General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Glasgow Prestwick Airport may be given to the Scottish Government for nothing
The owners of Glasgow Prestwick, New Zealand company Infratil, have suggested they may give away the airport for nothing. The Scottish government has announced it is negotiating to buy the unprofitable airport, and hopes to conclude detailed negotiations with the company by 20 November. Scottish government said it was the "only realistic alternative to closure". In a statement on its website, the company said it did not expect any transaction "to give rise to material proceeds". Prestwick was put up for sale last March after heavy annual losses. Several investors expressed interest but no offers were made. Infratil has also been trying to sell its other unprofitable UK airport, Manston. In May 2013, Infratil announced that it had written down the value of both airports to £11m. Infratil has agreed to ensure the airport is kept fully open and operational during the negotiation process. In 2012 Prestwick had around 1 million passengers, compared to 2.4 million at its peak in 2005.
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Virgin domestic “Little Red” flights a ‘disaster’ at only 33% full, (probably less than that) as passengers stick with no-frills rivals
Virgin Atlantic’s venture into domestic aviation, with its "Little Red" airline, has proved financially disastrous. During the first 6 months flying from Heathrow to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester, the average flight has been only one-third full, [probably in fact much lower, as Virgin figures appear to be wrong] even though the Virgin plane is cheaper than a Virgin train (on the day fare £64, cf £76). "Little Red" flights from Heathrow to Manchester started in late March, and Heathrow to Scotland began early in April. Few passengers have been tempted so far. The load factor of 33% contrasts to the industry standard of close to 80%, while low-cost carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair achieve around 90%. Virgin is prepared to sustain some losses on this route, as it feeds traffic to lucrative intercontinental flights. With so few seats filled, each passenger contributes disproportionately to noise and pollution. John Stewart of HACAN, said: “This confirms what many have suspected – that a big problem at Heathrow is that so many planes are far from full. Full planes may lessen the pressure for a third runway.”
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Problems including local people’s fear of compulsory purchase of land around Mangalore airport, in India
Interesting story from around Mangalore airport, in south west India. It appears that villagers were persuaded some years ago to sell their land cheaply for the airport. They got little for it, and were moved to other land nearby at a place called Adyapady. One report from an Indian paper says: "Adyapady Padavu has nearly 400 houses rehabilitating the evacuees. There are Dalit families, Muslims as well as several families belonging to backward communities." These people now live in poverty, and don't even have proper road access. Back in February there were reports of surveyors coming to the land adjacent to the airport boundary, perhaps to see about heights of trees. People feared they were coming to assess compulsory purchase of the land to expand the airport. Local people refused the surveyors access and they were forced to leave. A local Indian paper says: "It is also learnt that the surveyor had threatened to cancel the ration cards and other facilities of those who opposed the survey." And "The locals have claimed that they have been facing many problems due to the Airport Authority which they say has been negligent of the issues and problems faced by them."
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Der Spiegel article: “Screaming for Quiet – Germans Crank Up Anti-Noise Protests”
An article in the German paper, Der Spiegel, says many Germans are getting fed up with all the noise pollution coming from planes, trains and cars. Despite numerous studies warning of associated health risks, politicians are merely giving lip service to the worries. The victims of rail noise in the Rhine Valley have teamed up with victims of airport noise in the Frankfurt region, and they are now calling for joint demonstrations in their respective state capitals. As well as the almost weekly protests against noise in the Frankfurt airport departure hall, citizens are also staging frequent protests against aircraft noise in Berlin, Cologne and Leipzig, as well as along the flight path into Zurich Airport. There are also protests against road noise. People are no longer willing to accept so much noise. Though it is now not in doubt that noise has health impacts, there remains uncertainty about how much noise is harmful and what the consequences are. But politicians, though starting to acknowledge the issue, continue to only make non-specific promises that there will be improvements. Nothing imminent.
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NATS due to launch airspace consultation on 15th October (says EADT)
The East Anglia Daily Times (EADT) reports that NATS – the air traffic management company which deals with the country’s airspace – is to begin a consultation during October, on fresh proposals to change the flightpaths over the east of England, in the Terminal Control North area. This may start on 15th October and last for 14 weeks, into mid January. Five years ago there was uproar after NATS put forward a plan to create two new holding areas for passenger planes waiting to land at Stansted. Communities in areas of Suffulk were livid at the proposal, fearing increased aircraft noise, especially over areas of countryside that - at present - are tranquil. Three years ago the plans were shelved, partly as there had been a fall, not an increase, in the numbers of planes. NATS said the consultation was the first phase of changes to UK air space and primarily affected planes going in and out of Gatwick, and were part of working towards the Single European Sky.
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Stop Stansted Expansion says of the Airports Commission: A tainted process – a dubious conclusion
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) is disappointed that the Airports Commission has formed the preliminary view that extra runway capacity is needed in the south east of England. In his speech on 7th October 2013, the chairman of the Airports Commission, Sir Howard Davies said that his Commission had not been persuaded by the arguments against expansion. In SSE’s view, the arguments for more runway capacity in the south east are dangerously weak and they will be taking up Sir Howard’s invitation to comment on his preliminary conclusions. SSE believes the UK, as a whole, already has more than enough runway capacity to meet the DfT forecasts to 2050, and well beyond. Regarding the recent resignation of Geoff Muirhead from the Commission, due to ties with MAG, SSE said they are mounting a legal challenge on bias - due to Mr Muirhead's influence - in formulating the "sift criteria" and there will be more information on that next week.
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Tourism continues to only be a small part time ministerial concern – now under Helen Grant at DCMS
In the recent Coalition reshuffle, there was no full time tourism minister appointed. The travel press is saying travel still appears to be a low priority for the current administration, with the job of tourism minister remaining a part-time role. The last full-time tourism minister was John Penrose, who stepped down from the position in September 2012, without a like-for-like replacement. He took on the role back in May 2010. For the last 12 months, the travel industry has fallen under the workload of tourism and sports minister Hugh Robertson – who is moving to the Foreign Office as part of the reshuffle. He is being replaced by the Conservative MP for Maidstone, Helen Grant , who comes from the Ministry of Justice. Helen Grant will work under Maria Miller, the Secretary of State at DCMS. She has ten areas of responsibility including sport, same sex marriage, Olympic and paralympic legacy, gambling and licencing and national lottery. Only one of her 10 areas is tourism. Perhaps the government does not see attracting in foreign tourists as important as the airlines and airports make out that it is?
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UK and American studies both show aircraft noise may increase risk of heart disease
People who live close to an airport and are exposed to constant loud aircraft noise may face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to new studies from the UK and the US. The aircraft noise is not merely an irritation, and does not just reduce people's quality of life. It also causes actual harm to health, especially for older people. This should be factored in to future planning decisions about new airports and runways. The UK study published in the BMJ looked at admissions and mortality rates for 3.6 million people living near Heathrow in the noisiest areas. The linked American study looked at over 6 million Americans over the age of 65 living around 89 US airports. It found that, on average, their risk went up 3.5% for every extra 10 decibels of noise they experienced. Simon Calder said that 2 days ago, Sir Howard Davies gave a meticulous exposition of the factors concerning his commission, and its decision on new UK airport capacity. "He paid due regard to the concerns of local residents about noise and traffic. But 48 hours ago a correlation between airport proximity and the risk of heart attacks or strokes was not in the public domain. Now that it is, the spectrum of harm from airports has extended from nuisance to a serious public health threat."
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New study links aircraft noise from Heathrow to increased risk of heart disease and strokes
A new study by researchers at Imperial College and King's College in London - and published in the BMJ - has found that deaths from stroke, heart and circulatory disease are 20% higher in areas with high levels of aircraft noise than in places with the least noise. The research compared on day- and night-time aircraft noise with hospital admissions and mortality rates among a population of 3.6 million people living near Heathrow airport. Their study covered 12 London boroughs and 9 districts outside London where aircraft noise exceeds 50 decibels - about the volume of a normal conversation in a quiet room. The researchers made every effort to eliminate other factors that might have a relationship with stroke and heart disease, such as deprivation, South Asian ethnicity and smoking-related illness. This new study confirms the findings of the 2008 "HYENA" study, also by Imperial College, which looked at people living near Heathrow and 5 other European airports. The research is clear that living with a lot of aircraft noise damages health, though this needs further work. The study indicates that planners need to take the health impacts of aircraft noise into account when expanding airports in heavily populated areas or planning new airports.
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EasyJet to fly Newquay to Southend 4 times per week in summer, after it ends Gatwick to Newquay route
EasyJet is to increase its weekly flights between Southend to Newquay from 3 to 4 over the summer period only. This comes after EasyJet recently announced it would not continue its flights from Gatwick to Newquay. Almost 8,000 passengers flew from Southend to Newquay this summer by EasyJet. EasyJet - which took over the Gatwick route from Flybe - said there is not enough demand to run a year-round service between Newquay and Southend, and these route from Gatwick was not financially viable for them. A Cornwall MP said the loss of the link to Gatwick would be a "blow to businesses across Cornwall". EasyJet said : "Following Flybe's decision to cease operating from London Gatwick to Newquay, Easyjet carefully and thoroughly examined the commercial viability of offering year-round services on the route. Unfortunately, after much consideration, all of the evidence clearly shows that there is insufficient demand to sustain a service using an A319 aircraft with 156 seats."