General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
American Airlines orders 460 Boeing and Airbus aircraft
Date added: 21 July, 2011
American Airlines said it would have the youngest fleet in the US within 5 years.
American Airlines has announced multi-billion dollar orders for 460 new Boeing
and Airbus planes. It is the world's fourth-largest airline by number of passengers, and now buying 200
Boeing 737s and 260 Airbus A320 aircraft. American described the twin deals as "the largest aircraft order in history". The new aircraft will be delivered between 2013 and 2022.
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HS2 a £32 billion recipe for disaster, claims think-tank IEA
Date added: 19 July, 2011
A leading UK think-tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, has labelled plans
for the new high-speed rail link between London and the Midlands as “economically
flawed”. They claim the HS2 rail link is not commercially viable, that taxpayers will bear a high
proportion of the financial risk, and the London to Birmingham line would require a contribution of £1,000 per taxpayer. The construction costs of the first phase are abpit £17 billion, with a total
£33 billion.
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Virgin calls for rise in short-haul APD
Date added: 18 July, 2011
The industry cannot decide within itself what to do on APD. Virgin Atlantic claims passengers travelling to long-haul destinations are subsidising
short-haul travel to the tune of £222 million. Virgin wants a new £20 rate of APD for short-haul journeys which could bring in nearly £650
million to the Treasury. Virgin pointed out that last year over 2 m passengers flew from London to destinations in Europe easily reachable within
around 2 hours by Eurostar.
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The pros and cons of regional airports – feature by ABTN
Date added: 17 July, 2011
The article discusses, from a travel manager's point of view, the benefits of
long haul flights from regional airports, rather than hubbed through Heathrow,
or other major airport. Will travellers going to the USA bother to go via Amsterdam to save a bit on
APD? Direct regional long-haul flight fare can be a bit more expensive than those
from London, but the price differential weighs heavily in the regions’ favour
once hotel and travel costs to a distant hub airport are factored in.
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Attempts to rank airlines by the CO2 emissions per passenger come up with mixed results
Date added: 14 July, 2011
Two articles from GreenAir online report on attempts by various studies to rank
the carbon emissions per passenger for different airlines. They conclude that there is no single way in which to do this successfully, as
there are so many variables. Some of these are length of journey, weight of fuel carried on long haul flights, number of take-offs and landings per journey, type of plane, its age or any modifications, whether the flight would have taken place had the fare not been so low
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Deutsche Bahn applies to run trains through Channel Tunnel
Date added: 13 July, 2011
Direct rail services from London to Germany and Holland have moved a step closer
after Deutsche Bahn made a formal application (to the Intergovernmental Commission,
which is responsible for safety in the tunnel) to run trains through the Channel
Tunnel. If approved, St Pancras will be able to serve passengers to Rotterdam,
Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Cologne by the end of 2013. Other operators have been
able to apply since Jan 2010.
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BAA airports June 2011 traffic figures – passengers up +4.4% on June 2010
Date added: 12 July, 2011
Third month of record passenger numbers at Heathrow. Heathrow reports busiest ever June (up +6.3% on June 2010), following record
April and May. Heathrow growth driven by long-haul traffic and strengthening transfer performance. Group wide traffic up 4.4% to 9.9 million in June. But June 2010 saw some impact from industrial action at BA so figures skewed.
Removing the effects of this, Heathrow achieved underlying growth of around 3.8%.
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Airlines launch a new campaign ‘Hands off our holiday, Mr Taxman!’
Date added: 11 July, 2011
The airlines and the travel industry continue their long complaint about Air
Passenger Duty, and claim how unfair it is etc etc .... yawn. They fail to add
that aviation still receives massive benefits by not paying any VAT on , and by
not paying any tax on aviation fuel. Flying is therefore unfairly cheap, compared
to other forms of travel. This is a cynical campaign to keep their income up.
The poorest in the UK do not fly - the richest fly most, and so obtain the greatest
subsidy through low flight taxes. APD to Europe is £12.
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Andrew Davis’ Von Essen Aviation could lose Battersea Heliport
Date added: 11 July, 2011
Accountant Deloitte has been appointed by bankers to the company that owns London's
only commercial helipad to begin a review of the business. Von Essen Aviation, which owns Battersea Heliport, is one of Mr Davis's last
significant assets. It also runs a fleet of private aircraft. It is not certain how much debt Von Essen Aviation is carrying. According to
its last set of accounts, for the year ending December 2009, its net debt was
£32.5m.
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FT reports that airlines may back government plans to sell part of its share in NATS
Date added: 9 July, 2011
The FT says that the 7 airlines that control NATS (National Air Traffic Services)
will agree to the UK government selling part of its share in NATS. It currently
owns 49% with look and the airlines want it to keep at least 25% so the UK retains its influence at the European level, where there are plans to
streamline all European air traffic. The Airline Group, (BA, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic), owns 42% of NATS and has
management control of it.
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