General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Qantas reports $256m loss and cancels plane orders
Australian airline Qantas has reported its first annual loss since it was privatised in 1995, saying this is due to high fuel costs and growing losses at its international operations. It lost £161m for the year to 30 June 2012, though it made a profit last year. It has also cancelled orders for 35 Boeing Dreamliners jets worth $8.5bn due to "lower growth requirements". The airline's international business has been hurt by slowing demand from its key markets in Europe and the USA. The restructuring plan is also expected to result in 2,800 job cuts, to cut costs.
Click here to view full story...
Virgin criticised by environmental groups for introducing Heathrow to Manchester flights
Virgin Atlantic's plans to start 3 commercial flights per day from London to Manchester have been sharply criticised by green groups who claim this will push up CO2 emissions. Such short flights are hugely fuel inefficient, given most fuel is burnt during the high component of take-offs and landings on short shuttle flights. They questioned how the service squares with Richard Branson's stated aim to make Virgin the world's most sustainable airline by 2020, and argued that the new service called into question the case for expansion at Heathrow. A Green Party spokesperson said using rail instead for short haul destinations would free up capacity at Heathrow for new connections to emerging markets, removing the need for a new hub. The Campaign for Better Transport said we should be making sure that rail is the mode of choice for all journeys between Manchester and London, not contemplating more flights for such a short distance.
Click here to view full story...
Qatar sovereign wealth fund buys 20% stake in BAA leaving Ferrovial 40%
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is buying 20% of BAA, adding it to a portfolio of British interests including stakes in Harrods, Barclays and J Sainsbury. Ferrovial will sell a 10.6% stake to Qatar Holding. At the same time two more shareholders have sold shares representing 9.4% of the business to the fund, leaving it with a 20% investment in BAA. The total value of the transaction is £900m. Qatar Holding is funded by proceeds from the world's third largest gas reserves and wants more investment in the UK. This represents further retrenchment by Ferrovial from one of the UK's most bruising foreign takeovers, although it denied that it is seeking a full exit from BAA. Ferrovial shareholding in BAA will be less than 40% once the Qatar deal is completed, while it owned 55% in 2010. BAA still has almost £11 billion debt.
Click here to view full story...
Virgin Atlantic set to fly between London and Manchester
Virgin Atlantic will start its first domestic service, between London and Manchester from the end of March 2013. Chief executive Steve Ridgway said this was in response to the takeover of bmi by IAG rather than Virgin Trains having lost the rail service between the two cities. BA had the only route between London and Manchester, since taking over bmi. Virgin wants to make "sure that BA doesn't become a monopolist on all the routes bmi used to fly." From March there will be 3 daily flights to Manchester using Airbus A319. Around 650,000 passengers fly between London and Manchester each year. Virgin already flies from Manchester to Barbados, Las Vegas and Orlando. Virgin may also use Heathrow slots for Scottish flights.
Click here to view full story...
Frankfurt airport protesters have picnic breakfast in the peace, away from aircraft noise, outside airport boss’ house
About 20 protesters against the unacceptable noise caused by Frankfurt airport met on Saturday morning to set up their picnic breakfast outside the house of the Frankfurt Airport boss. His house is in a quiet area, not overflown, unlike theirs. They just wanted, on this warm, heatwave morning, to enjoy breakfast in peace outdoors - something they can no longer do in their own homes and gardens. There were no slogans or chanting, but just a peaceful breakfast. And there was no sign of the boss, Schulte, whose shutters remained resolutely closed throughout.
Click here to view full story...
Visa red tape and cost are putting off Chinese visitors – not APD or a lack of runways
Britain wants more Chinese tourists, as they are high spenders. However, it may be that getting a visa to the UK is more difficult and more expensive than a visa for Europe (one for the whole EU zone) and so they go there instead of getting a second visa, for the UK. Although the figures are disputed, about 25-50% (or more) more Chinese tourists are believed to visit France than Britain. A UK visitor visa requires lengthy forms with original supporting documents and costs £78, compared with the €60 (£47.60) that buys access to the whole European Schengen zone. The UK visa also requires biometric data, which involves applications in person, although Europe will follow suit next year. IAG has joined in the complaints about the UK visa system, saying it is bad for business and deters Chinese businessmen. Much of the power lies in the hands of Chinese travel agents and middlemen who arrange visits abroad and have considerable influence on visa applications. So the lack of Chinese tourists is nothing to do with needing more runways, or needing to cut APD. More to do with the visa process.
Click here to view full story...
Lib Dem motion to party conference, by Julian Huppert, says no new south east runways
Julian Huppert, Lib Dem MP for Cambridge, has put forward an aviation policy motion for the Lib Dem party conference in September. The motion aims to balance the benefits the aviation industry brings with the harm it causes to the environment. It reinforces the party's opposition to new runways at London’s airports, and if firmly rejects a Thames estuary airport. It proposes making better use of existing capacity in the South-East and at regional airports to meet short to medium-term demand, and an independent, evidence-based study to find a location for a hub airport or a suitable airport to expand into a hub for the long-term. Importantly, it pushes for no airport capacity expansion which could allow for aircraft movements above the carbon emissions cap set by the independent Committee on Climate Change. They want mimimum impact on local people and on the environment. The mention the Per Plane Duty (PPD).
Click here to view full story...
Luton airport expansion plans for 18mppa given decisive “thumbs down” on environmental grounds
Luton Airport's owner (Luton Borough Council) and operator (London Luton Airport Operations Ltd) have together announced they are set to submit plans to increase capacity to allow for a maximum of 18 million passengers per year, from current levels of around 10 million. The reasons put forward by Luton Borough Council for these proposals centre around creating wealth, and they hope it would allow the airport to "continue to deliver sustainable growth" benefiting residents and passengers". The local campaign group HALE (Hertfordshire Against Luton Expansion), which opposes further expansion at the airport, commented that Luton Borough Council in only interested in milking the airport for cash, and talk of "sustainable" airport growth is an oxymoron. Another local campaign group, LADACAN (Luton & District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) criticised the absence of any mention of the environmental impact of increased aircraft noise, which would inevitably be a result of a flight leaving every 90 seconds - resulting in continuous noise over people’s heads starting at 6 am in the morning. Public consultation on the plans is scheduled to start on Sept 3rd.
Click here to view full story...
Seat kilometres used by UK airlines over the past 5 years
Figures from the CAA show a lot of data about all the UK airlines, including the number of passengers, number of seat kilometres available, number of seat kilomters flown, amount of cargo transported, percent of seat capacity used and so on. Figures show not only the airlines that have gone out of business since 2007, but the sharp rise of easyJet and other cheap airlines, the slight decline in passenger kilomtres of Virgin Atlantic, and the very small increase by British Airways between 2007 and 2011.
Click here to view full story...
Travel Trends: 2011 saw an increase in number of overseas visits both to and from the UK for the first time since 2006
The Office of National Statistics has produced its annual travel trends. Some of the key points are that in 2011, compared to 2010, there was an increase in the number of overseas visits both to and from the UK for the first time since 2006. also overseas residents made 3.3% more visits to the UK in 2011 compared with 2010, in total stayed for 3.2% more nights and spent 6.5% more money on these visits. Meanwhile UK residents made 2.3%t more visits abroad, but stayed 2% less nights and spent 0.4% less money on these visits in 2011 compared with 2010. Overseas residents made 15.3 million overnight visits to London in 2011, and 13 million to the rest of England in 2011, with about 2.3 million to Scotland and 0.9 million to Wales. Holiday visits abroad grew by 1.1%, business visits rose by 3.1% and visiting friends and family rose 6.9% in 2011. And there is more ...