General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Oil finds near Gatwick would only add to transport, housing and infrastructure problems for local residents
An announcement has recently been made by UK Oil and Gas Investments that is has located allegedly ‘world-class potential" oil resources 1 - 2 miles north of Gatwick Airport. GACC, the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, has written to the Airports Commission to point out that this oil at Gatwick is just one more reason to reject the 2nd runway plans. This oil, and nearby deposits across the Weald, would add substantially to the environmental problems caused if it was decided to build a 2nd runway. A 2nd runway when operating at full capacity would create around 60,000 new jobs, an extra 100,000 cars on the roads every day plus freight, an extra 90,000 rail passengers every day on the single railway line, and the need for around 40,000 new houses. Since there is comparatively low unemployment in the area, most of the people taking the new jobs would need to come from other parts of the UK or from the EU. GACC asks how many more houses would have to be built to accommodate the new oil workers and their families on top of the second runway and natural growth of the population of Surrey and Sussex? And how many extra vehicles would be added to the roads?
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Gatwick rushes to offer money – if it gets a 2nd runway – to support and incentivise new domestic air services
After Heathrow got itself some good publicity in its runway campaign, by saying it would spend £10 million to set up some new regional routes, Gatwick has been panicked into doing the same. It appears to have had to rush out a paper, stating it will spend £20 million over 10 years to strengthen domestic air services. Only if it gets a second runway. The paper setting out its plan contains little text, and gives no references or sources for the figures it uses. Gatwick says it already serves 11 destinations within the UK compared with 7 at Heathrow. Gatwick says its plans for a 2nd runway will "encourage the growth of regional airports and the development of international services outside London and the South East" though it does not explain how. It probably means that if there are more long haul flights from an expanded Heathrow, there would be less market demand for these flights from regional airports, and they would thus suffer (which is true). Following what Heathrow has already offered, Gatwick says it will consult on reducing landing charges for regional flights. If Gatwick wasn't so busy lobbying around Heathrow, and with negative campaigning about Heathrow, it might have thought of some of these ideas for itself, rather than just being a pastiche of Heathrow.
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Forests and lakes destroyed to build Istanbul’s vast 3rd airport aerotropolis covering 76 square kilometers of land
Istanbul is building a third airport, north of the city close to the Terkos lake area. Istanbul already has Atatürk Airport on the European side and Sabiha Gökçen airport on the Asian side (these handle around 45 million and 15 million passengers respectively per year), but both claim to be struggling with increased demand - being well located as a hub between Europe, the Middle East and the East. Their national airline, Turkish Airlines, is growing fast. The site for the 3rd airport, which is to be an Aerotropolis, not merely an airport, is about 76 square kilometres. The third airport is linked with other forest destroying megaprojects – a third bridge over the Bosphorus, a motorway and a canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. All three are linked and feed into each other. The vast construction works destroy areas of forest, lakes and ponds - causing serious local concern about biodiversity loss, loss of natural habitat and possible future heat island and water supply problems. Turkey wants another vast airport, perhaps able to take up to 150 million passengers per year, partly to boost its chances of getting the Olympics in 2024. The busiest airport in the world now, Atlanta, handles about 95 million passengers per year. A short video shows the ongoing environmental destruction, during the building of the airport. https://vimeo.com/123657571
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£2.8m project led by Stirling University on tackling airport congestion and best use of capacity
Stirling University has announced it is leading a major 6 year, £2.8 million, project that focuses on tackling UK airport congestion. The project will examine the better use of existing capacity and resources – rather than sole reliance on new airport building and expansion – resulting in benefits to both the industry and travellers. The team of Computing, Science and Mathematics researchers, led by Professor Edmund Burke will be looking at the best ways to allocate runway capacity. The programme is called the OR-MASTER (Mathematical Models and Algorithms for Allocating Scarce Airport Resources). They will work on the EPSRC-funded (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) research with colleagues from Lancaster University Management School. The study will investigate - from a mathematical and computational perspective - whether capacity management is as efficient and effective as possible. The aim to produce a better solution not just for the UK, but for internationally, in finding the most efficient ways to schedule flights, developing and testing new models and solution algorithms for the allocation of flight 'slots.' It aims to get a better understanding of the trade-off between capacity utilization, and passenger and airline schedule delays.
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Flybe accuses Gatwick of ignoring UK regions
Saad Hammad, the chief executive of Flybe, has criticised Gatwick for failing to address the needs of Britain’s regions, in its attempt to win support for its second runway. The head of the UK’s biggest regional airline said that Heathrow had been “more specific about what they are going to do” on take-off and landing slots and on charges for domestic flights and “I don’t think Gatwick has been as sensitive as we would like.... Heathrow has one up on Gatwick in terms of listening to regional needs and requirements.” Heathrow has said it would look at cutting charges for regional flights as part of a regular review of fees, though no binding commitment has been made. These cuts are largely to deter passengers flying via Schiphol or other European hubs, rather than concern for the regional airports. Flybe has no flights into Heathrow and only one from Gatwick to Newquay. It sold 25 pairs of slots to easyJet in 2013. A spokesman for Gatwick said that it had the “best” regional links of any London airport and would remain significantly cheaper than Heathrow, even if Heathrow reduced their domestic fees. Gatwick said it is planning to give details of its proposals on fees further later this month. It has claimed its landing charges would not rise above £15 per passenger, but only it gets a 2nd runway and Government agrees a contract not to allow any other runway in the south east for 30 years ....
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Historic village of Harmondsworth, threatened by Heathrow 3rd runway, opens its doors on Sunday 12th April
The ancient village of Harmondsworth, which originated as a Saxon manor and is now facing demolition if a 3rd Heathrow runway is built to the north-west of the airport. It is staging an Open Day on Sunday 12th April to give the media and members of the public a chance to see what would be destroyed. The focus of the event is the re-opening of the celebrated 15th-century Great Barn for the first time since the completion of major repairs by English Heritage. The Barn, described by poet Sir John Betjeman as “the cathedral of Middlesex”, was saved from developers by the intervention of a group of determined villagers. There will also be the unveiling (1.30pm) of a huge mural, especially created for the occasion, illustrating the proposed airport boundary cutting through the heart of picturesque Harmondsworth. There will be a visit to the newly-planted trees on the Recreation Ground which demonstrates that the community intends to fight to preserve its historic roots for future generations to enjoy, rather than watch it obliterated by further expansion of the airport. And there will be Morris dancing at various times throughout the day, as well as walking tours. Organisers, SHE (Stop Heathrow Expansion) say this is a great opportunity to see the unique village of Harmondsworth, and "also to show to the world that we are utterly determined to fight for our homes and our community. We will not be going anywhere else.”
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Schiphol airport unfazed by prospect of new London runway – many UK passengers prefer transferring from Schiphol
Schiphol Group president and chief executive Jos Nijhuis, described Amsterdam as “London’s second hub”. Schiphol now handles up to 8 million UK passengers a year, 60% of whom connect to onward flights. Schiphol believes passengers from UK regional airports will continue to choose Amsterdam rather than Heathrow to connect to long‑haul flights, even if Heathrow gets a 3rd runway. 13 UK airports have services to Amsterdam and this will rise to 14 next month, with the addition of Belfast. The loss of UK regional traffic to Amsterdam because of capacity constraints at Heathrow has featured heavily in Heathrow's lobbying for a new runway, wanting to prevent the loss of customers to Schiphol. And wanting to keep on being the biggest international airport, by far, in Europe. Jos Nijhuis said: “We are London’s second hub and doing very well. ...I tell [Heathrow chief executive] John Holland-Kaye: ‘Consider our most western runway as yours. We can rename it Heathrow Runway Three....We are a much better transfer airport [than our rivals]. We designed the airport for transfers.” KLM chief executive Pieter Elbers said: “I don’t think additional capacity in London would make Heathrow more attractive than Schiphol to passengers in Newcastle or Humberside." He felt higher charges needed by Heathrow to pay for a new runway would mean the runway would not reduce the traffic going via Schiphol.
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Access to expanded Heathrow could cost £20 billion, TfL warns – maybe £15 billion more from the taxpayer than Commission estimate
Transport for London (TfL) has raised "serious concerns" about congestion and the costs of expansion at Heathrow just weeks before the Airports Commission's final recommendation is due (end of June?). TFL Response to APPG on Surface Access Feb 2015 In response to questions by Zac Goldsmith, TfL said both Heathrow and Commission had "significantly underestimated" the challenge of improving transport access to the site, with the Airports Commission estimating £5 billion would be enough to make the improvements. TfL believes to provide an optimal level of service, the figure would be nearer to £20 billion, raising questions about who would pay the additional costs. TfL said population growth of 37% by 2050 has also not been taken into account, with regards to the increased pressure on London's roads and public transport infrastructure, Zac said: "TfL is better placed than any other organisation to understand the effects Heathrow expansion will have on London’s transport network, and it is extraordinary therefore that the Commission never bothered to ask for its assessment. This raises serious questions about the thoroughness and reliability of the Commission’s work. If TfL is right, the taxpayer may end up having to cough up an additional £15 billion to help Heathrow secure its monopoly, in addition to all the associated problems of gridlock, noise and air pollution."
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1st April. “Heathrow in secret plan to compulsory purchase Sunbury Golf Course for housing”
Unfortunately this story was an April Fools joke. Howewer, the number of homes to be demolished (783), the number of homes Heathrow has had to offer to buy (3,750), the shortage of land to build houses in areas around Heathrow, are all accurate and true. So is the absence of any plan to move those who will have their homes compulsorily purchased to alternative sites, let alone to move people as a community.... The story said: "Harmondsworth and Longford residents, who are facing the bulldozers if Heathrow's north-west runway goes ahead, could be offered new homes on Sunbury Golf Course. Heathrow Airport Ltd are understood to have been in negotiation for the compulsory purchase of the golf centre site, that includes a popular 6,000-yard course. MPs and local authorities around Heathrow have expressed concern about the housing crisis in London and the South East, and the necessity to re-house those currently living in the 783 homes that will be destroyed. In addition Heathrow has offered to buy up 3,750 houses that will become almost uninhabitable due to the noise and air pollution. These people also need to be found new homes. Heathrow bosses have been looking at possible solutions, wishing to be fair to local communities and foster community cohesion.They have therefore been in covert discussions with neighbouring councils during the past 6 months, to find suitable sites for the relocation of the villagers. Spelthorne Council, a strong supporter of a Heathrow 3rd runway, has played an important behind-the-scenes role in this search. Sunbury Golf Course site provides the ideal location. The planning process for this major project is expected to be fast-tracked so that initial work can begin this autumn."
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CAGNE sends complaint to Airports Commission on poor level of local engagement by Gatwick
CAGNE, the local group set up in 2014 at Gatwick, in response to the trial of new, concentrated flight paths, has written to the Airports Commission, to complain about the activities of Gatwick Airport. Local groups have persistently complained that senior airport staff have declined invitations to attend meetings of communities around the airport. The airport is aware of the huge amount of local opposition. Instead, Gatwick has focused its advertising money and its PR on the London area. It has also contacted a large number of councils, in areas closer to Heathrow (where a Heathrow runway would be opposed) to try to get them to support a Gatwick runway instead. CAGNE points out that the Airports Commission's own work, in its Appraisal Framework, expects runway scheme promoters will show "evidence of sustained and meaningful engagement with local and community stakeholders including highlighting any changes of features of scheme designs arising as a result of this engagement." The Commission also expects the runway promoters to work on managing their "engagement with communities throughout the lifespan of the proposed project, including the period after any new infrastructure is delivered.” CAGNE has little confidence, considering the poor record of Gatwick airport so far, in its future engagement with local people.