General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Luton expansion opposed by Hertfordshire County Council – NO conditions could make it acceptable
Hertfordshire County councillors say they are "vehemently opposed" to plans to increase passenger numbers at Luton Airport – and that NO conditions could make it acceptable. Luton Rising – the owners of the airport – have applied to increase the annual number of air passengers from 19m to 32m a year. The application is currently being examined by the Planning Inspectorate, PINS, as a ‘National Significant Infrastructure Project’. At a council meeting on 12th December, a motion backed by all political parties, pointed to the impact the expansion would have on traffic, on the environment and on noise. It called on PINS to recommend that the application is refused. Due to negative transport, environment and noise impacts, the expansion should be opposed, and was "difficult, if not impossible" to see any planning conditions that would make it ‘acceptable’. One councillor said: “We are in the middle of a climate emergency ... we have got to invest in transport that does not destroy the planet. Aircraft are one of the worst polluting forms of transport there are and we must seek to reduce it and not increase it.”
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Heathrow considering smaller ways to increase flights, rather than a 3rd runway
Heathrow is exploring options for expansion that would prioritise smaller improvements before considering if it could go for a 3rd runway. New Chief Executive, Thomas Woldbye, who joined in October, has apparently launched an internal review into the options to increase its capacity. No decisions have yet been made. One option under consideration is a new plan to initially focus on easier and cheaper improvements within the airport boundary, as there are serious concerns about the feasibility of a 3rd runway. The world has moved on since Heathrow got consent for a new runway, with travel demand altered since Covid, and a different political and regulatory environment, as well as far higher construction and financing costs than before. The cost estimate was £24 billion in 2019. Heathrow is also in the middle of a change in ownership, as Ferrovial agreed to sell their 25% stake to a consortium lead by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF). One major problem for a 3rd runway is having to put a section of the M25 into a tunnel (very costly) and demolishing local homes. The Climate Change Committee says there should be no airport expansion, unless the sector has a way to genuinely cut CO2 emissions.
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Saudi Arabia likely to take control of Heathrow
Saudi Arabia is likely to seize majority control of Heathrow as several shareholders are on the verge of accepting a lucrative offer from a consortium led by Saudi Arabia. Its Public Investment Fund (PIF) and investment firm Ardian, in which Saudi Arabia is an investor, struck a deal to buy Ferrovial’s 25% stake last month for £2.4 billion. Now, at least one other shareholder is close to selling, while other investors are expected to follow suit, tempted by what is seen as an unusually high price from the Saudis. Under Heathrow’s shareholder agreement, the other shareholders have the right to make the Saudi consortium buy their shares at the same valuation as the Ferrovial deal - which values Heathrow at £9.6 billion. This is more than double the £4.5 billion implied value of the airport’s equity last time a big stake was sold in 2013, to USS. If the smaller Heathrow shareholders sell their share to the PIF Saudi consortium,it could mean that it holds almost 60% of Heathrow, with the rest remaining with sovereign wealth funds of China, Qatar and Singapore, which might opt to hold onto their stakes.
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SAF technology developer Velocys running out of money, danger of insolvency
The board of directors of Oxford, UK-based Velocys has given its backing to an offer from a consortium of US, UK and Singapore investment houses to buy the company. Without an immediate injection of funds, Velocys is in danger of running out of cash next month and going into insolvency. Velocys has been developing technology to enable production of drop-in so-called sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from a variety of waste materials and is involved in two projects in the UK and US to build commercial-scale SAF production plants. Velocys shares have fallen from a high of £5.80 a share during the past year to 0.23 pence, valuing the company at just under £4 million. Carbon Direct Capital had previously been expected to make a $15 million investment in Velocys but withdrew when it did not get further investment from other backers by the end of October. Companies trying to make jet fuel out of various waste materials have gone out of business in the past. It is very difficult to get a standard, cheap fuel from inconsistent, variable source waste materials. The UK government is keen to get SAF produced in significant amounts - but there are immense problems.
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St Albans MP, Daisy Cooper: Luton Airport expansion inquiry should be paused
Luton airport has applied to increase its capacity from 18 million to 32 million passengers per year. This expansion would bring both a big increase in flights and road traffic congestion. Local MP, Daisy Cooper, is strongly opposed to it. She says people living underneath the flight paths in St Albans and neighbouring areas already experience a negative impact on their health and wellbeing from noise, which would only get worse. The airport has repeatedly breached their legal noise and passenger limits since 2019 with impunity and the promised introduction of newer, quieter aircraft has been broken with no discernible improvements. She says claims about economic impact and job creation are also pretty spurious. Luton airport has not delivered the jobs it promised years ago. Luton's expansion would make it much harder for the UK to meet climate targets. The 2019 Advice from the government’s own Climate Change Committee is crystal clear: to meet the legally binding 2050 “net zero target” there should be no net expansion of capacity. The UK needs a proper policy on airport capacity, future flight numbers and future aviation carbon emissions. Until then, airport expansion plans should be halted.
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Spain may try to introduce a ban on short haul flights
The Spanish coalition government wants to ban short-haul flights when there is an alternative by train that takes less than 2.5 hours. The proposal comes from Spain's ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) and the far-left Sumar party, who reached an agreement to form a new progressive coalition government last month. The coalition between PSOE and Sumar is not enough to build a majority, therefore support is still needed from smaller regional parties, including Catalan independentists. The measure is intended to curb emissions from quick domestic flights and encourage more sustainable travel, as part of Spain’s 2050 climate action plan. It could affect flights from cities like Alicante, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia to Madrid. However, flights using the capital city to connect to international routes would not be included in the ban. France has introduced a similar measure but environmentalists have questioned how effective it is at reducing flying. There would be some problems with the train route on some of the journeys, involving changing trains. However, the majority of the carbon emissions from flying are from long haul flights, and these are not affected by the plan.
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Public inquiry into London City Airport proposals – to resume 15th January
The first session of a public inquiry into an appeal to expand London City Airport took place on 5th December. The airport had plans to raise the annual cap on passengers from 6.5 million to 9 million, that were rejected unanimously by Newham Council in July 2023, and subsequently appealed the decision. On 12th December the London City Airport Public Inquiry ws postponed until January because Newham Council's barrister is ill. It will now run for 2 weeks beginning 15th January. This inquiry, which began at Stratford Town Hall, will also consider plans to extend weekend flight hours to 18:30 on a Saturday, with an extra hour during the summer. Currently planes are not permitted to fly between 12:30 on Saturday and 12:30 on Sunday, a curfew that has been in place for 25 years. John Stewart, chair of HACAN East, the residents’ organisation challenging the proposals, said, “These proposals are highly unpopular. People greatly value their weekend break from the noise." There are also fears the plans would make Mayor Sadiq Khan’s target for a net-zero London by 2030 less achievable.
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Adverts for Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad banned by ASA for misleading environmental claims
Adverts for Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad have been banned, by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), for misleading consumers about the airlines' environmental impact. Air France's ad said it was "committed to protecting the environment" and Lufthansa urged passengers to "fly more sustainably". Etihad's ad used the words "environmental advocacy". The ASA said the ads did not show the impact airlines have on climate change. Lufthansa and Etihad removed the ads. The ASA said Air France did not provide a "substantive response" to its investigations, and that by claiming Air France enabled people to "travel better and sustainably", customers would think the airline offered a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to travel by air, which was not true. Lufthansa told the BBC it aimed to be carbon neutral by 2050. It said it had taken the decision to remove "fly more sustainably" from future ads. The ASA had picked up the adverts using an artificial intelligence (AI) system, which uses the technology to search for possible rule breakers. This has been just the latest in a string of upheld ASA decisions over greenwashing.
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DfT Consultation: Airport slot allocation system reform, to keep flying cheap
The grip of Britain’s biggest airlines on lucrative UK take-off and landing slots could be loosened under government proposals intended to give travellers more reliable flights and lower prices. The DfT has launched a consultation (ends 9th Feb 2024) on proposals to reform the way in which airlines get slots at airports. Slots are used to manage capacity at the busiest airports, such as Gatwick and Heathrow, and they are valuable assets, jealously guarded. The proposals suggest limiting “slot leasing”, meaning that instead of larger airlines monopolising slots, they can be allocated to smaller, newer and cheaper competitors if they are not used after a set period. Airport landing and take-off rights typically are awarded by historical use, with only a small number reserved for new entrants. The plans are likely to be welcomed by the public as high demand for travel since the pandemic has led to steep fare rises, which are expected to keep rising over the next ten to fifteen years, according to IATA. In the past, "ghost" flights have happened, by which airlines fly empty planes, just in order to keep their slot, and preventing it being sold to another airline.
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Climate charity Possible and law firm Leigh Day have made formal complaints to Virgin Atlantic and BA, over false sustainability claims
Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are facing formal complaints over their sustainable flight claims, after being accused of misleading potential customers about the environmental credentials of aviation and so-called "sustainable aviation fuels" SAF. Virgin Atlantic flew a plane, as a commercial PR stunt, powered by allegedly low carbon fuel, consisting largely of "used" cooking oil. This was partly funded by the UK government. Now the climate charity Possible and the law firm Leigh Day have filed formal complaints against the airlines, over their claims about reducing emissions from flights by use of SAF in future. There cannot ever be enough genuinely low carbon fuels, that do not cause other environmental harms, for more than a few flights. The airlines are misleading consumers over their claims on reducing carbon emissions from flights, as lay-people do not have the expertise to discern the limits of decarbonisation technology. There are unsupported claims that some SAF can give up to 70% carbon savings. But when burned in a jet engine, SAF produces almost the same CO2 emissions as kerosene, which then stays in the atmosphere. It also produces contrails and other non-CO2 effects.