General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Heathrow promises it makes at its “Business Summits” – next in East Midlands – exaggerated & based on flawed projections
Heathrow is holding another of its "Business Summits" on 23rd November, in Derby. The aim of these is to excite regional businesses about how much they could benefit from the building of a 3rd runway. However, while Heathrow claims there would be huge financial benefits for the whole country - using wildly exaggerated figures, the reality is very different. Heathrow persists in using a crazy figure of "up to £211 billion" economic benefits, even the DfT's own reports indicate at most about £3.3 billion. That would be the "Net Present Value" over 60 years, for the whole of the UK, after taking off costs. The figure could be as low as minus (yes, a negative number) 2.2 billion. These are government figures, not numbers from anti-Heathrow campaigners. The 3.3 bn figure translates to under 50p UK resident per year. (ie. £3.3 bn divided by 70 million). It is difficult to see how such paltry benefits could "play a major role in boosting jobs and growth in the regions" outside of the South East, as Heathrow claims. The CBI’s 2016 report "Unlocking Regional Growth" identified that businesses want direct flights to centres of trade and commerce (i.e. without transfer before reaching their destination); in other words, that it will be through direct flights to the closest airports that the Midlands will become better connected. Not via Heathrow.
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Judge rejects 3 legal challenges against proposed new 2nd runway at Dublin Airport
The High Court in Ireland has thrown out three challenges against plans for a 3,100 metre 2nd runway at Dublin airport. Mr Justice Max Barrett dismissed actions that arose over the runway plans, which Dublin Airport (DAA) wants so it can become an international hub, rivalling Heathrow. The judge dismissed an action by Friends of the Irish Environment, which claimed that the decision to grant planning permission was not in compliance with EU directives or the 2000 Planning and Development Act. The group also argued that the proposed runway would result in additional greenhouse gas emissions, which will increase the pace of climate change. He also dismissed another claim on certain pre-construction works. The judge's ruling said “laws matter, rules matter but mistakes happen” and in this case he was not exercising the court’s discretion to find in favour of the residents. The judge also dismissed an action brought by 22 residents, who said local Fingal council failed to consider or address their concerns about the 2nd runway's effect on their homes and land - though he said he respected the fighting spirit of the residents and “sympathised” with them in the predicament they found themselves in. The cases have been adjourned for a week to allow the various parties to consider the rulings, or if any will appeal.
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“Stop Northolt” concerned Hillingdon Council not giving residents enough information on Northolt expansion
Local group, "Stop Northolt", aiming to end commercial flights at RAF Northolt, is furious with Hillingdon Council for what it considers one-sided coverage of the issue. Stop Northolt say the council’s own magazine, Hillingdon People (delivered 6 times per year to every home in the borough) featured an article about a Parliamentary debate on the Government's plans to spend £45m renovating RAF Northolt. In the debate, Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood said the Government had considered increasing commercial flights and indicated that expansion would benefit taxpayers. But the Hillingdon People article fails to include the minister’s concession that RAF Northolt would remain under-used by the military. ie. why is so much money being spent on renovations of the airfield? Stop Northolt is very concerned that the 10,000 commercial flights per year using Northolt are about to increase. They say the Government has admitted there is no military demand, "so this can only be to improve facilities for commercial flights, and they wouldn't spend that much money without wanting to get it back.” Hillingdon had not pointed this out, or the problem of increasing numbers of commercial flights. Stop Northolt was set up in April 2017, following an announcement that the MoD plans to close the airport for 8 months in 2018 to upgrade and strengthen the runway.
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Shadow Transport team visits Stansted Airport to hear about growth plans and hopes of improved rail
Shadow Transport Secretary, Andy McDonald MP, and Shadow Aviation Minister, Karl Turner MP, visited Stansted, to see how the airport is planning to make best use of its existing runway capacity and improve the UK’s global connectivity over the next decade. The airport wants shorter journey times and better reliability on rail services between London Liverpool Street and Stansted, to get in more passengers - to make use of its huge amount of spare capacity. The two shadow ministers were told about Stansted’s new employment plans through its MAG Connect initiative, to help areas of high unemployment. Stansted management have high hopes for making the airport more profitable. Its CEO said: “Stansted can make a huge contribution to improving the UK’s connectivity with the rest of the world over the next decade, this will be vital as the country prepares to leave the EU and at a time when airport capacity is at a premium.” Karl Turner said: “The national conversation on aviation centres on the issue of building a third runway at Heathrow but we face capacity challenges here and now. More needs to be done to support connectivity into and out of our other international gateway airports across the UK to unlock existing unused capacity, and develop the huge potential they have.”
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Rival Heathrow expansion consortium, Arora, upbeat as Government opens door to competition
The Telegraph reports that the government has said it welcomes competition in the construction of the nation’s airports. Hotel owner Surinder Arora had earlier this year proposed a cheaper way to build a Heathrow 3rd runway, cutting about £5 billion off the price. Government documents related to the expansion had previously assumed Heathrow would be in charge of the construction project and choose which contractors it wanted to help it fulfil the scheme. But the DfT says in the revised consultation on its Airports NPS (National Policy Statement) that it would welcome competing bids for the work. The NPS consultation says: “For the avoidance of doubt, the Airports NPS does not identify any statutory undertaker as the appropriate person or appropriate persons to carry out the preferred scheme.” And there could be “more than one application for development consent, dealing with different components individually”. The Telegraph believes a key difference, if a body other than Heathrow did the building, would be that the party behind the construction would receive the associated income it generates from passenger and airline charges, as well as retail rental payments. But there could be more risks, more costs etc.
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Blog by Canadian IRPP political studies academic: Rising air travel emissions “the policy options are limited”
"Unlike the shift towards electrification of automobiles and the growth of renewables, there are no good policy options on the table for adequately reducing emissions from aviation. Sadly, the only genuine way to reduce our collective carbon footprint from long-distance transport – given available technologies – is to significantly cut down on passenger and cargo flights. ... Cut out air travel or continue contributing to the ongoing climate emergency faced by our home planet — this is the inconvenient juncture at which we have arrived. ... The number of air travellers globally has more than doubled in the last two decades, and forecasts expect demand for air travel to double again in the next two decades. The same story is true of world air cargo ... Not only are global regulatory “solutions” like CORSIA a non-starter, but new technologies are also impractical or unlikely to work at the level of the jumbo plane. ...In the end, the only practical way to reduce our society’s emissions from long-distance air transport (while admittedly giving rise to social costs elsewhere) is to restrict the growth in demand for air transport. ... It’s going to take some political guts" [with any effective measure - like higher tax or capping growth in flight numbers- unpopular] so politicians are unlikely to try. But "Relying on technological innovation, other market forces, and a global system of carbon offsets will not solve the serious problem of growing GHG emissions from aviation"
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Poland approves plans for a huge central airport to take 100 million annual passengers (x3 current number for the country)
The New Central Polish Airport is a proposed airport to be developed on a site between Lodz and Warsaw. The project has been subject of debate since 2006. However, the Polish government is expected to commence construction in 2017. The airport is expected become the hub of LOT Polish Airlines. Preparatory works are scheduled for completion by the end of 2019, while the airport is scheduled to open in 2027 and aims to cater for 100 million passengers per year (there are about 34 million Polish air passengers now). The government hopes the nation’s air traffic will reach 94 million by 2035. The decision to build this airport reverses a strategy based on expanding smaller regional ports with the help of funds provided by the European Union. Poland is also seeking to strengthen trade links with China, marketing itself as a port of entry into the EU’s single market for Chinese producers. The plan poses risks for the 14 regional airports built or refurbished over the last decade with EU funds, of which a majority is already struggling to be profitable amid passenger traffic intensity that reached only a third of the bloc’s average last year. Under the government plan, the Warsaw Okecie airport would eventually be shut. No potential dates for the closing were given.
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Leaders of 4 main councils opposed to Heathrow favour a Gatwick runway, and tell residents to respond to NPS consultation
Hillingdon, Richmond, Wandsworth and Windsor and Maidenhead councils have been campaigning against Heathrow expansion for more than a decade. They argue that expanding the airport will have a major impact on West London. The expansion will cause irreconcilable damage to the environment and people's health. It will cost tax payers as much as £20bn. The four councils are encouraging their residents to respond to the 2nd NPS consultation, about a possible 3rd Heathrow runway (deadline 19th December). This consultation is happening partly due to complaints from the councils that the DfT had withheld important new information from the public. Cllr Ray Puddifoot, Leader of Hillingdon Council, said: "A third runway at Heathrow would be disastrous for Londoners...." Cllr Paul Hodgins, Leader of Richmond Council, said: "This is all about having a single trophy airport, instead of a network of airports that brings greater benefit. Over the past ten years people in Richmond upon Thames have voiced their concerns about the possible expansion of Heathrow in their thousands. We must not stop telling the government that Heathrow expansion is the wrong choice." The leaders of the four councils back a runway at Gatwick instead, preferring to transfer the misery onto others, whose interests they do not represent.
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Transport for the North to become statutory body
Legislation to turn the Transport for the North (TfN) partnership into a statutory sub-national transport body - with legal powers and duties - was laid in Parliament on November 16. TfN consists of 19 local authorities, business leaders and 11 local enterprise partnership areas. Once approved, TfN would become a statutory body with effect from April 1 2018, with powers which would include producing a statutory transport strategy for northern England which the government must formally consider when taking funding decisions. It may be given more powers in future. The Rail North association of local authorities will become part of TfN, and work with the DfT to co-manage the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. The DfT has confirmed £150m is being given to TfN for smart ticketing, £60m for Northern Powerhouse Rail and £50m to run TfN. It is hoped that new powers for TfN will give it greater influence over national infrastructure decisions. TfN Chair John Cridland. ‘This is a 30-year transport strategy for the North that will help drive economic growth in the region and help to rebalance the UK economy." There has been a lot of anger about the imbalance in spending on transport in the UK, with London and the south east getting a huge proportion. Manchester airport sees itself as key, rather than just Heathrow.
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Obscure aviation climate deal – ICAO’s CORSIA – could undermine the Paris Agreement
A new Columbia Law School report reveals major shortcomings in how the UN aviation agency (ICAO) interprets transparency and public participation requirements. The 36 member countries of ICAO met for closed talks in Montreal to discuss rules on its carbon offsetting scheme - known as CORSIA. Established in October 2016, the new carbon market is intended to compensate for the industry’s emissions growth above 2020 levels. But in addition tot he Columbia Law School report, new Carbon Market Watch analysis warns that a careful design of the rules is necessary to avoid undermining the goals of the Paris Agreement. The ICAO process needs to allow proper public scrutiny, to avoid being of low quality and trying to use illegitimate offsets. So far a lack of public scrutiny has allowed ICAO to develop climate policy in isolation, and this has serious and direct implications for the Paris Agreement. Unless there are clear rules for how CO2 reductions purchased by airline operators are accounted for, it is likely that there will be double counting of these cuts - risking the Paris goals. So far ICAO has kept the outcome of political meetings and important documents relating to the development of the CORSIA locked away from the public domain. By contrast, the IMP and UNFCCC generally provide engagement opportunities to the public