General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Transport Minister, Simon Burns, tells aviation industry to agree among itself on airport capacity
The transport minister has told the aviation industry it must reach “consensus” before the debate on aviation capacity can move forward. Simon Burns was speaking at the annual British Air Transport Association (BATA) dinner in London, where he said the aviation debate needed agreement from within the industry itself. His words were: "Consensus between politicians, across communities and yes…even within the aviation industry itself." He said: “Progress is being squeezed between the rock of local issues and the hard place of national interests.” He said we all need to be part of the process, and "Communities and companies, politicians and policy-makers, economists and environmentalists…..all sides of the debate, making their case but listening to and seeking to understand the arguments of others as well." Also "All sides in this debate need to approach the issue with fresh eyes."
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Nantes: Legal victory for opponents in Notre-Dame-des-Landes – delay in expropriations of perhaps over 2 years
The Supreme Court in France has ruled that no expulsions will be made at Notre-Dame-des-Landes (for the planned new airport at Nantes). Lawyers say the delay could be for at least two and a half years. The Court made its judgement on January 29, and this means is put on hold until the outcome of the other legal remedies. There are at least 5 legal appeals to be decided. The company, Vinci, that plans to build the airport, will not be able to move the protesters - for a long time. The expropriate orders cannot be valid until the administrative judge confirms the legality of previous judgements listing the plots of land to expropriate people from. The company AGO (Airports Great-West), wanted the immediate rejection of the appeal, without waiting for the completion of administrative remedies. Meanwhile, farmers and their animals have re-occupied Bellevue farm, which had been cleared earlier.
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PwC report on APD met by dismissive comments from Treasury – Chancellor has no intention of lowering APD
The 4 largest airlines in the UK (British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet and Ryanair) commissioned a report from PwC on Air Passenger Duty (APD). The intention was to try and get APD reduced, or removed altogether. PwC put together arguments that the UK economy would benefit, if flyers could fly slightly more cheaply. There was a range of arguments, including more tax take, more investment, spin offs of all sorts. However, this has cut no ice with the Treasury. The pressure from the 4 airlines got a frosty response from the Treasury, which made clear that the Chancellor had no intention of lowering APD. The FT reports that a Treasury spokesperson said APD, which is forecast to bring in £2.9bn this year, makes an “essential contribution” towards helping meet the government’s deficit reduction plans. “We do not recognise the figures in this report or agree with the assumptions behind it,” the Treasury said. The report also had to admit that making flying a bit cheaper would have a negative impact on parts of the UK economy, as yet more Brits took they money to spend abroad.
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Airlines have another go at trying to get rid of APD. Reminiscent of turkeys and Christmas.
EasyJet has produced two press releases, making out that a new study done for the airline industry shows that the UK economy would benefit if Air Passenger Duty was cut. EasyJet, BA, Virgin and Ryanair commissioned PwC to investigate the possible effect of abolishing APD. Using elaborate contortions of facts and logic, and glossing over the point that the main beneficiaries of abolishing the tax would be themselves (not UK plc) they ignore the inconvenient facts that the majority of air travel takes Brits abroad, to spend their money elsewhere. Only a minority - around 20% at most - of air passengers from the UK are on business. The study also ignores the fact that air travel pays no VAT and no fuel duty - making it a very special case, and very under-taxed in comparison to other sectors. Much of the "logic" behind the calculations by PwC of the suggested economic benefits of removing APD involve indirect effects, such as boosting tax take in a variety of sectors, increasing investment, and presumed spin off effects of this over time. All very dubious. No industry likes to pay tax, but there is no reason why air travel - largely discretionary spending by the better off - should escape a fair level of tax. These APD claims by the 4 airlines really are stunning nonsense.
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Heathrow to raise its airline charges, from current £17 per passenger, to raise £3 billion for huge modernisation
Heathrow airport will announce modernisation plans later this month. These will cost some £3 billion and cover the period 2014 - 2019. This follows a £5bn investment plan between 2008 and 2013. Heathrow is also intending to increase its airline charges, with rises in costs rising from the current level of £17 per passenger to perhaps up to £25. These rises are above the level of inflation. Heathrow says it is raising the charge because it has had 10% fewer passengers than originally predicted using the airport recently due to the recession. This means Heathrow now has to cover a £646m shortfall and it needs to make up the difference by higher charges. Heathrow airport is also still paying for investments made in the new Terminals 2 and 5. Colin Matthews, the chief executive of Heathrow, says the modernisation is needed in order to keep Heathrow as the UK’s leading airport. The investmentwill include investment in Terminals 5 and 2, as well as improving baggage handling facilities and building new stands for the Airbus A380.
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Airports Commission Publishes Guidance Document and First Discussion Paper
The Airports Commission, under Sir Howard Davies, has now published 2 documents that will begin its dialogue with stakeholders, including the public, on the subject of aviation capacity. The first publication is a guidance document which serves as an invitation for parties with an interest in the future of the UK’s aviation policy to submit their ideas for making best use of existing capacity and on adding new capacity in the longer term. The document seeks views on the short, medium and long term options and provides parties making submissions with information on the commission’s timetable of work, as well as guidance on the factors that are of interest to the commission. The second paper is a discussion paper on demand forecasting. The paper seeks to examine the role of forecasting as a tool to help enable the commission in addressing the range of issues that will play a part in their assessment of the evidence on the nature, scale and timing of the UK’s future aviation capacity and connectivity needs. There are a range of deadline dates for comments on different aspects - the two earliest deadlines being 15th March 2013.
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NATS meets its target in 2012 to organise UK airspace to save planes wasting fuel
NATS - which provides air traffic navigation services for the UK - says it has met its target for 2012, in terms of organising airspace to minimise the amount of fuel burnt by aircraft, and hence their CO2 emissions. Its scheme, called 3Di, aims to keep planes flying optimally in terms of both their height, the amount of level flight, and the distance they have to travel. The ideal is for planes to land directly, on a straight line, coming down by continuous descent approach. With the airspace over much of the UK being some of the most crowded in the world, such an ideal is not always possible. Each flight gets a 3Di score, and then NATS gets a total score for the year. If NATS meets a 3Di score each year of 24, it meets its requirements. If the score is over 27, it gets penalised. If below 21, NATS gets bonuses. In 2012 its score was 23.9.
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Global air passenger demand grew by 5.3% in 2012, compared to 5.9% in 2011
IATA figures for 2012 show that globally the number of passenger kilometers (RPK) flown rose by 5.3% compared to 2011. A year earlier, the number of passenger kilometers globally had risen by 5.9%, so growth in 2012 was slower. Over the past 20 years, RPK growth has averaged 5%. Globally RPKs rose by 6% for international flights, and 4% for domestic flights. The Middle East had the fastest rise, at 15.2% of RPKs, while growth in North America was only 1.3%. Chinese domestic passengers increased by 9.5% while those in India fell by - 2.1%. Overall airlines made an estimated $6.7 billion profit in 2012. For Europe the increase in RPKs was 5.1% in 2012, sharply down on the 9.5% growth of 2011. Growth in Europe was generated by the long-haul performance of Eurozone airlines (within-EU travel stagnated due to slow economic growth). About a quarter of the growth in European airline international traffic came from airlines outside of the Eurozone (Turkey being a major contributor). Air cargo - freight tonne kilometers - fell globally by - 1.5% compared to 2011, and fell - 2.9% in Europe.
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Expected drop in demand for air travel seriously undermines rationale for airport expansion or new runways
The anticipated number of people wanting to fly from British airports in future has been cut substantially in official forecasts to reflect the nation's economic decline. This means that now official reason for doubting the aviation industry's claim that new airports are urgently needed to meet demand. However, the DfT said the figures meant all airports in London and the south-east would probably be operating at full capacity by 2030, though it could take until 2040 for that to happen. While in 2003 the DfT anticipated some 495 million passengers per year passing through UK airports, by the 2009 forecast this had dropped to 465 million, and by 2011 it was 345 million. Now that figure is 315 million - some 7% lower even than the 2011 figure. Even with the 345 million passenger forecast, it was very borderline whether any new runways were needed for the London area. The new forecasts reinforce the doubt. As there will be larger planes used in future, the anticipated increase in passengers can be accommodated on the existing runways. The DfT does not anticipate any significant rise in the proportion of business passengers, out to 2050.
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Government’s new air traffic forecasts show no case for Stansted expansion
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE), commenting on the new DfT air passenger forecasts, say that even in 2050 Stansted would be able to meet all its market demand without any need for a second runway. For Stansted, which handled 17.5 million passengers last year, the DfT predicts unconstrained demand of 26 million passengers in 2030 and of 38 million passengers in 2050. SSE say“These new official Government forecasts are far more credible than anything we have seen before, and far less threatening. The new DfT forecasts are also very much in line with the aspirations of Stansted’s new owners, Manchester Airport Group (MAG), whose Chief Executive, Charlie Cornish, has set his sights on restoring Stansted to its 2007 traffic peak within a decade. That would mean a return to an annual throughput of 24 million passengers by 2022. SSE say that amidst all the hot air from Boris about building a 4-runway ‘mega-hub’ at Stansted, it’s refreshing to have some realism from the DfT and MAG. SSE hope that removing the threat of a new runway once and for all would will lay the foundations for a vastly improved long term relationship with the local community.