General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Chair of Treasury Cttee, Andrew Tyrie, again asks Hammond and Grayling about unclear Heathrow economic benefits
An influential Tory MP has questioned the evidence behind Heathrow expansion, suggesting the Government may have gone to exceptional lengths to find a methodology that made the case. In a letter to chancellor Philip Hammond and transport secretary Chris Grayling, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, said the Treasury has specifically requested the rarely used ‘net public value’ investment measure be included in its assessment. Mr Tyrie pointed out that of the 4 investment measures used to evaluate the 3 runway proposals, only this seldom-used "net public value" measure presents a clear case for a 3rd runway at Heathrow. He asked the ministers where this measure has been used before on major infrastructure. Mr Tyrie also said that the DfT document published on 25th October acknowledged that 'the Net Present Values (NPVs) for some of the options could potentially be negative under some demand scenarios… " but the DfT is only considering one scenario. And he asks that figures are produced for all the scenarios [but does not say if he wants carbon capped as well as carbon traded], not just one. He also says assessing demand growth for a period of over 20 years, or even 30 years, is ‘not in line with the guidance issued by the Department for Transport’. He asks that figures with demand capped at 20 and 30 years should be produced.
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#Hypernormalisation – and why Heathrow plan is proof we exist in a catastrophic fantasyland
In a fascinating article in "The Conversation" a Psychology lecturer from the University of Brighton puts forward the concept of "hyper-normalisation" as an explanation for decisions made by society and government. Instead of government accepting the reality, and dangers, of our global climate change predicament, it carries on apparently oblivious of the dangers with policies that can only worsen the problems. The decision to build a Heathrow runway is only “truly momentous”, as Chris Grayling described it, because it shows just how far government etc "are willing to go in denying that climate change and related ecological crises require us to significantly change the way we live." Those in power seem to be "increasingly incapable of dealing with a sequence of global issues with any meaningful plan. They are devoid of any vision beyond the maintenance of the status quo." Hyper-normalisation as a way of dealing with the issues facing humanity provided a "simplified, reassuring and fake version of the world in the face of unprecedented global challenges". We know that practices and pastimes such as frequent and long-haul flying, are unsustainable. But the new hyper-normalisation view of the world may allow societies to re-interpret reality, to avoid uncomfortable and inconvenient actions. Read the blog.
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Airbus cabin of the future with fewer passengers, but with gym, spa, play area and coffee shop …
Airbus is producing plans for additions such as gyms, coffee bars, children’s play areas and a spa on its planes, instead of more seats. Their new concept that Airbus calls ‘Transpose’ would allow airlines to customise cabins for each flight using modular technology. Airlines could chop-and-change the interior setup in a matter of minutes in the project developed by an Airbus off-shoot called A³. The plan is to ..."enable entirely new categories of passenger experiences, making your time spent in the sky more interesting, personalized, and enjoyable." There could be a gym, with exercise bikes. "A major coffee chain could run a co-working cafe, providing artisanal beverages and a space for collaboration. An airline could design a kid-safe play zone ... where families can spend quality time together" ... and so on. Also there are new opportunities for advertising to get extra revenue. Now that ICAO has come up with the least ambitious scheme it could achieve for limiting the growth in global aviation CO2, airlines can have lower load factors and more space on planes that is not used to carry more passengers. If the industry was serious about lower CO2 (rather than just cost) per passenger, they would get planes to carry more people - not coffee bars and gyms. Is this Airbus etc effectively thumbing their nose at serious attempts to cut aviation CO2?
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A reformed EU ETS would cut almost 4 times more aircraft CO2 in Europe than ICAO’s global scheme
A reformed and full scope EU ETS would deliver substantially more savings than ICAO's measure over the period 2021-2035, and that's especially the case for flights within Europe. When aviation was included in the ETS in 2012, it covered all flights within, into and out of Europe. Due to huge opposition from countries such as the USA, the ETS was altered in 2013 to include only flights within Europe. ICAO finally came up with a very weak and incomplete global deal in October. New analysis for T&E shows that with the original full ETS in place, and with a cap on carbon emissions, the reduction in emissions from flights into, out of and within Europe would be four times as great than with the weak new ICAO scheme, during the period 2021 - 2035. The study comes as MEPs this week vote on proposals to reform the EU ETS. The proposals include a progressive decrease of both the cap on aircraft emissions and of free allowances available to airlines, thus bringing aviation into line with obligations on other industries. Just considering the CO2 from flights inside Europe, the full ETS would mitigate about 950 Mt of CO2 while ICAO's scheme, (on the same flights) would mitigate a maximum of about 270 Mt (2021 - 2035). If a scheme as strong as the ETS scheme was introduced globally, it would be hugely more effective than the ICAO plan, which may only mitigate a maximum of about 2,700 Mt by 2035.
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Heathrow extends compensation offer (value +25%) to small businesses with rateable value below £34,800
Heathrow has said this month that it WILL, after all, extend its limited compensation offer to small businesses. Small businesses within the compulsory acquisition zone with a rateable value less than £34,800, would be eligible for the same terms as the property offer set out to homeowners, which is full value + 25%. For larger businesses with a rateable value greater than £34,800, compensation will be provided in accordance with statutory requirements. That means some local businesses could still be excluded, as the offer has not been extended to the same zone as the householder scheme. Also, only those directly facing demolition or compulsory acquisition by the airport will be eligible. With the Colnbrook By-pass itself set to be closed and rerouted, that could mean some businesses forced to close with no compensation at all. Heathrow said: "We do not currently intend to start purchasing properties until development consent has been received from the Government. Our current expectation is this will be sometime in 2020." It will be contacting each business affected over the coming months to hold individual meetings. It also says it is looking at measures that it might be able to put in place to assist with business relocation. People can only apply for compensation once the construction of the runway starts, and until only one year after the runway is operational.
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Hundreds of Heathrow villages residents attend public meetings against 3rd runway plans
Hundreds of local residents attended 2 public meetings held by John McDonnell (MP for Hayes and Harlington) on 8th and 9th December, about the proposed 3rd runway at Heathrow. At the meeting at Harlington Baptist Church Hall local people spoke about the threat to Harlington that a new runway would bring - such as being situated at the end of the runway, bringing unbearable new noise levels to the village. At the meeting at Yiewsley & West Drayton Community Centre, residents were particularly concerned about increased traffic congestion and air pollution, from the airport boundary being much closer to them. It would be just 200 metres from some West Drayton residents. John McDonnell said: “The message from these public meetings couldn’t be clearer: local residents are going to fight this runway all the way. A third runway at Heathrow is undeliverable and I believe we will stop it from ever being built. ... The decision by this Government to build a third runway was shameful and remains a huge threat to local residents who face losing their homes, schools, community centre and village life. And when you add in the air pollution, noise and climate change concerns then it becomes even more obvious that this runway makes no sense.” More public meetings are expected in Hayes in January.
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Heathrow expansion ‘will cause travel chaos’ in west London, Val Shawcross, Deputy Mayor for Transport warns
Speaking at the London Assembly Committee on Transport, Val Shawcross CBE (Deputy Mayor of London for Transport) said Heathrow expansion risked 'log-jamming' west London transport links. She warned that adding a 3rd Heathrow runway could cause travel chaos in west London. Val said proposed Crossrail links and a planned upgrade to the Piccadilly line would not be enough to ensure a smooth flow of traffic to an expanded Heathrow. Both Crossrail one and the Piccadilly line upgrade, which are going ahead, were just planned for the existing growth in demand, from population growth. Their expansion is not sufficient to deal with the extra demand from a 50% larger Heathrow. Val raised concerns that "we are in danger of completely log-jamming the public and road transport networks around west London if we do not do the additional high capacity infrastructure.” Also building Southern Rail access to Heathrow risked inconveniencing existing train passengers; they and the existing population should be properly taken into account. With the 3rd runway, the number of passenger's using Heathrow could rise from around 200,000 per day to 300,000. Of those, about 75,000 passengers currently use public transport while 125,000 travel by car. That means a massive increase in numbers of passengers, and also larger numbers of staff in and around the airport, all also using public transport
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Research by King’s College indicates diesel air pollutants can weaken people’s immune systems
Dr Ian Mudway, of King’s College London, has warned that thousands of Londoners may be having their immune system slowly aggravated by the effects of diesel fumes. The very young and very old - and those with existing lung conditions - are particularly vulnerable to being harmed by particulate air pollution. At a meeting of the British Thoracic Society meeting, Dr Mudway said pollution from combusting diesel is also suspected to be gradually attacking some people’s immune system, meaning they will be more likely to suffer illnesses. These impacts may be slow and insidious, only manifesting slowly as we age. A person's genetic make-up is a key factor to whether they susceptible to the immune system damage. Research indicates that diesel exhausts including tiny PM2.5 particulates which can get deep into lungs, interact with immune cells in ways that may make the airways more susceptible to infections and allergic reactions. Dr Mudway said: "Some people are almost bullet proof, other people will be very sensitive to it.” Many of the health impacts of air pollution are “sub-clinical”, so do not show up immediately with symptoms. They may, however, be having long term effects. Earlier research in 2010 showed the impact of air pollution in influencing a gene, which resulted in increasing the severity of asthma in children,
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Four councils + Greenpeace have served legal papers on Government over Heathrow runway decision
Hillingdon, Richmond, Wandsworth and Windsor and Maidenhead councils, together with Greenpeace and a resident of Hillingdon, have today served legal papers on the government for unlawfully supporting the expansion of Heathrow. In a legal submission to the High Court, the ‘coalition’ is seeking a Judicial Review of the government’s decision to support the expansion of the airport – something that which the Government previously promised would never happen. Harrison Grant Solicitors, on behalf of the coalition have filed a formal request for a judicial review. If successful, it is hoped the case will be heard in the High Court early next year. Together, the claimants argue that the Government has failed to recognise the project’s unlawful air quality impacts and that the consultation held to make the decision was fundamentally flawed. Therefore, the expansion of the airport cannot go ahead. In addition, the legal challenge seeks to hold Government to the promise that a third runway would never be built. If the request is successful, and the coalition wins the judicial review, the decision to proceed with the runway would be overturned. Ray Puddifoot said "There are two grounds of challenge at this stage. In addition to our claim that there has been a significant breach of established air quality laws, we have also claimed that the Government has acted contrary to our legitimate expectation that it would honour its repeated promises not to expand Heathrow."
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Elmbridge Council votes to officially oppose Heathrow expansion
Elmbridge councillors have officially voted against Heathrow expansion after months of deliberation. Councillors voted by a clear majority to oppose a 3rd runway, at the full council. Elmbridge Council's Overview and Scrutiny Task Group, dealing with Heathrow expansion, had recommended Elmbridge oppose the plans on the basis of health concerns. More than 800 people had responded to the council's survey on the plans and many said they had serious concerns about how the construction would damage the borough. A persuasive case for opposing the runway was made by councillor Christine Elmer, chair of the task group, Cllr James Browne and Cllr Tony Popham. Cllr Ellmer believed Heathrow was already a serious issue for the borough, because of high - and worsening - levels of aircraft noise, which continues late into the night. "The fact is that larger planes are flying lower than ever before in Elmbridge and there are no guarantees that this will desist. It cannot be right for residents, as one who wrote to me this week, to have to go to bed wearing earmuffs." The runway would mean worse road congestion. Cllr Browne said he had not seen any "convincing or independent evidence" to suggest any economic benefits from expansion would benefit the UK and the borough. Local campaign group, Residents Action Group Elmbridge (RAGE) were delighted with the council vote.