General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Interview with Nigel Milton – a classic of dangerous, disingenuous Heathrow spin
In an interview with Nigel Milton, Heathrow's Director of External Affairs, by a Slough paper - he reiterates some of the typical spin. The PR is intended to convey the impression (to Theresa May in particular, and her Cabinet) that Heathrow is all set for its 3rd runway; its plans and promises fully cover all that has been asked of it by the Airports Commission and government; that it will henceforth be a really great and considerate neighbour; and that its runway will be the salvation of the nation. The mask slips a bit when Nigel has to admit that: "if our government introduce an act of parliament to rule out a 4th runway [Heathrow] will support that because ultimately that’s the only thing that can stop it." ie. only if barred by law. And "if the government decided to build a third runway it needs to set up a framework, a governance regime ... to hold us to account. ... it needs to have teeth to be able to penalise us and require us to take action - at the moment that isn’t the case.” ie. Heathrow will not regulate itself, but only comply with law. He makes out, without any evidence, that Heathrow freight is "26% of UK exports and imports" (it is far less than that) makes the claim (quite untrue) that "...we are not asking people to choose between the economy and the environment" implying that noise, night flights, NO2, surface access and CO2 problems are solved. They are not.
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Richmond, Wandsworth and Hillingdon council leaders write to Chris Grayling to warn legal action threatened if Heathrow expansion is approved
Three Conservative local authorities - Richmond, Wandsworth and Hillingdon - have written to the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, warning that court proceedings will be launched if a Heathrow 3rd runway is approved. The 3 council leaders, Lord True, Ravi Govindia and Ray Puddifoot, say any approval given to Heathrow would create “severe political and social rupture” at a time when unity is needed. It is also undeliverable and unlawful. They are already preparing a “substantial and strong legal challenge” and say “We must also be very clear that we intend to launch a legal challenge against the government in the unfortunate event that it resolves to support Heathrow expansion or to carry out any further investigatory works into these projects,” The reasons for the challenge are that bad air quality around the airport already breaches legal limits, and with a 3rd runway, the extra planes and cars in west London would “blight the lives” of millions of people. The council leaders say, in their letter to Chris Grayling, that the runway “would be an environmental disaster for our communities”. Unfortunately they also urge government to back a 2nd Gatwick runway instead, content to push the misery that they are keen to avoid for their own residents onto others.
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Ryanair to cut back on UK flights in favour of EU routes due to Brexit
Ryanair, which is Europe’s largest low-cost airline, will focus on growing at airports in the EU and shift its focus away from the UK, following Britain’s vote to leave the EU. It had keenly campaigned for Britain to stay part of the EU, said the Brexit vote both a “surprise” and a “disappointment”. It will shift away from the UK, for the next two years, until some clarity emerges on UK’s long term political and economic relationship with the EU. There is no certainty about what impact Brexit will have on regulation of aviation. Ryanair will cut capacity and frequency on many Stansted routes (although no routes will close). It expects that Brexit will lead to weaker sterling, slower growth in the UK and EU economies and downward pressure on fares, until at least the end of 2017. Ryanair hoped its UK registered competitors (like EasyJet) would no longer be permitted to operate intra EU routes, or would have to divest their majority ownership of EU registered airlines, and that would benefit Ryanair. It expects to keep making profits, but it might have to cut fares to encourage more people to fly. An analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said Ryanair "is cautious on the impact of Brexit and we expect it to continue to offer deep discounts through the rest of the year to keep cabins full."
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“Save us from a 3rd Heathrow runway” banner outside Theresa May’s 1st PMQs
When new Prime Minister Theresa May left Downing Street for her first Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 20 July, she couldn’t miss the gathering of campaigners protesting against a 3rd Heathrow runway. This was just a reminder to the Maidenhead MP that residents currently living under the threat of a bigger Heathrow, want an announcement that a 3rd runway will never be built. A banner urged Theresa May to “Save us from a third runway." People living in the villages of Harmondsworth and Sipson also want Theresa May to appreciate that they have spent decades under threat. Each new plan for expansion at Heathrow puts homes at real risk of demolition. The last proposal (2002-2010) would have flattened Sipson and part of Harmondsworth. This time round almost all of Harmondsworth would be under concrete with Sipson initially on the boundary but quickly engulfed by airport development. People in the Heathrow villages say though politicians decry the lack of human rights in other countries, they ignore the fact that the British government has repeatedly ill-treated people living near Heathrow. Robert Barnstone, Campaign Co-ordinator for Stop Heathrow Expansion, said: “We are sending Theresa May a reminder that she should not change her views on a third runway at Heathrow." Residents around Heathrow want the threat of the 3rd runway ended for good.
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British airports and NATS consider replacing air traffic controllers with remote system
Air traffic controllers could soon be a dying breed, as British airports are considering using digital technology to monitor planes. Cameras and sensors could make traditional towers “obsolete” by 2025 according to Saab, which has pioneered the technology. The Swedish defence and security company has already trialled the new systems in the United States, Sweden, Australia, Norway and Ireland. Now several major British airports are considering scrapping air traffic control towers in favour of a digital set-up, where cameras relay information from the runway to a remote control room. Saab says the technology, which was shown off at the Farnborough airshow, comes at a fraction of the cost of the older system without affecting safety. NATS is always keen to increase profits. Proponents of the system claim they are more effective than having people on the ground, since cameras can pick up things which are harder to spot with the human eye. Saab says the systems are safe technically, and the level of encryption is very high, making hacking unlikely. The Irish Aviation Authority is trialling the use of digital towers at Cork and Shannon airports. NATS has confirmed it is considering a number of potential digital projects in the UK.
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Chris Grayling says runway decision announcement “within weeks” – so maybe early September?
A decision on a new runway in the southeast could be made "within weeks" after the new transport secretary, Chris Grayling, who replaces Patrick McLoughlin, said the government had to “move rapidly” on the issue. Given the strength of feeling on the issue, it is unlikely that a decision will be taken during the parliamentary summer recess. MPs start their summer break on Thursday and return on September 5th. So a decision could be made between 5th and 15th September. Mr Grayling, interviewed yesterday on BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend, said: “I am very clear that I want to move rapidly with a decision on what happens on airport capacity. It is a decision that will be taken collectively by the government. “We have a quasi-judicial role so I’m not going to say today whether I prefer Gatwick or Heathrow … I’m going to look at this very carefully in the coming weeks.” He added: “What I’ll be saying to the business community today is I think we need to take a rapid decision to provide certainty on what’s going to happen and that will be my objective.” Patrick McLoughlin had said last month that a final decision was unlikely to be taken before October, but that was in the expectation of there being no new Prime Minister until September. Logically, it would take the new Transport Secretary many weeks to fully understand the brief, and the highlycomplex issues involved.
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Hoping to scare post-Brexit Britain into building its 3rd runway, Heathrow lists Gatwick’s long-haul failures
With the arrival of Theresa May as the new Prime Minister, a new Cabinet, and a new Transport Secretary (Chris Grayling replacing Patrick McLoughlin) the battle of Heathrow and Gatwick is hotting up. Even further than before. There is a new flurry of announcements, and spurious polls, and surveys of various sorts - as well as just plain spin. Both airports are attempting to capitalise on uncertainty about Brexit and its (as yet unknown) consequences, and rather than suggest a sensible delay to consider how Brexit pans out, are trying to make out that their runway will be even more vital in a post-Brexit Britain. Especially threatened by Theresa May's record of statements against a 3rd runway, Heathrow is pulling out all the stops. It has produced research proving how inferior Gatwick would be in terms of "connecting the UK to the world" and global growth and emerging markets etc etc. Heathrow says, as is quite true and well known, that Gatwick has few long-haul flights, those it has are largely for leisure purposes, and many of its long-haul flights are not frequent. Many airlines start long-haul routes at Gatwick, and transfer to Heathrow as soon as the chance arises. Heathrow says in the last 6 years, Gatwick lost 7 long haul routes to emerging markets, and gained 2, but in that time Heathrow lost 3 and gained 9 routes to emerging markets.
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Archive material reveals the extent of new Prime Minister’s opposition to a 3rd runway at Heathrow over many years
Campaign group HACAN has unearthed archive material, from Theresa May's website, which reveals that the new Prime Minister has been a fierce opponent of a third runway at Heathrow, for many years. Her comments on Heathrow since 2008 are copied here. For example, in January 2009 in response to the decision by the Labour Government to give the go-ahead to a 3rd runway, she said: “I know from all the letters and emails I get that many local people will be devastated by the Government’s decision. A third runway will result in thousands of additional flights, increased noise and more pollution for thousands of people. The Government’s promises on the environmental impact of this are not worth the paper they are written on – there are no planes currently on the market that would allow them to meet their noise and carbon dioxide targets. .... We need a better Heathrow, not a bigger Heathrow.” And "my constituents face the prospect of a reduction in their quality of life with more planes flying overhead, restriction in driving their cars locally and a far worse train service in Crossrail. I hope that the Secretary of State recognises that as a result of today’s announcement, nobody will take this Government seriously on the environment again." In March 2008 she said: "The Government needs to show that expansion is consistent with national targets for tackling climate change and cutting CO2 emissions," She has also consistently expressed concern about night flights.
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NIMBY Sadiq Khan and his mate Stewart Wingate tell Theresa May to get on and back Gatwick
Sadiq Khan, as well as being Labour Mayor of London, is the MP for Tooting. He has backed a new runway at Gatwick since June 2015. Before that he backed Heathrow, but realised the negative impacts of it would be too great (and his support of it would make him unelectable). He now says Theresa May should allow Gatwick a runway, as soon as possible. In November 2015, Sadiq announced that a second runway at Gatwick would create 20,000 extra jobs in Croydon and the surrounding area, (Tooting is next door to Croydon). So that would all be very convenient, to get some local popularity. That would be especially as nobody in London would be in any way inconvenienced (or have their quality of life reduced) by the 200,000 or more annual flights overhead per year - and the increased local air pollution. Other south London boroughs have been enthusiastic, in a frighteningly NIMBY manner, about a Gatwick runway, for the prospects of jobs, and avoiding any more noise from Heathrow flights. Sadiq appears not to appreciate that Gatwick does not help show the "UK is open for business"; it is primarily a leisure airport. It is in entirely the wrong place to help the whole of the UK, and its expansion will merely serve to facilitate the tourism deficit, as Londoners and those in the south east spend more abroad.
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Stansted plans to start discussions with government in a couple of years about a 2nd runway
Not to be outdone by the hopes of Heathrow and Gatwick to get another runway, Stansted is getting in on the act, and saying they will be wanting a runway in due course too. Stansted was not assessed by the Airports Commission, as Stansted had no need of a new runway, being far below capacity. The Airports Commission partly understood that, to even try to keep within the carbon cap for aviation of 37.5MtCO2 by 2050, the addition of one runway would be difficult [it risks UK carbon targets] but it still suggested that by 2040, even if building a runway by 2030, another would be "needed." Stansted has said in the past that it would like a 2nd runway some time after 2035. Its owners, MAG, are now saying that it will "need" another runway earlier than that. Though they appreciate that there is likely to be a dip in demand for air travel for several years, due to Brexit, they are still keen on adding a runway. MAG's CEO Charlie Cornish has told the Times: “We will be at capacity some time between 2025 and 2030, so in the next two to three years we will need to start having the appropriate dialogue with the government over the need for a second runway [at Stansted].” MAG repeatedly says the existing runway capacity at Stansted must be fully utilised, including improving its rail links.