General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Stop Stansted Expansion sets out details of Stansted’s devious attempts to avoid compensation payments from 2000
Stop Stansted Expansion have catalogued the appalling deceit and prevarication used by Stansted Airport, in its attempts to avoid making compensation payments to people affected by airport's expansion. Work on Phase 2 was started in 1999, to take the airport up to 15 million passengers per year, and claims should then have been possible. But Stansted insisted that no claims could be made until one of the taxiway piers, Echo, was completed. Each year, from 2004 to 2011 the date when the Echo stand's completion date was pushed further and further back (partly as Stansted had a dramatic fall in passenger numbers in the recession). Finally this April Stansted's lawyers said " ...1 March 2007 is a relevant date at least in respect of some of the works in paragraph 1.8..” In other words Stansted finally concedes that it had been wrong to use the ‘golden rivet’ ploy to avoid paying compensation. But now Stansted has a new ploy to avoid paying compensation, saying any claim had to be brought within 6 years. The Deputy President of the Lands Tribunal remarked: “So, after years of telling people you can’t claim until the works are complete, you’re now saying Tee-Hee – you’re too late?” Stop Stansted Expansion gave the airport until 31st May to make a public statement reversing this stance – or face a legal challenge. No satisfactory response was received in time from owners, MAG.
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New study in Sweden indicates increased mental illness in children & teenagers exposed to air pollution
A major new study in Sweden has linked worse air pollution to increased mental illness in children, even at low levels of pollution. The research is the first study to establish the link, but is consistent with a growing body of evidence that air pollution can affect mental and cognitive health and that children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to poor air quality. The suspected mechanism is that air pollution chemicals or small particles breathed in can get into the bloodstream and thus enter the brain. This can cause mild inflammation, and that is associated with a range of psychiatric disorders. The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ Open, examined the pollution exposure of more than 500,000 under-18s in Sweden and compared this with records of medicines prescribed for mental illnesses, ranging from sedatives to anti-psychotics. Though a relatively crude measure of mental problems, it is a reliable measure. The air pollution (NO2 and particulates) came primarily from traffic. Children are more sensitive and vulnerable to the damage than adults, as they tend to be more active and their brains and organs are still developing. There are confounding factors of poverty, with relatively deprived areas having worse environmental quality, and more studies are needed to corroborate the findings.
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Gatwick Chairman writes to David Cameron re-hashing unconvincing claims on desirability of its 2nd runway
Gatwick has made its last ditch attempt to persuade the government to let it have another runway. It is thought likely that some runway decision will now be made by early September at the latest, if it is not made before about 18th July. Gatwick Chairman Sir Roy McNulty has written to David Cameron, hoping to persuade him that Gatwick will not cost the air passenger any more than £15 per flight. Gatwick claims they can manage the noise levels, though are not entirely clear how. They hope sharing out the noise over more people will keep the numbers within the 57 dB and the 55 Lden to manageable levels. They hope to get the runway started before the next election, thereby not having given the electorate the change to vote on the matter - as the Airports Commission announcement in July 2015 was deliberately after the last election in May 2015. They claim there will be no cost to the taxpayer, but there are estimates of possibly £12 billion by TfL for the necessary transport work to deal with another 40 million passengers. Gatwick hopes its paltry £46.5 million offer will cover all that. And Gatwick claims it will never have an air pollution problem - rather ignoring the pollution caused by the inevitable traffic, as there is inadequate public transport. Looked at in detail, the offers (like those of Heathrow a few weeks earlier) are very threadbare indeed.
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Another great piece by Simon Jenkins on why the UK does not need another runway, but better roads and rail instead
Simon Jenkins, writing in the Evening Standard, says David Cameron should focus on improving the country’s railways and roads, rather than adding a runway. He asks of Cameron: "Is 2016 to be megaproject Armageddon?" ..."We need constantly to remember a crucial fact about London’s airports. They have next to nothing to do with “business and industry” and the much-vaunted UK plc. " ...."But when the Airports Commission was set up, Heathrow hurled the kitchen sink of lobbying at it, and won the day." ... "Heathrow is full or, as the planners put it, “at capacity”. But then so is Waterloo, so is Victoria, so is the M25, so is every London hospital, school and prison. Big, booming cities are always at capacity. That is why resources must be planned sensibly. Roads, railways, hospitals and schools are more crucial to the prosperity and welfare of the capital than the convenience of tourists, important though they may be." ... [Cameron] clearly does not regard the pressure on Heathrow as being critical to the economy. He is right. There is no overriding reason for London to have a giant “hub” airport." ..."If Cameron really wants to help the British economy with mega-infrastructure, every survey shows that the best value for money is from improving commuter railways and building better roads." Lots of great points in the full article ....
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Times speculation on runway decision, Cameron, referendum, Boris, legal challenges and reshuffles
The Times believes that Heathrow and Gatwick made their final submissions to the DfT last week, and government officials say they are ready for a Cabinet decision. The environmental problems at Heathrow have meant there are very real dangers of successful legal challenges, not least from local councils. Heathrow recently put forward some pledges of how it could meet its environmental challenges, but they were over-optimistic and do not bear careful scrutiny. The question is whether the government thinks it could get away with a decision that is neither considered to be a bad one, or one on which they could face legal embarrassment. The Times believes the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, has told David Cameron that he should not postpone the decision again. There is likely to be a window of opportunity for a runway decision, after an EU referendum Remain victory and before a “reconciliation reshuffle” probably in September, to reunite Conservatives. The Times believes if Boris is given a Cabinet post before a runway decision, he will make it difficult. So it would be easier to decide on a runway, before including Boris. However, there are a lot of other issues to be dealt with between 24th June and 21st July, including an anti-obesity strategy, policies to counter Islamist extremism and a vote on Trident.
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Airlines put on pressure for SNP to go ahead with cutting APD by 50% despite strong opposition
The consultation on the SNP proposal to cut APD by 50% ended on 3rd June. The SNP want to include the proposal in the draft Scottish budget this autumn. It would mean reducing APD per passenger from £13 to £6.50 for flights up to 2,000 miles, and from £73 to £37 for longer journeys, from April 2018. However, the SNP face strong opposition, as the cut would mean a major loss of revenue to Scotland at a time when cuts are being made for austerity. At present APD raises about £300 million per year in Scotland, and half that would pay for thousands of extra nurses etc. Airlines and airports are, as one would expect, pushing for the APD cut, to increase the number of flights - and their profits. The likely impact would be to increase the number of leisure trips by Scottish people, taking their spending money abroad. There are also fears of the environmental impact of more air traffic, with aviation carbon emissions rising, perhaps by as much as 60,000 tonnes per year. This is inconsistent with Scotland's climate commitments. The SNP would like to totally remove APD “when resources allow”. But they cannot push this through parliament without the backing of other parties, which had manifesto commitments opposed to reducing or abolishing APD.
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Gatwick provides more details of the setting up of the Noise Management Board, from the Arrivals Review
One of the recommendations of the Arrivals Review was that Gatwick should set up a Noise Management Board (NMB), on which community representatives could sit. Gatwick, in its Final Action Plan on the Arrivals Review, has now set out details of how the NMB will work. It will have no more than 14 members; 5 will be institutions; there will be 2 places for County Councils. There will be 4 places for District, Borough, Town and Parish Councils, and Community Noise Groups, with two from the east and two from the west of Gatwick. Gatwick says the NMB: "should be a body with real influence over operational stakeholders around the airport ...." Nothing says it will have any powers or any real influence. Gatwick says it will: "seek to positively influence the noise environment of stakeholders by assisting the development of consensus among the various organisations represented through its membership" [whatever that means in practice?]. The NMB will: "seek to facilitate better understanding by residents through more consistent communication and verifiable data." Nothing in the stated objectives says noise will reduce, or that the interests of communities will be given equal weight to those of airlines etc. If the NMB cannot reach consensus on a matter, it can be agreed by 75%. The community groups only make up 25% or less.
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Heathrow Express has to cut off-peak fares, to try to smooth demand. Future threat from Crossrail?
Britain’s most expensive train journey per mile, the Heathrow Express from Paddington, is raising the fare on its peak time tickets - to cut congestion. The peak fare standard rate will rise from £22 to £24. But return fares on off-peak tickets will fall from £36 to £25. Heathrow Express hope this will smooth out the flow, even if Heathrow is keen on maximum numbers of passengers at rush hour peaks. One wonders how the trains could possibly cope with the passengers generated by a 3rd runway. The Heathrow Connect service, which also runs services from Paddington, offers single fares of £10.20, and the Underground fare for the same distance during peak times is £5.10. Some of the Heathrow Express trains had to be taken out of service, for months, recently due to cracks. This meant borrowing trains from Heathrow Connect. Last year, Heathrow Express was forced to drop its ‘every 15 minutes’ slogan when a customer rightly pointed out that the frequency falls to once every half hour later in the day. Christian Wolmar has pointed out that the Heathrow Express will face serious challenges once Crossrail starts operating from 2018: "Crossrail will have the fantastic advantage of bringing people from all over London direct to Heathrow in journey times only a bit longer than Heathrow Express and far cheaper."
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Local referendum on whether to move Nantes-Atlantique airport to Notre-Dame-des-Landes – 26th June
On 26th June there will be a consultation/referendum on the issue of whether the existing airport, Nantes-Atlantique, just south of Nantes should be moved to a site north of the town at Notre-Dame-des- Landes (NDDL). The government announced this referendum back in March.The question that will be asked is: "Do you support the proposed transfer of Nantes-Atlantique airport to the municipality of Notre-Dame-des-Landes?" The referendum is open to voters of the municipalities of Loire-Atlantique. Opponents are running an active campaign, to provide information to every potential voter and attending public meetings, with their spirit of quiet determination. Opponents, including local campaign ACIPA, say nobody asked for this referendum, and it does not in any way legitimize the airport project at NDDL, which they consider to be illegal, ruinous and destructive. They say the conditions for real democratic debate are not met; the area chosen for the referendum excludes some important local communities; the question is biased; and there is no guarantee of fair treatment of the opposition. They are not impressed that the Prime Minister has announced the start of work in the autumn, despite the referendum. They say the airport cannot proceed until various legal matters have been sorted out. There will be another huge anti-NDDL gathering on 9th and 10th July. "On a tous une bonne raison de voter NON." (We all have a reason to vote NO.)
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Departing passengers will pay around £8 – 16 tax till perhaps 2031 to fund 3rd Hong Kong airport runway
Outbound and transit passengers will pay up to between a bout £8 and £16 (HK$ 90 -180) to fund the construction of Hong Kong airport’s third runway system from August 1st. Initial reclamation work for the project is scheduled to start on the same day. The airport construction fee for short-haul economy departing passengers will be HK$90, and in first or business class, HK$160. For long-haul passengers, the fee for economy will be HK$160 and first or business class HK$180. Short haul economy passengers will pay HK$70. The costs would remain at the same level, but continue till the runway is fully paid for, which may be till 2031. Meanwhile, People’s Aviation Watch, an organisation opposing expensive infrastructure projects at the airport, said a judicial review to challenge the environmental impact assessment report for the runway will be heard in court this July. They say the Airport Authority's decision to charge the fees before any verdict on the start of the runway disregards the law. But in March opponents lost a bid to legally challenge the ability of the airport to charge for the runway. A total of five judicial review cases or appeals against the runway are being planned. The new runway is likely to increase CO2 emissions by about 50%, and create serious noise pollution for some areas.