General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Environmental Audit Committee puts the vital, hard questions to BEIS Minister, on future dreams of carbon storage
The UK government, the Committee on Climate Change, and industries such as aviation are hoping (against hope) that carbon can continue to be emitted, in amounts only a bit lower than now, and wonderful technologies in future will take carbon out of the atmosphere, and save us all. Now the Commons Environmental Audit Committee - which has a vital role in trying to hold government to account on environmental issues - has written to the BEIS minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, setting out a list of issues with future "Negative Emissions Technologies" (NETs) and engineered greenhouse gas removals. They ask a long list of important, necessary questions. Some of the key issues are whether misguided hopes of the efficacy of these will just allow industries to continue with "business-as-usual" emissions, rather than making the steep, rapid cuts needed. They ask how government will measure and monitor the NETs; how they will assess their effectiveness; how much harm would be done to global biodiversity by growing vast areas of crops, in order to burn them (and capture the CO2). They ask if the carbon storage will be permanent, or if the government will allow captured carbon to be used by industry, especially for enhanced oil and gas recovery. And much more.
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British Airways receives batch of SAF made from “waste oils” from Phillips 66
British Airways says it has received its first batch of "sustainable aviation fuel" (SAF) after it launched into a multi-year agreement with Phillips 66 Humber Refinery. Phillips 66 say the y can produce the fuel at "commercial scale." BA is hoping to be able to get SAF at significant scale, to say it is cutting its carbon emissions - while continuing to fly ever more planes and flights. The parent company of BA, IAG, says it hoped to power 10% of flights with SAF by 2030. There is lots of hype about jobs etc. and that Phillips 66 has invested £20 million in the fuel production complex. Phillips 66 are (as usual for these fuels and ventures) coy about saying what the fuel is actually made from, except that it is from "waste oils", but say they are "currently refining almost half a million litres of sustainable waste feedstocks a day, and this is just a start." IAG is investing $400 million over the next 20 years into the development of SAF. As well as Phillips 66, IAG is hoping to get fuel from the planned Altalto Immingham refinery (using plastic waste) which is not yet even built. The concern is if the jet fuels produced contain any palm oil, or its derivatives, or other plant oils, that compete with food production and increase habitat destruction.
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Government new consultation on the development of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme
The government has opened a technical consultation (aimed at companies, experts - not individuals) on Developing the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. It runs till 17th June. It is asking for stakeholder views on proposals to develop the UK ETS - which operates across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It includes the aviation sector. On aviation it sets out the scope of the review into UK ETS aviation policy, including the future of aviation free allocation, considering responses to the 2019 consultation on carbon pricing, and future use of allegedly "Sustainable Aviation Fuels" (SAFs) and how that could be incentivised under the UK ETS with "options for expanding the coverage of the scheme within the aviation sector." There is a new paper, produced for the DfT and BEIS by Frontier Economics, on the impact of carbon pricing etc on UK aviation causing "carbon leakage" to Europe. ie. people choosing to fly from European airports to long haul destinations, rather than from UK airports. The report does not consider this will be a problem. The issue of airlines being given free allocations of carbon permits, based on past usage, will have to be addressed.
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DfT launches new technical consultation on its “jet zero” (ie. huge future SAF use) plans
The UK government currently does not have an aviation policy, and is aware that this will first require policy decisions on aviation carbon emissions. It hopes that air travel demand will not need to be reduced (the most effective way to control the level of emissions) but instead hopes for "jet zero" flying, largely using novel fuels. These are called SAF (sustainable aviation fuels) and the hope is that they emit less carbon, over their lifecycle, than conventional jet fuel. Now the government has opened a consultation which it calls "Further consultation on the updated evidence and analysis to inform the different pathways to achieve net zero aviation – or jet zero – by 2050." It lasts until 25th April. There was an initial consultation on "jet zero" in July 2021. This consultation is technical (so not easy for most people to respond to). The consultation is unrealistically hoping there might be 50% of SAF use by 2050, with 27% of flights being "net zero" by 2050. It also assumes a continuous 2% increase in efficiency each year, and a 70% increase in air passengers (cf. 2018) when the earlier estimate was a 60% increase.
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Covid may have a long term effect of reducing long-haul flight demand (leisure and business)
It seems that, while demand for short haul flights may be returning, people are not booking long-haul trips - either leisure or business - in the numbers they used to pre-Covid. The pattern of long-haul holiday demand may take years to return, if it ever does. Though many Covid restrictions are now reducing, there are many uncertainties, and travel is more hassle to more distant places. The price of jet fuel has risen, and also the unanticipated crisis of the Ukraine invasion. There were still around 1,400 wide-bodied, long haul planes (about 30% of the total) in storage in aircraft hangers at the start of December 2021 - but few short haul. Although long haul make up just 6% of the flights leaving European airports, they produce more than half of Europe’s aviation CO2 emissions, according to Eurocontrol. Many businesses have switched most of their international contact to videoconferencing, rather than face to face meetings. In March 2022, T&E (Transport & Environment) is planning to launch a corporate travel campaign to reduce - even a 15% cut is significant. But will the change in flying habits last for long?
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Bristol Airport expansion decision to be taken to High Court by local campaigners, BAAN
On 2nd February the Planning Inspectorate allowed the appeal by Bristol airport against refusal by North Somerset Council, for the airport's expansion plans - that would allow it to increase its capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per year. Now the campaign group, Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN), is taking the battle to the High Court. They have raised more than £20,000 to appeal the Planning Inspectorate's decision. BAAN believes the expansion will be damaging for local people and the environment, citing a rise in road traffic, increased noise and air pollution and an "inevitable rise in carbon emissions". The Planning Inspectorate said at the time it recognised the "major disappointment" campaigners would have, but the considered economic benefits would outweigh the harm to green belt land. But North Somerset Council will not pursue a legal challenge to the ruling, fearing they would lose and there would be an unacceptable cost to ratepayers. A legal challenge through the High Court can only be successful if the inspectors can be shown to have erred in law, and currently the UK has "no policy which seeks to limit airport expansion" nationally, or on aviation carbon.
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Heathrow traffic struggles at 50% of pre-pandemic levels as fuel costs and the outbreak of the Ukraine war add to its problems
Low levels of overseas business travel and tourists coming to Britain have kept Heathrow's passenger numbers at just over half of pre-pandemic volumes. Only 2.9 million people went through Heathrow in February, compared to 5.4 million in February 2019 - the month before the World Health Organisation declared the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. This was despite the US lifting a 20-month international travel ban on non-US residents and citizens flying to the country, which lead to a surge in travel between the UK and the US. But traveller numbers on Middle Eastern and EU routes rose by over 600%, while the cargo tonnage rose to within 7% of its pre-pandemic levels. Flight bookings continue to be significantly reduced by the continuing strict testing and quarantine rules in multiple countries. Business travel is significantly lower, as companies have cut back expenditure on flights and largely turned to videoconferencing meetings and hybrid working practices. The cost of jet fuel has risen sharply, due to the war in Ukraine. There is also concern about new Covid variants, and some American travellers worry about the behaviour of Russia in Ukraine.
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The cancelling of expansion plans by Leeds Bradford may make other airports less confident about theirs
Leeds Bradford Airport has withdrawn its plans to build a new terminal. That expansion would have allowed a higher number of flights and passenger, as well as carbon emissions. The airport was not keen on having to defend a planning inquiry. Now it is likely that the confidence of other UK airports in their expansion plans may have been reduced. The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) emphasised the potential impact of the decision, saying: "There are mounting uncertainties for airports both about when passenger demand will return and about the conclusions that decision-makers will reach about the measures necessary to deliver net zero aviation. This is an important victory for local campaigners. While the airport claims it can still grow using its existing permissions, the reality – as the airport itself previously argued - is that it will struggle to launch new routes without the change it was seeking to its operating hours." New Economic Foundation senior researcher Alex Chapman said that to prevent "climate breakdown", society needs to "start making different choices and the era of corporate greenwash needs to end".
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Leeds Bradford Airport has scrapped plans to build a huge new terminal
Leeds Bradford Airport has scrapped plans to build a new £150m terminal, saying they had withdrawn proposals because of "excessive delays" and the decision to hold a public inquiry into the development." That may be because they realise there are very strong reasons, especially on climate, why the terminal should not be built, and they realises there is a likelihood they might lose, wasting money. The expansion plans were first announced in 2020, with a planning application approved by the council in March 2021, despite objections by campaigners and local MPs. There was going to be a public inquiry. The overall impact of the new terminal would have been more planes, more passengers, more carbon emissions. The airport says it will now turn its attention to extending the existing terminal, plans for which were approved by Leeds City Council in 2019. Local opponents, GALBA (Goup for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport) are delighted; they have fought a remarkable, dogged and now successful campaign against the expansion for several years. They said it was a "victory for climate and communities". The higher aviation CO2 emissions would have made it "impossible" for Leeds city to meet its carbon target.
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Gatwick hopes for a better 2022 – it lost £370.6 million in 2021 and £465.5 million in 2020
Gatwick lost just over £1m per day on average - £370.6 million - during 2021. In 2020 it lost about £1.275m per day - about £465.5 million. It had about 10.2 million passengers in 2020, and about 6.3 million in 2021 (mainly in the summer months), compared to 46.6 million in 2019. EasyJet has taken up more Gatwick take-off and landing slots. Cost savings were achieved by moving all airlines and travellers to the smaller North Terminal during months with the tightest Covid travel restrictions. The airport will reopen its South Terminal on March 27 as airlines ramp up their schedules with more passengers. British Airways is restarting its short-haul programme with 18 aircraft on 35 routes. Wizz Air and Vueling are setting up smaller bases. The biggest airline at Gatwick, easyJet, will provide even more capacity than before the coronavirus pandemic, with 79 aircraft covering 120 routes. The airport's CEO Stewart Wingate, hoped 2022 would see a big rise in passengers "providing bureaucracy is reduced."