General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
‘Northern Powerhouse’ a myth as region expected to lag behind south in 2025
George Osborne's plan to build a "Northern Powerhouse" has been undermined by a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). It shows Britain's North-South divide will grow significantly over the next decade - and says the economic gap between London and the North of England is expected to rise by 94% to £110 billion over the next 10 years. London is expected to grow 27% in real terms in the next decade to just under £450 billion at 2012 prices, compared with a combined growth rate of 14% across the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber. The CEBR says this would leave output in these regions more than £110 billion lower than London's in 2025. It is thought that the economic gap between the fastest and slowest growing cities and regions will increase. To actually close the gap needs a "radical rethink" with more devolved powers and targeted investment. Further austerity has the potential to hold back the economies of some of the UK's poorest regions. Planned infrastructure investment in London was considerably higher than in other regions. The CEBR considers a focus on local rail and roads would be more beneficial for northern regions than flagship projects like HS2. (Adding another runway in the south east is also only likely to increase the north south divide and focus profitable long haul flights around London.)
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Labour peer Lord Adonis to head Osborne infrastructure body – to get things like a new runway built fast
A new body to plan infrastructure projects, the "independent" National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) will be chaired by the former Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis. The government is expected to announce it will pledge an extra £5 billion in this Parliament for major schemes, which he hopes will boost the UK economy. Osborne says he plans to "shake Britain out of its inertia" and Lord Adonis thinks that without "big improvements" in transport and energy "Britain will grind to a halt". The NIC will initially focus on London's transport system, connections between cities in the north of England, and updating the energy network - funded by selling off land, buildings and other government assets. Lord Adonis has resigned the Labour whip and will sit as a crossbencher in the Lords as he starts work in his new role immediately. The NIC will produce a report at the start of each five-year Parliament containing recommendations of infrastructure building over the next 20 to 30 years. Osborne: "I'm not prepared to turn round to my children - or indeed anyone else's child - and say 'I'm sorry, we didn't build for you.' John Cridland, director-general of the CBI business lobby said: " ....we must not duck the important infrastructure decisions that need taking now, particularly on expanding aviation capacity in the South East."
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Guardian reports Patrick McLoughlin saying Government statement on runway likely to be delayed – even past May 2016
An article in the Guardian, interviewing Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, says that because of the well known "deep and unresolved cabinet splits over whether to expand Heathrow to provide more airport capacity for the south-east, the statement by the government about the runway issue may be delayed. It has been expected that some sort of statement would be made, before Christmas. This might be in favour of Heathrow, or it might be a holding response to give government more time. The Guardian states: "McLoughlin said an announcement would “hopefully” be made [before Christmas], but he could not promise it would, or indeed that it would be made before next May’s London and council elections. It was simply the firm intention, but that was as much as he could say." At least five cabinet ministers, as well as Boris Johnson, a likely candidate to succeed Cameron after he steps down in 2020, are against, while Osborne, probably now the favourite to step into Cameron’s shoes, is in favour. Zac Goldsmith, Conservative Mayoral candidate, deeply opposed to the runway, is a huge complication for the government on the issue.
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CPRE raises concerns about government plans to raise cost of legal challenges, on projects like a new runway
The CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) fears proposals to expose claimants in environmental cases, such as big infrastructure projects, to higher financial liabilities if they lose their cases could deter people from bringing actions. Green organisations could face steep rises in the cost of legal challenges to Heathrow’s expansion, or air quality policies, under reforms that the government is contemplating. But the Ministry of Justice denies proposals for higher cost caps are timed to coincide with HS2 and Heathrow. Campaigners fear government plans will deter people from bringing actions. There is a current consultation to update the UK’s responsibilities under the Aarhus convention, which guarantees public participation in decision-making as well as access to information and justice in environmental matters. The Prime Minister has been critical of delays to building projects, due to lengthy judicial review cases. This is claimed to delay economic development. Ralph Smyth, a barrister and the transport campaign manager at CPRE, said the planned changes could make it harder to challenge environmental decisions in the courts, and get justice for individuals, community groups and charities seeking to protect air quality, green belt, tranquillity and the climate.
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Leaked documents reveal secret plans for West Midlands Combined Authority to have control over APD at Birmingham airport
The Draft West Midlands Agreement, which was set to be used as a negotiation tool with Government, details what powers the new authority (the West Midlands Combined Authority, WMCA) – formed of Solihull, Coventry, Birmingham and Black Country local authorities – would seek to wrestle from Westminster. There would also be an elected metro mayor in order to qualify for the ‘full suite of powers’ offered by George Osborne. The mayor would chair the WMCA and have the ability to affect local council taxes and grant tax exemptions and discounts in order to support development. The mayor would also be granted powers to levy a Supplementary Business Rate on businesses – without the requirement for a referendum. And among other powers the WMCA could be given control over Birmingham Airport’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the ability to invest in growth of the local economy, and air connections with overseas markets. The WMCA will campaign for the Government to devolve more powers to the country’s regions in its upcoming Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill. In return for these devolved powers, the CA would look to form an £8 billion West Midlands Investment Programme to deliver specific housing and business funds.
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Berlin Brandenburg airport problem of terminal ceiling being too heavy ….. already years late, hugely over budget
Berlin’s long-delayed Brandenburg airport has suffered another setback after structural flaws were found in the terminal roof. It appears that the ceiling in the terminal building is too heavy. The airport, which was originally due to open in 2010, is still under construction and has run billions of Euros over budget. It was expected to open in 2017 but that could be postponed even further. The local building authority said it had told the construction firm to "immediately stop building works for the area underneath the entire terminal roof of the BER airport" until security checks could be carried out by engineers. The airport's CEO has left the company. Earlier this year Air Berlin, which is currently running at a loss, reached a settlement with the airport over the delays as it had planned on making BER its main hub airport. The first problems noted were to do with the smoke and fire detection problem. The proposed solution, (which was not surprisingly rejected) was (paraphrased) for 800 low-paid workers armed with cell phones, sitting on camping stools, armed with thermos flasks, who would take up positions throughout the terminal. If anyone smelled smoke or saw a fire, they would alert the airport fire station and direct passengers toward the exits" The airport’s cost, borne by taxpayers, has tripled to €5.4 billion.
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Careful analysis by Richmond campaign shows up weaknesses in Airports Commission economic arguments
The Airports Commission, in recommending Heathrow as the location for a new runway, has given the impression that it would benefit the regions and create more connectivity for regional airports. An analysis of the Commission's many papers, by the Richmond Heathrow Campaign (RHC), has unearthed very different data. These indicate that the Heathrow north west runway would mean an extra 41 million annual passengers at Heathrow, but a loss of 58 million passengers per year from other UK airports, including Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. The RHC does not consider this to be compatible with the "Northern Powerhouse." They also believe that over 50% of the new runway capacity would be used for an extra 22 million International to International transfers, providing little economic value to the UK as these passengers don’t step outside the airport. The RHC comments that the Commission's data shows the investment of £17.6 billion to build the runway would result in a net benefit of £1.4 billion (present value over 60 years) when other costs are taken into account. This is negligible in macro-economic terms. The RHC says the Commission's own reports show "there is no need for this costly new investment in one airport at the expense of others. Allowing the market to grow where it is needed is the right answer – no new runways."
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Sir Howard Davies writes to Patrick McLoughlin and the GLA to dismiss Gatwick’s claims
The Airports Commission, now almost closed down, has published on its website a letter to the GLA from Sir Howard Davies, setting out why they believe strongly that their analysis is robust to the arguments that Gatwick airport have made (recently repeated). The Commission also published a letter to the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, dated the 7th September, and now copied to the GLA, countering all Gatwick's arguments why it should be the site for a new runway. The Commission's letter to Patrick McLoughlin deal with Regional Connectivity, on which they dismiss Gatwick's claims; Economic Benefits, on which the Commission says the benefits to the UK from a Heathrow runway are substantially greater than a Gatwick runway; on Costs and Charges; Deliverability and Financing; Air Quality; and Noise. The Commission says, quote: "GAL accuse the Airports Commission of having ‘largely ignore[d]’ Gatwick’s lower noise impacts compared to those of Heathrow. That is nonsense." Sir Howard Davies' letter to the GLA covers the issues of capacity and resilience, connectivity, noise mitigation, surface access and finance. Criticising the session at the GLA where Sir Howard was interviewed, he says there was no "serious consideration of the role of aviation, and the benefits of expansion, in supporting the capital’s long term prosperity."
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Revolving door revolves again: Vickie Sheriff (used to work at 10 Downing Street) to be Heathrow head of comms
There have for a long time been concerns about the "revolving door", by which people switch between working high up in the aviation industry, and working high up in Government. The concern is that they may bring too much influence, from their earlier employer. Now it is announced that Vickie Sheriff it to become head of communications for Heathrow airport. Earlier she had worked for the Prime Minister, in 2013, with a dual role as official deputy spokesperson for the Prime Minister and head of news at Number 10.She went to the DfT and then Diageo in 2014. Heathrow's director of PR, Simon Baugh, left earlier this year to work at the Department for Transport to take the role of head of communications. This is the job that was previously held by Vickie Sheriff. (Simon Baugh was not actually meant to be advising ministers on the new runway issue till 1st September, when he had been at the DfT for 6 months). Heathrow also appointed a new consumer PR agency in the summer. There have been several other high profile examples of the "revolving door" in the past, including Tom Kelly in 2009, who had worked for Tony Blair and then went to BAA as head of comms.
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West Country MP says “London mustn’t have a veto on Heathrow” – led to believe a runway would benefit his region
An MP from the South West, Dr Liam Fox (MP for North Somerset) has said that a decision on a runway for the south east should not be made by people in London alone. Though he does graciously concede that: "Residents of west London who live beneath the flightpath do have legitimate concerns" he says "the capital must not be allowed to dominate a debate that is about the future of the whole UK." And he produces the figures of benefit of a 3rd Heathrow runway to the South West of "a £10 billion increase in economic activity, as well as 12,300 new jobs." Unfortunately these figures are actually up to 2050. They also come from a (4 page) paper from consultants employed by Heathrow airport, long before the Airports Commission's final report. Dr Fox believes there will be a big expansion in business air travel, and that there will be many more flights to regional airports, like those in the SW. He does not seem to have read the Commission's comments about there being regional flights to only 4 domestic airports (from 7 now) by 2050, or Howard Davies' comments to the London Assembly about regional airports being likely to close. Dr Fox - and other MPs in the regions - would perhaps do well to understand the limitations and failings of the Commission's work on wider UK economic impacts of a SE runway.