General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
London Mayor’s consultation on UK airport capacity invites public comment
London mayor Boris Johnson is asking airlines, businesses and the city’s residents for their views on the alleged airport capacity shortage. The London Assembly set up its own call for evidence in December. The deadline for comment is 28th February, and there are public meetings on 15th January and 6th February at City Hall, when a range of witnesses will be questioned. On 15th January, John Stewart (Chair of Hacan and of AirportWatch) and Cait Hewitt, Deputy Director of the Aviation Environment Federation, will be questioned. Some of the issues being considered are economics, airport infrastructure, airspace, surface access, environmental impact and deliverability. The London Assembly intends this to produce their findings by May 2013, which will be submitted as their evidence to the Davies Commission.
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Fresh faults with Boeing Dreamliner planes – fire, brakes, electrics, fuel leaks etc
In the past week, there have been several technical problems for the 787 Dreamliner. On 7th an electrical fire caused by a battery broke out after passengers had disembarked from a Japan Airlines Dreamliner in Boston, after flying from Tokyo. Then on 8th Japan Airlines cancelled a Boston to Tokyo flight after about 40 gallons of fuel spilled. Then on 9th Japan All Nippon Airways cancelled a domestic 787 flight because of a brake problem. A spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube airport said the flight was cancelled because brake parts from the rear left undercarriage needed to be replaced. Last year, a United Airlines 787 flight was forced to make an emergency landing because of an electrical problem. In December, Qatar Airways grounded one of its 787s after several manufacturing faults caused electrical problems similar to those that affected the United plane. In December the US FAA said it had identified errors in the assembly of fuel line couplings in the Dreamliner. There have also now been a windscreen crack and another oil leak on another plane. The FAA has now ordered a review of the 787.
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Reminder from Manchester airport of just what a large % of UK air passengers are on leisure trips
Manchester airport is happy to promote itself as playing a vital role in boosting the UK economy, providing business links, attracting inward investment and promoting trade etc. However, CAA data in the Air Passenger Survey of 2011 show only around 18% of Manchester's passengers were on business. The airport enthused before Christmas about how busy it was, and "Around 620,000 passengers are set to travel through Manchester Airport over the Christmas and New Year holiday period – an increase of 4.5% or 27,000 on the same period last year (593,000)." And not a mention of any business travellers at all. So much for the claims that UK air travel is of huge benefit to the UK economy. In reality, most air travel is by leisure passengers, who are then likely to take money out of the UK on their trips, contributing to the annual tourism deficit. The top summer destination from Manchester is the Canary Islands, followed by Turkey, Greece, the Balearic Islands, and Tunisia. So much for boosting business links.
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Dubai economy bets on superjumbo air travel boom
With the opening of a huge new airport terminal in Dubai this week, Dubai's economic future became more closely intertwined with the world's biggest passenger jet, the A380 and the Dubai airline, Emirates. The massive new terminal cost over $3 billion to build and could be a risky bet on a future of high air travel growth. Dubai wants to keep its economy growing through tourism and retail, and wants as many tourists to visit as possible, arriving in large planes. Emirates' strategy is for Dubai to become an aviation hub between Europe and Asia-Pacific, and this makes sense with the largest planes. However, Dubai's neighbours, Abu Dhabi, home to Etihad Airways, and Qatar, which operates Qatar Airways, both also have ambitions to become regional air transport hubs, so 3 airlines are trying to compete in the same region (though Emirates is the largest of the three). If the current rapid growth in air passengers does not continue, or if planes are developed that can fly very long haul and by-pass the middle east, countries like Dubai may find their new airport infrastructure little used.
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Britain lost overseas visitors during Olympics; annual total largely unchanged; tourism deficit up
Figures from VisitBritain show there were 3% fewer tourists during the 3rd quarter of 2012 when London hosted the 2012 Olympic Games. However, the spend by overseas visitors was up 8%. London received 200,000 fewer overnight visits from overseas residents over summer 2012 than a year earlier. In total there are likely to have been some 31 million visits in 2012, with the amount they spent a record £17.2bn (to the end of November). People who who came to the UK for the Olympics spent an average of £1,510 which is more than double the average spend among all visitors at £720. Part of this spending was on Olympic and Paralympic tickets. ONS figures show some 685,000 foreigners attended the Games, which represented approximately 8% of the total number of visitors to the UK in the third quarter. Spending in the rest of England was 5% higher than in 2011 at £2.3 billion, in Scotland it was 8% lower at £0.6 billion and in Wales spending was unchanged at £0.1 billion. The net result is an increase in deficit to the UK associated with overseas travel and tourism of £150 million, from £11.7 billion to £11.9 billion.
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Intergenerational Foundation report shows the double injustice to future generations from not fully taxing air travel
The Intergenerational Foundation (IF) has been established to promote fairness between generations. They believe that each generation should pay its own way, which is not happening at present either financially or in terms of climate. A new report on aviation shows that aviation is subsidised, through not paying either VAT or fuel duty, and that this amounts to an annual subsidy of some £11 billion per year. This is money lost to the public purse, which could contribute towards funding public services. This means that there is a double injustice to future generations. Under-taxing aviation not only adds to the national debt which future taxpayers will have to fund, but also encourages more flying and greenhouse gas emissions which future generations will have to live with. Future generations will pay the price of the failure of this generation to control flying. It should be essential reading for all those involved in the debate about the future of aviation.
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Wood, Bows & Anderson paper on realities of economic benefit and GHG emissions from expanding UK aviation
F Ruth Wood, Alice Bows & Kevin Anderson have produced a useful 4 page article in the current edition of Carbon Management . Their paper looks at the economics of UK aviation, and whether there are real benefits from allowing its expansion. They say that given the difficulties of carrying out robust analysis on the economics of aviation, the presumption that further aviation growth is good for the economy is at best premature and may yet prove dangerously misleading. As it stands, the debate is ongoing as to whether investment in aviation generates returns over and above similar investment levels elsewhere in the UK economy. Any resilient decision on investment must heed the carbon intensity of the activity in generating such returns and the likely upwards trajectory of a carbon price. A new runway or hub airport, "coupled with existing regional expansion plans, would facilitate passenger growth over and above that recommended by the CCC and be incommensurate with the emission constraints imposed by the EU-ETS."
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The Times – on the questionable lobbying of MPs on Parliamentary All Party Groups, such as the one on aviation
The Times, writing about the lobbying by industry of parliament, says of the Commons all-party group on aviation that is one of a large number of such groups that are not official bodies. There is concern about the extent to which these all-party groups get a lot of funding from companies, and produce reports that do not properly declare the degree of influence that has been exercised by outside interests. The Times reports on how the all-party Parliamentary Aviation Group produced an report in August, on the subject of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and its effect on the aviation industry. It did not clearly declare that it was produced "with help from" airlines, travel companies and airports through the "A Fair Tax on Flying" campaign group, which wants APD cut for reasons of self interest, to increase the amount of air travel. The report, being biased towards the airlines, ignores the other side of APD - that it is in compensation for airlines paying no fuel tax and no VAT.
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HMRC modelling of potential impacts of changes in APD between airports – Heathrow APD higher
In October, the HMRC produced a report looking into the impacts of charging different amounts of Air Passenger Duty (APD) at different UK airports. The hope is that if APD was lower in the regions, and higher at Gatwick and Heathrow, then the number of flights could be evened out - boosting regional airports and taking pressure of Heathrow, and also Gatwick to a lesser extent. As APD is a relatively low tax (and air travel pays not VAT and no fuel tax) the study found that small changes to APD would have very little effect - people would rather pay a bit more for the convenience, or they would have to pay more to travel to another airport which had lower APD - so getting no net saving. The study did find if APD was increased by 50% on flights out of Heathrow the number of passengers might fall by some 22%, with travellers switching to other airports in the south-east and the Midlands. The analysis suggests passenger numbers at Stansted would increase by 20% and by 25% at Luton by 2020. This might have the potential to take some pressure off Heathrow.
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Another one! Fourth 4-runway Thames estuary hub airport proposal unveiled – Goodwin Sands off Deal
Plans to build a 24-hour £39bn hub airport on large sandbanks off the Kent coast have been unveiled. Engineering firm Beckett Rankine wants to construct a four-runway airport on reclaimed land at Goodwin Sands near Deal. Director Tim Beckett said it was the "most sustainable solution" to aviation expansion in the South East and would have the "least adverse impact". The Goodwin Sands are a series of shifting sandbanks, owned by the Crown Estate, 11 miles long and six miles wide, that are also the site of historic shipwrecks. Beckett Rankine said the location does not have the environmental and logistical issues that came with proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary. It said the site would be linked to London by the existing HS1 high-speed rail line, the A2 and M20 and to Europe via the Eurostar service. It is not far from Manston, which cannot function properly due to being in the wrong place. Just too far east. This 4th scheme joins the Foster scheme (Hoo Peninsula); the Gensler schems (floating somewhere in the middle); and the Boris Island scheme (off Whitstable).