General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
BAA name to be dropped – as the company is now primarily Heathrow
From today the name BAA will be dropped. Heathrow, Glasgow, Aberdeen Southampton and Stansted Airports will operate solely under their own stand-alone brand. Colin Matthews, said that as over the past few years, BAA has sold its stakes in Gatwick, Edinburgh, Budapest and Naples airports - and now Stansted - the name BAA no longer fits as it does represent all British airports; "we are not a public authority; and practically speaking the company is no longer a group as Heathrow will account for more than 95% of the business.” BAA Ltd has changed its name to Heathrow Ltd. Glasgow, Aberdeen Southampton and Stansted Airports will operate solely under their own stand-alone brand.
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New report says UK airport emissions today cause about 110 early deaths per year, of which 50 are due to Heathrow.
Premature deaths from Heathrow pollution would treble by 2030 if a third runway is built, according to an academic study to be published next week. The study says that even if Heathrow does not expand, increased numbers of flights will lead to a more than doubling in the number of deaths from pollution. The research is the first to analyse the health consequences of aircraft fumes at the 20 major airports of Britain. It reveals there would be major health benefits if Heathrow operations were replaced with a new hub in the Thames estuary. This is because Heathrow is located in a busy population centre, and also as the prevailing wind in London is westerly, the pollution is blown over millions of people. The research says that, based on 2005 data, UK airports contribute to 110 early deaths each year, mostly due to lung cancer and cardiopulmonary complaints. Of those, 50 can be attributed to Heathrow alone. With a 50% growth in air travel, there would be 250 early deaths in the UK. And that is not including road vehicle pollution, just that from planes.
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September showed no increase in BAA airport passengers from September 2011, but a fall in ATMs
The September figures for BAA's airports showed no growth in passenger numbers compared to September 2011, and a fall of - 2.3% in the number of air transport movements (ATMs). At Heathrow, the number of passengers was up +0.6%, with ATMs down - 2.3%, so a slightly higher load factor. At Stansted, as usual, there was a fall in the number of passengers, down - 4% on Sept 2011. There were the falls in the number of passengers at BAA's airports of 4.1% in July and 2.0% in August. In September, at Heathrow, Brazil and China passenger numbers increased 14% and 5.9% respectively whilst traffic to and from India fell 7%.(there have been problems with Indian airlines). So the rise in China and Brazil traffic indicates there is no problem for Heathrow in processing more passengers to and from the new economies. Across BAA's airports, domestic air passengers were down -7.2%, but passengers to North America up +3.7% and to other long haul destinations up + 3.2%.
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430 jobs at risk as Thomas Cook cuts airline fleet from 35 to 31
Around 430 jobs - including pilots and cabin crew - are at risk at Thomas Cook (the UK's 2nd largest travel company) after the beleaguered tour operator revealed plans to cut its aircraft fleet to slash costs. It will cut the number of planes it operates from 35 to 31, returning 4 aircraft at the end of their lease term. The group, which was recently forced to turn to its banks for an additional £200million of loans, has scaled back the size of its own airline in the past year and entered into a partnership with easyJet. It has bases in Manchester and Gatwick. Thomas Cook’s air travel division currently employs just over 3,100 staff. They hope this will be better for the remaining 2,700 people employed. In 2011 they flew 6.8 million passengers and the number has declined by some 7% since 2007.
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ABTA 2012: Holidaymakers take fewer slightly fewer trips this year than last – but more packages
ABTA's latest Consumer Trends Survey of 2,000 holidaymakers found UK consumers are taking fewer holidays but they are increasingly likely to travel on a package booked via a high street travel agency. ABTA said the holidaymakers (not the whole UK population) took an average of 3.51 holidays this year. Compared to 3.82 last year. These Britons have taken an average of 1.4 overseas holidays and 2.11 domestic holidays in 2012, down from 1.56 and 2.26, respectively, last year. Of the holidays taken in 2012, 48% were packages compared with 42% in 2011 and 37% in 2010. According to the survey, 27% of holidays were booked on the high street compared with 25% in 2011. Conversely, the number of DIY bookings shrank from 43% in 2011 to 39% this year. ABTA said the trend towards package holidays was particularly strong amongst those aged 35 to 44 years, of whom 51% said they had booked a package in 2012 compared with just 36% in 2011. Those aged from 15-34 took more overseas trips than any other age group.
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Patrick McLoughlin says ‘We will fast-track HS2 high speed rail’
Patrick McLoughlin has told the Independent that this Government will defy "grief and hassle" from its own backbenchers and fast-track plans for HS2 between London and Birmingham. He said the project had the unequivocal backing of both David Cameron and George Osborne, and indicated that there would be no significant compromises on the published HS2 route despite vocal opposition from Tory MPs through whose constituencies the line will run. He hoped it could be completed within 5 years, but expected it to take longer - but expects to bring forward the legislation needed to start work in the next Queen's Speech (date unknown) and said he was prepared to work with Labour to get HS2 through Parliament before the 2015 election. He will also publish a route for the next stage of high-speed rail in the next few months which will eventually link London and Manchester.
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Times reports that DfT could be sued about road traffic growth forecasts that are too high
Times reports that experts believe that car use will not rise sharply again and that investors may not see the returns the DfT forecasts suggest. Pension funds and other private infrastructure investors could sue the Department for Transport if their official forecasts for long-term traffic growth fail to materialise. This comes in a warning by Prof Phil Goodwin at the annual European Transport Conference in Glasgow. The Transport Planning Society — a panel of local government representatives, consultants and academics - is calling for an urgent review of the DfT’s forecasts because they are “now so far from reality”. Some academics believe we will get to “peak car”, where car use has plateaued at a lower level than previously anticipated. The DfT’s UK figures show that miles per driver peaked in the late 1990s, levelled off in the last decade, and fell in the recession. Could this happen for pension funds and investors in new runways or expanded airports?
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Greenhouse gases rise with GDP, slower to fall in recession
Greenhouse gas emissions rise when economies expand but don't fall as quickly when recession strikes, perhaps because people stick with a higher-emitting lifestyle from the boom times. This emerges from a study in the journal Nature Climate Change. The report says emissions of CO2 rose by an average of 0.73% for every 1% growth in GDP per capita. But emissions fell just 0.43% for every 1% decline in GDP per capita, based on a review of World Bank statistics of more than 150 nations from 1960 to 2008. The reason may be because new infrastructure added during times of economic growth - new homes, roads or factories - is still used during recession. When economies decline, factories don't shut down immediately, people don't stop driving and new buildings still needed heating or air-conditioning. The world economy is expected to grow by 3.5 % in 2012, including a 0.3% contraction in the euro zone
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Policy Exchange produces report hoping to shift Heathrow a few km to the west, with 4 runways over the M25 …
The Policy Exchange, which says it is a leading think tank to deliver a stronger society and a more dynamic economy (nothing about care of the environment) have put forward a proposal to expand Heathrow, by building 4 new runways. And moving the existing two a mile or two to the west, on top of the M25. Then there would be a two more runways, one parallel to each of the shifted runways. The Policy Exchange then says that if this cannot be built, 4 runways could be be built at Luton instead. They claim around 700 properties (in Poyle) would need to be demolished compared to the 1,400 that would need to go to make way for the estuary airport, and its purpose would be to send a "much needed signal to people that Britain is open for business." They dismiss the problem of carbon emissions by presuming that all homes in the UK will be insulated, so leaving fossil fuel for transport - and that travelling is much more appealing so we can "have the money and carbon allocation to see the world." A very odd report, with some very dubious logic .....
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Boris Johnson: Estuary airport to cost taxpayer £30 billion for the road and rail links alone
It has emerged that the cost of road and rail links from his proposed Thames Estuary airport to London would be around £30 billion, over 15 years, and that would have to be paid by UK taxpayers. Boris believes a new estuary airport would cost at least another £50 billion, and that could be financed entirely by the private sector. Boris gave a speech at County Hall, to business leaders, Boris attacked the so-called “dither and delay” over formulating its aviation policy, and warned that future generations "would believe the Coalition had 'frittered away their futures' by delaying a decision until after the 2015 election. Mr Johnson’s team denied that today’s remarks were intended to steal Mr Cameron’s thunder at the Conservative party conference.However, his airport comments appear to be linked with his positioning himself within the Conservative party. He is also keen on expanding Stansted, as another alternative.