General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
High-speed train safety questioned at 250mph – possibility of derailment
A Scottish academic – professor of railway geo-engineeering – has claimed the HS2 high-speed railway plans may suffer track failure and derailments if trains are allowed to travel on it at speeds of 250mph. Professor Peter Woodward of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh said there is a risk the lines may not be able to cope with "new problems" thrown up by the higher speeds with times between London and Birmingham cut to 49 minutes. The speeds proposed for the £24 billion HS2 project could trigger "significant amplification of train-track vibrations". This may cause "rapid deterioration of the track, ballast and sub-ballast, including possible derailment and ground failure". Experts are worried about plans to run trains faster than any other line in the world, 225mph initially AND with a target speed is 250mph within a few years of opening in 2032.
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Environmental factors must be included in GDP, say scientists
A new paper to be presented to government ministers at a meeting of UNEP in Nairobi, says that countries must move beyond tracking economic growth using measures of gross domestic product (GDP) and incorporate environmental and social dimensions into a new measure of wealth if they are to avoid an escalating series of climate, biodiversity and poverty crises. The group will also call for the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, worth an estimated $409bn a year globally, as well as the end of support for traditional transport and agricultural methods that do not account for their environmental costs. Subsidies that often only benefit the better off. Caroline Spelman has said the UK will work to secure an assurance that all businesses and governments begin work to incorporate natural capital into their accounting practices, GDP+, at the Rio+20 conference later this year.
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Half of European airports part of scheme to cut their emissions (not the flight emissions though)
Airports account for perhaps around 5% of the total emissions from aviation. Airports handling about 50% of European passenger traffic are now certified under the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme set up by ACI Europe. Since its launch in June 2009, 55 airports have become accredited at one of the 4 levels of certification. In Year One of the programme, 18 accredited airports achieved a reduction of 411,390 tonnes of CO2, rising in the second year to a reduction of 729,689 tCO2 as 25 further airports joined. All very commendable, and excellent news that airports are cutting their carbon emissions. However, putting it in context, the 729,689 tonnes of CO2 is only 0.34% of the total 212, 892,052 tonnes allocated to aviation under the European emissions trading scheme, in the first year of the ETS. And European air passengers increased in 2011 by 7% in 2011 - so the emissions are rising.
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HS2 rail scheme protest group warns of legal action
Protest groups against the HS2 rail project have sent the government a formal letter warning they will take legal action unless it is stopped. The HS2 Action Alliance said in the letter to Transport Secretary Justine Greening that it would consider seeking a judicial review. The group said it was concerned about the project's environmental impact and accused the government of failing to comply with several legal requirements. They say the DfT failed to comply with "the legally binding requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Regulations 2004 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010." An alliance of 18 local authorities working together under the collective name 51m, have also sent a formal notice to Ms Greening asking her to stop the project or face a potential judicial review.
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Despite Heathrow’s huge business connectivity, BAA trots out its capacity arguments again citing need for flights to China
BAA continues to use any opportunity it can to push its ambition to expand Heathrow. It has used the January traffic figures as another chance to lobby for its 3rd runway and trot out its capacity argument. Passengers from Heathrow to China, including Hong Kong, rose by 3% in 2011, but happened to fall by 0.7% in January, compared to Jan 2010. BAA could not confirm whether other airports suffered a similar dip in January traffic. BAA imply, but there are no publicly available figures to check, that traffic to China from Frankfurt and Amsterdam rose in January. Germany exported £27 billion to China in 2010 and the UK exported £5 billion. Research carried out by WWF and AirportWatch in August looking at weekly flights (July 2011) showed Frankfurt had 43 flights to China, Paris Charles de Gaulle had 81 flights, Schiphol had 40 ..... and Heathrow had a whopping 94. It's not really falling behind, in any meaningful sense of the word.
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Bird watchers, politicians, fisherman, environmentalists, yachtsmen and other worried residents join new campaign against Thames Estuary airport
On 10th February, about the coldest night of the winter, around 80 people attended a rousing meeting in Leigh on Sea, to both find out about what proposals for a Thames Estuary airport mean, and join a new campaign against it. Speakers included Keith Taylor (Green MEP); David Amess MP; Peter Wexham, a Southend councillor; George Crozer, an Isle of Grain Parish Councillor; Paul Gilson, a local fisherman, and David Hedges from the RSPB. They covered a wide range of issues relating to the impacts that a massive estuary airport might have, as well as the history of failed proposals in the past. A new campaign group is being set up, gearing itself up for the consultation on estuary airport proposals and also on future UK aviation policy, that starts next month. Another meeting will soon be arranged at Canvey, to grow the campaign there.
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How much profit do airports make from their retail activities, rather than flying?
Heathrow got 21.3% of its income from retail in 2010, compared to 53% from aeronautical. On average each Heathrow passenger spent about £5.70 (maybe £5.90) at the airport, with women spending more than men (!). BAA data say frequent fliers spend more than infrequent fliers. In the year 2010/2011 Gatwick airport made £115.6m from retail, and another £51.7m from car parking, with an average of £5.80 spent on retail per passenger. Stansted retail spending per passenger is about £4.00 to £4.20. In the year 2010/2011 Heathrow made about £380 million per year on retail, Gatwick about £115, and Stansted net retail income fell from £79.8m in 2010 to £73.9m. Manchester made about £70 million on retail, with about £3 per passenger.
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NPPF ‘unlikely to boost economy’, says report commissioned by key green groups
The coalition government has argued that its national planning policy framework (NPPF) - which includes a presumption in favour of sustainable development – is key to the UK’s economic recovery. And that planning delays cost the UK £3 billion every year. But research and report (by Vivid Economics) commissioned by CPRE, the National Trust and the RSPB argues that claims of the costs of the planning system have been overstated. The report concludes that while there are costs in some sectors, there is no evidence that planning has large, economy-wide effects on productivity or employment - or that it will have much effect on growth. If the NPPF comes into force in mid-2012, there is unlikely to be any construction as a direct result until mid-2013.
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AEA European member airlines report passenger growth of 7.1% to almost 363 million in 2011
Latest data from the 30 members of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) which report traffic data (this does not include airberlin and Olympic Air) shows that passenger numbers in 2011 were up +7.1% compared to 2010 to almost 363 million. Capacity (ASKs) is up 8.9% while traffic (RPKs) is up 8.0%, resulting in a load factor drop of 0.6% to 77.3%. Due to the troubles in North African countries, far fewer (about -23% fewer) European passengers travelled there. Cross-border Europe was up 9.7%. Domestic traffic grew + 2.7%. BA passengers were up + 11.6%. Virgin down - 0.%. BMI down - 7.5%. Over the 30 airlines covered, load factors were down 0.6%.
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easyJet will trial electric taxiing system in 2013, hoping for fuel savings
easyJet, in collaboration with Honeywell and Safran, hsd announced that it will be the first airline to support the development and trial of the innovative new electric green taxiing system (EGTS). Due to the high frequency and short sector lengths of easyJet’s operations, around 4% of total fuel consumed annually is used when the airline’s aircraft are taxiing. easyJet’s aircraft average 20 minutes of taxi time per flight – the equivalent of 3.5 million miles a year. The first operational trials are expected to start in 2013. Honeywell and Safran are targeting to offer the electric green taxiing system either on new aircraft or as a retrofit solution to in-service aircraft as early as 2016.