General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
MAG warns the 10 councils that own it that they may not get any dividends till 2027
The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) owns Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports. MAG is owned by Greater Manchester's 10 councils, which used to make huge profits from their airports, before Covid. Several other UK airports, such as Birmingham, are owned by councils. Since the start of the pandemic, many airports have had to be given loans by the councils that own them. Now the MAG councils have been warned they might not receive any dividend from their ownership of MAG airports, until 2027. Several councils have become dependent on the airport money - which is a problem, if they aim to cut carbon emissions, but need as much (high carbon) flying as possible, to pay their bills and provide council services. MAG last paid dividends in 2019, sharing £110m amongst its shareholders. Manchester City Council owns 35.5% of MAG; 9 authorities, the Metropolitan Boroughs of Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, together with Salford City Council, collectively own 29%. Australian investment fund Industry Funds Management owns 35.5%.
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Virgin hoping to work with Agilyx to try to make jet fuel from plastic waste, by pyrolysis
Virgin Group has announced it is forming a strategic partnership with Agilyx (a chemical conversion technology company) "to research and develop lower carbon fuel facilities to help address plastic pollution and the global transition to net zero." They want to produce synthetic crude oil from plastic waste that will then be refined into a fuel, through pyrolysis. Waste plastic would be diverted from landfill or incineration. There are few ways to produce jet fuels that are genuinely low carbon, feasible and do not create other environmental problems. Their production, for example trying to make liquid fuels from domestic refuse, is expensive and technically difficult. Most attempts have not been commercially viable. Virgin Group intends to work with Agilyx, one of its venture capital investments, and its first waste-to-fuel location is planned to be in the US, with an aspiration to roll-out similar plants in other countries, including the UK. Agilyx said it sees plastic waste as a valuable above ground resource that is not widely tapped into.
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Campaigners label Heathrow’s new “Sustainability” strategy as “patently underwhelming” in its ambitions, or plans for action
Heathrow has announced its updated environmental "sustainability" strategy, called "Heathrow 2.0: Connecting People and Planet". It wants to do a bit to encourage wildlife near the airport (not birds of course, as they get killed or deterred for safety ...) and get airlines to use allegedly "sustainable aviation fuel" (SAF). Lots of hope .... The "elephant in the room" of their rising carbon emissions from flights, is not properly addressed. Local campaign, the No 3rd Runway Coalition, consider the strategy to be "patently underwhelming" and the "goals to reduce emissions are pifflingly small..." Heathrow has unrealistic hopes of "decarbonising" flights, and also "improving the area around the airport for those who live and work in it’. Heathrow wants to cut "at least 45% of on the ground emissions" which make up about 5% of the total. The increased use of SAF, which is only available in tiny amounts, would need government assistance, says Heathrow. Stop Heathrow Expansion says the plan ‘does not deliver for communities around the airport’ and does not offer any real commitments to end ‘highly disruptive night flights’ , instead of better restrictions on flights between 11pm and 7am.
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Ultrafine particles from aircraft engines can spread miles downwind of airports and can endanger lives
There is growing evidence that suggests tiny particles - ultrafine - of air pollution can affect the heart, lungs, blood pressure and risk foetal growth. These tiny particles, as well as larger ones, are emitted from vehicle engines and from plane engines. The tinier the particle, the further it can get into the lung, and thus into the blood circulation - and hence the widespread effects. Now research by Dr Gary Fuller at Gatwick has shown that the number of ultrafine particles 500 metres downwind of the airport was greater than those at the kerb of London’s busiest roads. They mostly came from aircraft during takeoff and landing, but traffic, car parks and a large catering facility used to cook airline food all added to the problem. Ultrafine particles can travel a long way downwind of an airport, eg. miles from the airport in Los Angeles, and also miles into London from Heathrow. Although known to be a health hazard, ultrafine particles are not included in the environmental assessments for planning applications, putting us at risk of increased air pollution for decades to come.
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DfT post of Director General for Aviation advertised – panel of 6 to select, includes John Holland-Kaye
The role of Director General for Aviation, Maritime and Security at the DfT is currently being advertised, at a salary of about £130,000. Applications can be submitted until 28th February. The previous incumbent was Gareth Davis, who was replaced by an interim director, Dr Rannia Leontaridi, in January 2022. There will be a panel of 6 people to select the new director; 5 of the 6 are civil servants. But the Telegraph has reported that the 6th person is John Holland-Kaye, the CEO of Heathrow airport. Details of the panel, how John Holland-Kaye could be on it, and the proper process of selecting the applicant for one of the most influential roles in aviation in the UK, are still unclear. It is hoped that this will be clarified soon. Airlines are reported to be unhappy about John's choice to be on the panel, and the possibility of undue influence.
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GALBA are raising money now, for the first stages of their challenge at the public inquiry
In January the government announced a public inquiry into the expansion plans of Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA). It will take place in September. The airport wants to increase passenger numbers by 75%. Despite thousands of objections, including all of Leeds’ Labour MPs, Leeds City Council approved LBA’s planning application on 11 February 2021. LBA is owned by an Australian private equity company and is not short of cash. GALBA will be David to the airport’s Goliath at the public inquiry, so the campaign has launched a crowdfunding appeal and is asking supporters to make donations as soon as possible. The first stage is to submit an opening ‘statement of case’, setting out the key legal reasons why LBA should not be allowed to expand, which GALBA will present to the inquiry. So raising funds to meet the legal costs is an urgent priority for the next few weeks. The second challenge is to find expert witnesses who will present evidence to the inquiry about the consequences of expansion, including climate damage, socio-economic issues, planning law, noise and more. GALBA hopes that some experts will donate their time for free or at a reduced rate.
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Gatwick Airport to reopen South Terminal on 27th March, as it hopes many millions more will fly this year
Gatwick plans to open its South Terminal on March 27th, after it being closed since June 15th 2020. Gatwick made the announcement on the day that travel restrictions for people arriving in the UK were eased, meaning fully vaccinated passengers no longer need to test on arrival. Airlines are hoping to get large numbers of people flying again, soon. British Airways says it will restart its short-haul flights at Gatwick from Mar 29th. Its related airline, Vueling, is adding 5 new routes and will have 3 aircraft based at the airport. Hungarian airline Wizz Air is also significantly increasing its Gatwick operations with 18 new routes. EasyJet has taken up more take-off and landing slots, as it plans to run its busiest flying schedule from Gatwick. IATA is hoping, globally, that in 2022 the number of passengers flying globally will be 88% of its 2019 level (that was about 4 billion), and that by 2023 the number will be 5% above the 2019 number.
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Leeds Bradford airport public inquiry to start 13th September – GALBA crowdfunding for £100,000 for the fight
On 19th January 2022, Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) granted GALBA's request to hold a public inquiry into Leeds Bradford airport's expansion plans. It will start on 13th September 2022. GALBA has gone into full-on preparation mode for fundraising. They hope to raise £100,000 through a crowdfunder, to pay for legal advice and experts to give evidence to the public inquiry. The planning inspectors will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State whether or not to allow the airport to expand. GALBA has described the public inquiry into LBA's expansion plans as a 'real life David vs Goliath battle'. Chris Foren, chair of GALBA, said: "The airport is owned by an Australian based multinational corporation which can literally spend millions on lawyers if it wants to. GALBA is just a group of concerned citizens - no one is paid, everyone involved does it because they care deeply about our communities and our climate. So it will be a real life David vs Goliath battle at the inquiry. ... the future of our planet depends on struggles like this - people power really can make a difference! If we all work together, we can build a better future for our children and grandchildren."
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Luton Airport consultation about expansion plans, to increase to 32 million annual passengers
Luton airport has started another public consultation (ends 4th April) on further expansion plans. It now wants to increase its annual number of passengers (from 18.2 million in 2019) to 32 million (mppa). The proposals by the airport owner Luton Rising [the new name the company that owns Luton airport has started using] involve expanding the existing terminal, building a 2nd terminal and making "best use" [ie. more use] of the existing runway. At the start of December 2021, Luton council, which conveniently owns the airport, gave it permission to increase from 18 to 19 mppa. If approved, the Phase 1 would be expansion of Terminal 1 and associated facilities to increase capacity to approximately 21.5 mppa. Phase 2 would involve construction of new Terminal 2 and associated facilities to increase airport capacity to 27 mppa. Then a later further phase would be more expansion of Terminal 2, to increase to 32 mppa. Opponents of the airport's growth say the latest consultation is "a huge waste of public money". The level of aircraft noise in 2019 was severe, and residents are horrified of it becoming even worse - as well as the local congestion etc. It makes no sense to encourage aviation expansion, when the UK must cut its carbon emissions, fast.
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From the end of 2022, Brits will need to pay a €7 ETIAS authorisation fee every 3 years, to travel to Europe
From some time around the end of the year, Brits travelling to European countries will have to have paid a fee of €7 (about £5.80) for three years, to register with the he European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), to be allowed to enter. It is not a high charge, and is not due to Brexit. It is the fee charged to all non-EU country citizens. The registration has to be done online. Many other countries also have charges for non-residents to enter. One reason for the charge is to ensure that criminals etc do not get entry and are screened out.