive than kerosene, so flights using it would cost more. If people choose to fly first to Istanbul or Doha or Dubai for the next part of a long flight, it would cost less than flying from a European airport. Airports like Istanbul hope to grow massively in coming years.
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Claims that Air Alderney flights from Lydd to Le Touquet might start in summer
Commercial flights from Lydd airport, by Air Alderney, may start this summer. The small specialist airline will fly from the airfield on Romney Marsh to destinations including the French airport of Le Touquet, which is a 15 minute flight from Lydd. The runway at Lydd is one of the shortest on mainland UK at 1,505m - more than 2,000m less than the two runways at Heathrow. A 300m expansion of the runway was approved 10 years ago, along with a new terminal building, but work has yet to begin on either. The airport also likes to call itself London Ashford Airport, though it is miles - and a hard journey - from London. It is controlled by Saudi businessman Sheikh Fahad Al-Athel. In 2013 the airport was given the permission to extend the airport and runway, to take larger holiday destination aircraft. The plans faced legal challenges with campaigners opposed to the expansion at a site which is close to the Dungeness nuclear plant, an RSPB nature reserve and a military range. The Lydd Airport Action Group took the expansions plans to the high court, but their bid to block them was thrown out. It is unclear whether commercial flights will actually return, or be profitable.
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Luton Airport expansion plans to be examined by the Planning Inspectorate
The government has agreed that the Planning Inspectorate (PI) will examine proposals from "Luton Rising", the Luton Council company that owns the airport, to expand Luton Airport from 18 million to 32 million passengers per year. The council makes the usual claims about more employment and great economic benefits for the area. The PI has six months to examine the plans. The transport secretary [Mark Harper, since October 2022] will then decide whether to grant development consent. The expansion plans include new terminal capacity, some runway changes, and new airside and landside facilities. A council spokesperson said that, "for every additional passenger above the airport's current capacity, it will be able to invest an extra £1 into local communities, helping to tackle deprivation." Really? Andrew Lambourne, a spokesman for protest group Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN), said: "It's tragic that the councillors who run Luton Rising have been so obsessed with growing the airport they appear to have lost sight of the need for prudence" Campaigners said the expansion plans would "create noise blight" across the area. Local MP for Hitchin, Bim Afolami, is strongly against the expansion, due to the additional noise burden it would bring.
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Climate groups taking government to High Court over greenwash “Jet Zero” aviation strategy
In July 2022, the UK government published a "Jet Zero" strategy (the best part of which is the catchy name). It aspires to allow the UK airline sector to continue to grow, with unrealistic hopes of being able to decarbonise with novel fuels. It was widely condemned at the time as being greenwashing, with no credible ways to achieve its goals, and its steadfast refusal to contemplate measures to reduce the demand for flights. Two organisations, GALBA and Possible, challenged the government. In October 2022, with lawyers at Leigh Day, Possible filed for a judicial review of the “Jet Zero” strategy. They now have permission to proceed to a joint hearing. This is a hugely important milestone in climate change litigation in the UK. Experts have judged the plans in Jet Zero to be inadequate, and lawyers will argue that the failure to consider this risk to the delivery of its plans renders its net zero aviation strategy unlawful. The key grounds on which the challenge will be heard in the High Court are: The government failed to lay a report before Parliament setting out how the strategy would enable carbon budgets to be met. And the government failed to consult in a lawful manner by having a “closed mind” before the consultation commenced on whether demand management measures were required.
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Scottish LibDems say support for Heathrow 3rd runway must be withdrawn by next First Minister
The LibDems in Scotland say the next first minister has been urged to finally end Scottish Government support for the expansion of Heathrow, if they’re serious about the climate emergency. They say the SNP’s support of third runway at Heathrow was “simply not compatible” with emissions-cutting targets. Party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the climate had been “shamefully neglected” during the leadership contest by Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan. And he told whoever succeeds Nicola Sturgeon to “rip up” a deal between Heathrow Airport and Scottish ministers. A Scottish Government memorandum of understanding with Heathrow backing the proposed expansion includes a pledge of up to 16,000 new jobs in Scotland and 75,000 additional flights between Scottish airports and London. The Scottish LibDems said this would generate nearly 600,000 tons of extra emissions by 2040 and hammer the country’s net zero ambitions. A report by the Climate Change Committee said Scotland was falling behind the rest of the UK in decarbonising transport and had been “unwilling to consider measures” like restricting aviation growth.
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Getting real: what would serious climate action look like? Not expanding aviation?
The world's governments want, in theory, to try to keep the average global temperature rise to not be more than 1.5C to 2C above pre-industrial. But so far, despite worthy intentions, instead of falling, global CO2 emissions continue to rise. Professor Kevin Anderson is an outspoken climate scientist, who prefers the reality of the climate science to the politically palatable version of it, that can be agreed by the IPCC. Climate science suggests that to have a 50:50 chance of not exceeding 1.5°C, humanity can emit about 400 billion tonnes of CO2. For a good chance of staying below 2°C, this value doubles to around 800 billion tonnes. 400bn tonnes is under 10 years of current emissions, and humanity is currently using up the carbon budget at a rate of almost 1% each month. We have had 30 years of failures, tweaks to business-as-usual, carbon markets, and the dodgy prospect of future technologies. We need rapid, huge cuts in CO2 emissions, Kevin says for example "an immediate moratorium on airport expansion and a plan to deliver a fair 80% cut in all air travel by 2030." Also, no more new internal combustion engine cars would be built from 2025. And many other ideas.