General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Stansted Managing Director tells London that Stansted is “solution” to aviation capacity demand
Stansted boss, Andrew Harrison, says the airport can meet London's growing aviation needs over the next 15 years. He was speaking at the inaugural London Infrastructure Summit on March 27th. He said Stansted could more than double the amount of flights it handles and that improving rail links into London would be key to unlocking its full potential. The Summit focused on the importance of infrastructure to London’s overall competitiveness. Andrew Harrison said Stansted has the infrastructure and planning permission to handle 35 million passengers (up from 17.8 million in 2013) per year, and the ability to handle a further 10 million passengers beyond that. That is around the capacity of one runway, fully used, especially with larger planes than at present. Stansted intends to "grasp the opportunity" in the period before any new runway (if one is ever agreed) could be built, to "make the best possible use of Stansted." Some rail improvements, which could be implemented quickly, might cut the train journey time to London by 10 minutes.
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easyJet says it would fly from Heathrow, “if it was right for us” debunking Gatwick’s Heathrow myth
Gatwick airport, in its bid to try to pursuade the powers-that-be of its suitability as the site of a new runway, has often said that the low cost airlines would not fly from Heathrow. However, easyJet has now said that it would consider flying from an expanded Heathrow. Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of easyJet, said it would look at flying from Heathrow in future “if it was right for us”, and it if wasn't too expensive. Gatwick claims that the increase in demand for air travel will be for short haul flights, mainly to Europe or countries adjacent to Europe. Heathrow claims the demand for air travel in future will be long haul. According to Gatwick’s chief executive, Stewart Wingate, Heathrow is inaccessible for low-cost airlines and charter carriers due to its high landing charges. But Ms McCall points out that easyJet already flies to and from other hub airports in Europe, such as Schiphol, Rome Fiumicino and Paris Charles de Gaulle. Though Heathrow has high landing charges, so do the other European hub airports. Ms McCall made her comments shortly after easyJet announced a 7-year pricing deal with Gatwick and revealed it is in discussions to take over the airport’s north terminal, potentially forcing out British Airways. It made no mention of a 2nd Gatwick runway.
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Gatwick airport PR onslaught continues: it claims a 2nd runway would bring “Olympic-style boost”
Gatwick airport continues its PR barrage, in its attempt to be chosen to be allowed a new runway. It is arguing that the way the aviation industry will develop in future will make large hub airports obsolete. The airport claims a new runway would regenerate a swath of the South East from London to the coast and create thousands of jobs, across the Gatwick Diamond and beyond. They have hired Sir Terry Farrell to design and promote their plan, and he has said: “An extra runway at Gatwick and a new transformed airport here would provide for London – from the south, Croydon and going north – a bigger economic boost than the Olympics.....It’s an area that is waiting to have this kind of input.” He probably means there is unspoilt countryside in the area around Gatwick. The claims of benefit from a 2nd runway include promises of jobs as far away as Brighton and Hastings, and "an extra 19,000 jobs in sectors such as retail, construction and ground handling" by 2050." At present there are about 22,000 to 25,000 jobs at Gatwick. They claim they can build the runway for £5bn to £9bn. The Airports Commission says the cost would be £10 - 13 billion including surface access improvements.
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Tui’s Chief Executive Peter Long calls for staggered school holidays – to cut prices?
Tui's Chief Exec, Mr Long, has suggested that parents who send their children to private schools, which break up earlier than state schools, should pay more because “they can afford it.” He has apparently discussed this with the Dept for Education, and wants different counties to stagger school breaks to "enable holiday costs at peak periods to come down." The higher costs in peak time are, or course, because the travel companies choose to put their charges up then - the whole holiday industry capitalises on the higher demand. Mr Long said the price difference between a holiday booked at the beginning of July (some private schools break up in early July) and one for the start of August was 20%. The industry wants a widening of the main holiday periods so that, in fact, they can charge more for holidays for more weeks, by spreading the demand. He seems to be a bit confused between private school parents, and staggering term dates between regions. Parents who scrimp and save and go without many consumer delights in order to pay for private school fees, are incensed by Mr Long's proposals and lack of understanding.
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British Airways + Solena plant to make jet fuel from London’s rubbish – announcement soon?
GreenAir online gives an update on the anticipated biofuel plant (costing around $500 million) to be built in east London, to produce diesel and jet fuel. GreenAir says that according to British Airways’ a 20-acre (8ha) site has been selected for its GreenSky project with Solena and an announcement is expected within weeks. Getting the required planning permission had proved “extremely challenging." GreenSky will convert around 600,000 tonnes of London municipal waste into 50,000 tonnes of biojet and 50,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually, and will - they hope - meet BA’s total fuel needs at London City Airport. BA hope they can claim annual carbon savings of up to 145,000 tonnes of CO2. “It’s very much a demonstration plant for us. If we can prove this works commercially then we will build a number of them in the UK – potentially up to six – at this scale or even bigger." “The economics is driven by a current UK landfill tax of about £80 per tonne, so the scheme hopes to get the rubbish cheaply - saving councils the landfill tax. Under its 10-year contract with Solena, BA will purchase all the fuel produced by the plant. They hope to start building in early 2015 and start producing fuel in 2017.
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Penn Medicine researchers show how lost sleep might lead to lost brain neurons
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found evidence that not getting enough sleep does actual harm to the brain. Instead of the usual solution of inadequate sleep, of trying to catch up on the hours when time permits, the Penn Medicine research indicates that chronic sleep loss may be more serious than previously thought and may even lead to irreversible physical damage to and loss of brain cells. It seems extended wakefulness is linked to injury to, and loss of, neurons that are essential for alertness and optimal cognition, the locus coeruleus (LC) neurons. There is a change in a protein linked to mitochondrial energy production in the cells. The research is published in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience. The research so far is in mice, and involved normal rest, short wakefulness, or extended wakefulness. In humans there is some earlier evidence that attention span and several other aspects of cognition may not normalize even with 3 days of recovery sleep, after sleep deprivation, raising the question of lasting injury in the brain. Researchers say more work needs to be done to establish whether a similar phenomenon occurs in humans and to determine what durations of wakefulness place individuals at risk of neural injury.
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Zac Goldsmith and HACAN launch short film contest over Heathrow 3rd runway plan
Tory MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston, and environmental campaigner, Zac Goldsmith has launched a film competition (with HACAN) to highlight opposition to a 3rd Heathrow runway - with £10,000 as the first prize. In an escalation of the anti-expansion campaign at Heathrow, Zac Goldsmith has also recruited celebrities to the cause with actor Hugh Grant and former Tory MP Giles Brandreth among the competition judges. Entrants to the competition will need to submit a short film (under 2 minutes) to highlight opposition to the runway. Shortlisted entries will be judged by the panel at a gala evening of 800 guests at the Richmond Theatre on 18th June with the prize money provided by Zac. The competition is called “No Ifs, No Buts”, recalling David Cameron’s infamous pre-election pledge made in 2009 to an audience in Richmond not to allow a 3rd runway to be built at Heathrow. The competition is looking for powerful messages that will be taken up on social and conventional media, and ram home the message that Heathrow expansion is not only the wrong solution for our economy, it is politically undeliverable. The closing date for video entries is 1st June.
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Gatwick argues against need for a hub airport – just more point-to-point flights
Gatwick is arguing that aviation is evolving to make hub airports obsolete - as the future is in more point to point flights. This is in Gatwick's self interest, in its fight against Heathrow, to be chosen as the potential site for a new runway. Gatwick says Britain will have less need for a big hub airport like Heathrow because of the way the aviation industry is evolving, and because the rise of low-cost airlines means Britain will have ever more short-haul flights, which are mostly into Europe. Gatwick has commissioned research to back up its case, which it will present with the architect Sir Terry Farrell on 25th March. Sir Howard Davies has repeatedly made the point that the distinction is between hub and spoke, or point to point aviation models for the future - the industry is highly internally divided on this. Gatwick says a 2nd Gatwick runway would allow 10 million more passengers to fly per year by 2050 - most to Europe or near destinations - than if Heathrow were to add a 3rd runway, with its focus on lower demand, longer haul destinations. For the UK as a whole, about 70% of air passengers were on short haul trips in 2013.
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SSE asks Michael O’Leary what exactly he means by a “new” route….
Stop Stansted Expansion are asking Michael O'Leary some questions about the dubious publicity that Ryanair puts out, repeatedly, about its new flights and destinations - for destinations to which it already flies. Ryanair routinely publicises "new" routes time after time. The "new" routes to Bordeaux and Rabat have been announced three times so far - in Ryanair press releases in September 2013, February 2014 and March 2014. SSE asks Mr O'Leary “What exactly do you mean by new?” In conjunction with the claims of new routes, Ryanair puts out statements about how many jobs it is creating. It claims its ‘new’ routes will generate an extra 2 million passengers and create an extra 2,000 jobs at Stansted. That would mean 1,000 jobs created for every million Ryanair passengers. According to Ryanair’s latest annual report the airline employed 114 staff for every million passengers carried. That would mean 228 jobs for an extra 2 million passengers. So SSE’s question to Mr O’Leary is “Where do the other 1,772 Stansted jobs come from?” Baggage handlers?
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16 jets running out of fuel, and 34 with engine problems landed at Heathrow 2009 – 2013
The Standard reports that more than 260 planes landed at Heathrow with low fuel, engine problems or other technical faults in the last 5 years. The numbers are from official figures. There were 16 aircraft with low fuel, 34 with engine problems, and 216 with other difficulties that landed at Heathrow between 2009 and 2013. Many of the pilots would have demanded priority to land given their situation. There were 51 such incidents in 2013, 40 in 2012 and 66 in 2010. Zac Goldsmith said: “Anyone will be shocked to see these figures. It’s yet another reason why we should not be massively increasing, possibly doubling, air traffic over Heathrow.” Two reported near-misses involving planes using Heathrow are also being investigated. The most recent was between a Boeing 747 and a private jet in November 2013, and a regional jet and a paraglider two months earlier. Overseas Aid Secretary Justine Greening, MP for Putney and an- opponent of Heathrow expansion, has warned about the risks of a plane crashing on London, possibly due to a terror attack. In 2012 the Telegraph reported that there were 28 low fuel incidents at British airports between 2010 and 2012. They said that in 2013 there were over 224 low fuel emergency landings in 4 years (2009 - 2012) but these figures included incidents involving British-registered aircraft at overseas airports.