General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Crispin Blunt, Kwasi Kwarteng and Sam Gyimah send open letter to Gatwick Chairman blasting Gatwick 400,000 Heathrow leaflets stunt
Crispin Blunt, Kwasi Kwarteng and Sam Gyimah (all Surrey MPs in the Coalition government and Conservative candidates) have written to Gatwick Airport Chairman, Sir Roy McNulty, to complain about Gatwick's leafletting of the Heathrow area. Gatwick has sent out provocative leaflets to some 400,000 households in constituencies around Heathrow, pushing the case for a Gatwick runway. It is doing this at the same time as failing to engage with local communities around its own airport. Gatwick is trying to frighten residents around Heathrow, about the appalling noise and other environmental and economic impacts of a 3rd Heathrow runway. Instead it pushes Gatwick's negative and unbalanced campaign for its runway. The MPs say Gatwick's actions demonstrate "an astonishing disregard for the concerns of families and communities around Gatwick, about whom you should have most concern." They say: "Instead of frightening the communities around your competitor, you should focus on engaging with the communities that surround your airport." "If Mr Wingate or his team had taken the time to adequately consult with his local communities ...[Gatwick would know] ... there are wide ranging concerns about the huge strain Gatwick expansion would place on local transport infrastructure, housing, schools and healthcare."
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Supreme Court hears ClientEarth case on getting faster UK action to comply with legal NO2 limits
The Supreme Court in the UK heard ClientEarth’s case against the UK Government over its failure to meet legal limits for air pollution, for the final time on 16th April. This is the culmination of a 4-year battle in the UK and EU courts. The UK has been in breach of EU NO2 limit values in 16 areas. The Supreme Court case follows the 2014 ruling by the ECJ which held that the UK must have a plan to achieve air quality standards in the ‘shortest time possible’. The UK Government’s current plans will not meet legal limits for NO2 until after 2030 – almost a quarter of a century after the original deadline. ClientEarth is calling on the Supreme Court to order the Government to produce a new plan to rapidly deliver cuts to NO2 emissions in towns and cities across the UK. The plan will need to target pollution from diesel vehicles, which are the main source of NO2 pollution. That is particularly the case around Heathrow. ClientEarth wants Defra to produce the plan within 3 months. Defra's lawyers suggested the plan might be produced before the end of 2015, but there is no indication when all areas would be compliant. As one of the five Supreme Court justices, Lord Carnwath, commented: “Here we are 4 years on without any idea when the Secretary of State thinks it will achieve compliance.” Judgment will probably be given one to three months after the hearing.
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Report by ERM shows Heathrow could not build a new runway and meet air quality standards
Gatwick Airport, keen to show up all the problems with a new Heathrow runway - attempting to promote its own scheme instead - has commissioned a study by ERM (Environmental Resource Management) on Heathrow air quality. The pollutant and averaging period of most relevance around Heathrow is the annual mean limit value for NO2, which is 40 μg/m3 of air. The Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 say the Secretary of State must ensure that NO2 annual mean level is not over the limit value of 40 μg/m3 anywhere. Heathrow and the DfT predicted 10 years ago that diesel vehicles would emit much less NO2 by 2015 than they in fact do; diesel emissions from road vehicles have not fallen as fast as was expected. Heathrow is therefore not likely to meet the air quality standard, even without a new runway, till perhaps 2030. The Gatwick-funded ERM report is critical of modelling submitted by Heathrow to the Airports Commission that continues to use outdated emission performance of vehicles. The report says no detailed air quality impact modelling has been conducted since the DfT study 10 years ago. The Airports Commission has also not yet done adequate work on this, and said it would do “more detailed dispersion modelling”. This will probably not be available before the Commission's (June?) announcement.
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Open letter from CEOs of 43 global firms (none in aviation) asks global leaders to work for ambitious Paris deal
The CEOs of 43 large global companies have written an open letter to world leaders, asking them to deliver an ambitious climate change agreement at the Paris climate summit later this year, while pledging to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. There are no airports or airlines among the signatories. The letter called on negotiators to make sure a new international climate deal limits the global rise in temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius. They understand that the private sector has "a responsibility to actively engage in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to help lead the global transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy". Some of the companies were IKEA, Erikson, Lafarge, Volvo, BT, Marks & Spencer, Munich RE, Unilever, and Vestas. While the companies signing the letter want to cut their emissions, help raise climate awareness and manage climate risks, they all want to take advantage of the growth opportunities of cutting carbon. The open letter was orchestrated by the World Economic Forum. Many companies are looking to governments to provide a policy framework for a transition to more sustainable business models. Most governments missed an informal March 31 deadline to submit their climate pledges for the new deal to the UN,with only Switzerland, Norway, Mexico, Russia, Gabon and the EU having done so.
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Emirates is soon to take delivery of a 2-class version of A380 with 615 seats (rather than more usual <530)
The A380-800 is the largest passenger airliner, which has a theoretical maximum certified capacity of 853 passengers (538 on the main deck and 315 on the upper), achievable with a one-class configuration. However, no airline has ever come even close to that number. Airbus says a "comfortable three-class" 525-passenger configuration" is possible, and a few airlines approach that. Emirates will start taking delivery of planes with 2 classes, seating 615 passengers, the most ever seen, and will start flying the plane between Dubai and Copenhagen in December. The Boeing 747-400 passenger plane can accommodate 416 passengers in a typical three-class layout, 524 passengers in a typical two-class layout. They typically carry between 350 to 400 people. Airlines with A380s include luxury facilities for first class passengers, such as in-flight showers, taking up a lot of space. Now some airlines are said to be considering not just the 10 seats abreast configuration as in economy class, but increasing to 11 seats abreast. However, it is understood that Emirates have dismissed the idea. The number of passengers per plane using Heathrow has risen. It is now around 214, compared to 209 in summer 2012 and 202 in summer 2011.
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Lib Dem manifesto says they oppose any new SE runway (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Estuary)
The Lib Dem manifesto states that they will: "Ensure our airport infrastructure meets the needs of a modern and open economy, without allowing emissions from aviation to undermine our goal of a zero-carbon Britain by 2050. We will carefully consider the conclusions of the Davies Review into runway capacity and develop a strategic airports policy for the whole of the UK in the light of those recommendations and advice from the Committee on Climate Change. We remain opposed to any expansion of Heathrow, Stansted or Gatwick and any new airport in the Thames Estuary, because of local issues of air and noise pollution. We will ensure no net increase in runways across the UK." However, when questioned by Eddie Mair on PM, on what the party would do in coalition - if the lead partner wanted a runway - Danny Alexander wriggled and said the party would look carefully if there was any "compelling new evidence" produced. He would not confirm the Lib Dems would stick to their new runway policy, if required to drop it in coalition. The manifesto says their Zero Carbon Britain Act will include: "A new legally-binding target for Zero Carbon Britain by 2050, to be monitored and audited by the Climate Change Committee (CCC). The Climate Change Act 2008 established an aim to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 based on the 1990 baseline."
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Green Party manifesto against any new runway, and against favourable tax treatment of aviation
The Green Party says: "Long-distance travel by air is one of the most energy-intensive and polluting forms of transport and causes health-damaging local pollution near airports. Aviation fuel goes untaxed and there is no VAT on tickets, amounting to a £16 billion a year subsidy in the UK. We need a shift in priority, removing subsidies from air travel to invest in public transport that supports the common good." .... "Against this backdrop, mainstream transport policy, which urges us to travel further and faster than ever before, is senseless, yet this is what all parties except the Green Party offer you." .... "The key to getting this right is to manage demand rather than increase it; that is, to reduce the need to travel in the first place. " [Though most of the suggestions deal with local travel, they include]: - "Encourage alternatives to travel, such as video-conferencing. " ..." The major challenge for our transport system is to decarbonise it and end its reliance on fossil fuels. We would: .... End the favourable tax treatment of aviation and have a separate target for aviation emissions below 37.5 million tonnes CO2 equivalent a year."... And: "Stop airport expansion, in particular no new runways at either Heathrow or Gatwick, and ban night flying."
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What the Conservative manifesto says on runways (nothing), climate etc (not a lot)
The Conservative Party manifesto was launched on 14th April 2015. On runways or airports, its only mention is to say: "We will deliver on our National Infrastructure Plan and respond to the Airports Commission’s final report." ie. there will be no "swift" decision as per Labour. Does that mean they will revisit the Estuary airport idea, or Stansted? There is little on climate, other than to say (carefully chosen, non-committal wording) that: "We will push for a strong global climate deal later this year – one that keeps the goal of limiting global warming to two-degrees firmly in reach. At home, we will continue to support the UK Climate Change Act." They say: " Our tax cuts have encouraged record levels of investment in existing North Sea gas, and the birth of a new industry, shale gas, which could create many thousands of jobs." They say they will build new infrastructure in an environmentally-sensitive way: "We will build new roads and railways in a way that limits, as far as possible, their impact on the environment." [But there is no mention of building a new runway in an environmentally sensitive way!] And they "will protect the Green Belt, and maintain national protections for AONBs, National Parks, SSSIs and other environmental designations."
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DfT appoint bankers, Rothschild, to advise government on runway after Airports Commission reports
The DfT has appointed the bankers, Rothschild, to help evaluate Gatwick and Heathrow’s runway plans, after the publication of the Airports Commissions report that is due in June. That implies the Commission will not have ruled one or the other out. Either of the runway plans would rank among Britain’s biggest-ever, and most expensive, infrastructure projects. Rothschild would provide advice to ministers and officials, and DfT said: "Rothschild was appointed to provide financial advice to assist our understanding of the deliverability of any new runway capacity." Labour and the Conservatives have been urged by business lobbying groups to make a swift decision to approve a runway. The reality is that a huge number of issues have not been fully dealt with by the Commission, and a great deal of further work needs to be done, before a runway could properly be considered. The Airports Commission estimated the cost of Heathrow's NW runway at £18.6bn without factoring in public money for improved road and rail links; cost of Heathrow Hub’s Plan at £13.5bn; Gatwick’s plan at £9.3bn. The Commission estimated that HAH could have to raise additional equity of up to approximately £8.4bn and debt of up to roughly £29.9bn. "Raising this level of financing would be challenging." Hence the need for bankers to advise.
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What the Labour Manifesto says on runways, climate etc (not a lot …)
Only thing the Labour Party Manifesto says on the airport / runway issue is: "Following the Davies Review, we will make a swift decision on expanding airport capacity in London and the South East, balancing the need for growth and the environmental impact." On climate it says: "Our country faces global challenges of climate change, terrorism and the spread of disease. In particular, tackling climate change is an economic necessity and the most important thing we must do for our children, our grandchildren and future generations." And "We will put climate change at the heart of our foreign policy." And: "We want an ambitious agreement on climate change at the UNFCCC conference in Paris, in December. We will make the case for ambitious emissions targets for all countries, strengthened every five years on the basis of a scientific assessment of the progress towards the below two degree goal." There are a few more mentions of climate in relation to development, and some vague words giving support to onshore / offshore unconventional oil and gas, etc. ...