General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Darren Johnson asks: Why spend billions on a new runway and then tax us to keep demand for flights down?
Darren Johnson, writing in Best Foot Forward, says there is a huge hidden assumption, in the small print of the Airports Commission. It is that in order for Heathrow or Gatwick to expand, air fares will have to rise across the UK to the point where potential customers abandon the northern and regional airports in favour of their more efficient rivals in the south east. Without more runways in the south east, the regional airports will see a small expansion in flights, but the UK may well be able remain below our CO2 limit for aviation in 2050 (37.5 MtCO2 per year). With another SE runway, the only way to stop it filling up and being intensively used, is to raise fares – a lot - to deter demand, so aviation CO2 emissions remain under the cap. Otherwise the CO2 will just be too high. All this is tucked away in the small print of various appendices. Darren has written to the Commission about this, and responses show they (and the DfT) are aware that a high carbon price would be needed. Estimates vary, but this could add £100 to £150 to a return flight to Ibiza by 2050. Are we just leaving our children to sort out the mess in future? Rather than building a runway, and then having to cut demand (London and the regions) by high taxes, surely it makes more sense not to build the runway in the first place?
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Anti Gatwick campaigners accuse airport chiefs of cheap leaflet (and free coffee) publicity stunt
Campaigners fighting aircraft noise have accused Gatwick bosses of trying to buy them off with a free cappuccino and glossy printed pamphlet. The leaflet, dropping through the letterboxes of thousands of homes in a 20 mile radius of Gatwick airport, is a blatant PR stunt in the face of a 5 fold increase in complaints about noisy planes. It is edition one of "AirMail" – airport news for residents. It boasts of Gatwick's developments and "activities in the local community" including grants to community groups, local residents discount parking rates and free coffees. Chairman of the High Weald Aviation Action Group, Richard Streatfeild said Gatwick needs to listen, not make cheap gestures. "A free cappuccino is not going to make up for hundreds of aircraft over your home area when people are trying to spend quality family time and enjoy the countryside. They are obviously upping their PR game. They are being told by the CAA that they must involve the local community with their decision making" ...what they need to do is "take into account the feedback they are getting from the local community." Martin Baraud from GON said: "They can send out all the brochures they like but at the end of the day they are part and parcel of creating noise ghettos through the garden of England."
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Levy on frequent leisure flyers proposed to make airport expansion unnecessary
Plans for a “frequent flyer” tax to curb demand for leisure flights and make a new runway in south-east England unnecessary have been unveiled by an influential group of transport campaigners, environmentalists and tax experts. These include the Campaign for Better Transport, the New Economics Foundation, the Tax Justice Network, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth among others. In a letter to the Observer - in order to remove the alleged "need" for a new south east runway - they put forward the concept of allowing each person one tax-free flight per year, but increasing the rate of tax for people who fly frequently. The levy would rise with each successive flight. This would mean that instead of APD (£13 per return flight to Europe) there would be a higher rate of tax for frequent fliers. Their analysis shows that 15% of the UK population take 70% of all the flights, while half of us don’t fly at all in any given year. Rather than a new runway being vital for business, the reality is that it would be used for the better off to take more leisure flights (holidays or visiting friends and family). The proposed levy would mean the number of flights would be cut to a level that would make a new runway unnecessary. The authors of the scheme have also shown that this change to the taxation of air travel would also ensure the UK could comply with its obligations under the Climate Change Act.
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New AEF report on how new SE runway would mean slashing growth at regional airports to meet UK climate targets
AEF has produced a new report called "Flying into trouble: London airport expansion would mean slashing growth at regional airports to meet UK climate targets." AEF believe the Airports Commission, when it reports (probably within two weeks) will be handing Government an incomplete analysis with no convincing or credible answers on how to limit carbon emissions. AEF calls on the Government to reject the Commission's report, pending a proper analysis on the carbon challenge. The CCC says UK aviation CO2 emissions should not exceed a cap of 37.5MtCO2 per year by 2050. An extra SE runway would require slashing the projected number of flights using UK regional airports, to keep under the cap. The Airports Commission’s own analysis shows that under current trends, this limit will be breached - even without a new runway. The problem would be made far worse by adding a runway. AEF says the figures could only be balanced by limiting the growth of airports in the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and other regions, which would directly contradict Government policy for regional airport growth. It would be impossible to deliver, in practice. The Commission's own figures show how the number of flights using regional airports would fall, with a new SE runway - and these economic costs are not factored in.
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Cases of objects, including human stowaways, but often blocks of ice, falling from planes
A stowaway plunged to his death from a British Airways plane onto an office block near Richmond. Another stowaway survived the trip and receiving hospital treatment. The plane was a 747 on an 11 hour flight from Johannesburg. The spot where the man fell was just a few hundred metres from Kew Gardens. Around three quarters of plane stowaways are killed by the cold or the landing gear during flights. Earlier this year a coroner’s court heard how a Turkish man froze to death in July 2013 when he climbed into the undercariage of a BA jet from Istanbul to Heathrow. In September 2012, a stowaway from Mozambique fell to the ground in a suburban street in Mortlake. A Pakistani stow away who fell from a plane, presumably as the undercarriage came down, over Richmond in July 2001. Data from 2012 indicated that since records began in 1947, 96 wheel well stowaways are thought to have attempted to board 85 flights. Of those 73 of those stowaways died and 23 survived. More details from various sources over many years.
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Big five EU airlines join to form new lobbying alliance – to cut taxes and regulations, and make more money
The EU's 5 largest airline groups - Air France-KLM, EasyJet, IAG, Lufthansa and Ryanair - have unveiled plans to establish a new airline lobbying group (not yet named) later this year to present a set of common goals to European regulators. They met in Brussels to set out the initiative. Carolyn McCall said the new entity will be based on the "Airlines for America" lobbying group in the USA and will be “open to all European airlines.” The airlines say there is a “need for a new entity, something new and different” with real “traction”. They want to put on a show of unity and provide a united position on regulatory policy as the new European Commission works on its key aviation package. Carolyn McCall says the new entity will go “live” in October, will represent 4 shared common goals: (1). Development of a European aviation strategy, to have simple regulation, to ensure growth and cut costs. (2). Lowering airport costs through reforming the European airport charges directive. (3). Stopping air traffic management from striking, and using SESAR etc to make savings and more profit. (4). Growing demand for air travel by "removing passenger taxes and unreasonable environmental taxes”. Willie Walsh also wants to "impress on the Commission the risk of and impact of passenger taxes.”
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Airbus reported to want more UK taxpayer aid for A380 – but Boeing warns Airbus over state aid
Airbus is reported to have requested a huge cash injection of British taxpayer funds to support a new version of its A380 aircraft with more fuel efficient engines. The Sunday Times understands Airbus has approached the business department for a fresh round of repayable launch investment (RLI) to equip the huge plane with new engines. Business secretary Sajid Javid is believed to have demanded a firm business case before committing funds. The A380, which began commercial flights in 2007, was funded with about £1.9bn from France, Germany, Spain and UK. The UK’s £530m of RLI is due to be repaid through royalties, when the A380 programme makes a profit - which it has not yet done. Rolls-Royce supplies Trent 900 engines for the currenet A380, and may make a new, more fuel-efficient engines should Airbus commit to the A380neo. Rolls has received as much as £450m of RLI for its Trent engines. Now Boeing has warned Airbus that if it gets more subsidies or loans for a new it would breach World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Airbus said it would not comment as it had not yet decided on a revamped A380, and there has been speculation the programme could be scrapped due to low orders. Boeing and Airbus have been locked in litigation for years about state funding.
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Government will not make a runway decision soon, and not till “before Christmas”
The Financial Times has reported that it has been informed by a Whitehall source that Ministers will not provide a formal response to the Airports Commission's recommendation on a runway till about "before Christmas." The official told the FT there would just be a cursory acceptance of the report (expected in late June?) by senior ministers. It had been thought for sometime that the DfT would have to do at least 6 months work, considering the Commission's verdict,before a final decision could be made. The Commission has left many gaps in its analysis, with many questions unanswered. The FT reports that: "Civil servants say they need to start work on any proposed legislation & prepare for legal challenges that are considered almost inevitable." The decision for the Airports Commission has not been an easy one, because there are overwhelming arguments against a new runway at either Gatwick or Heathrow. The Cabinet faces division on the issue of Heathrow, with George Osborne in favour and other senior members deeply opposed. The pro- runway lobby has been complaining vociferously that a runway decision must be made quickly. Labour's Mary Creagh has accused David Cameron of "unforgivable delay" on the issue, and putting party stability "ahead of the national interest."
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EasyJet CEO, Carolyn McCall, again says there is no economic case for a Gatwick runway
Carolyn McCall, the CEO of EasyJet - the largest airline using Gatwick airport - has again said that there is no "economic reason” to build a 2nd runway at Gatwick. She believes it does not need to expand, because of a lack of demand from passengers. She would prefer a runway at Heathrow, as EasyJet and other airlines are “queuing up to get in”. They could make more profit there. Though the airlines want a new Heathrow runway, it is both physically, geographically, environmentally and politically very, very difficult indeed. Gatwick is also geographically and environmentally very, very difficult. For Gatwick to build a new runway, the cost would have to be paid by the airlines, which means flights costing more for passengers. As the budget airlines make thin profits (perhaps £7 per passenger after tax), adding on an extra £30 + to a return trip is utterly contrary to the low cost airline business plan. On dirt cheap flights, £30 extra is enough to matter. Even though easyJet is currently Gatwick’s biggest customer, Ms McCall said it had “never proved it can really be the kind of airport that Heathrow is.” Heathrow slot pairs can cost £25 million, but EasyJet got their Gatwick pairs for about £1 million.
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NATS and Heathrow agree strategic business partnership – to make more money all round
In April 2015, NATS and Heathrow Airport entered a new strategic partnership, which NATS says signals "a fundamental change to the relationship between the airport and air traffic services provider." As part of the agreement, Heathrow and NATS will jointly create a long term business partnership with shared objectives aligned to what Heathrow is seeking to achieve over the coming years.(ie. it wants a 3rd runway). The partnership mentions "specific incentivised targets in areas from delay performance and service resilience through to cutting aircraft noise." They hope their partnership will "realise benefits for airlines and help deliver a world class passenger experience for the travelling public." (*ie. benefits for passengers, but only the least they can get away with, in terms of noise for those being over-flown.). NATS says: "We’ve moved from being an important supplier to true partners with aligned goals that allow us to share both the rewards of success and consequences of failure in a totally transparent and accountable way.” Last year NATS lost the contract for the airspace below 4,000 feet at Gatwick to Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS),starting in October 2015. And after the problems in March when NATS did not properly inform Heathrow of flight path changes, things can only improve ...