General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Budget confirms no new APD rise in 2011 but business jets likely to be taxed, after consultation
Date added: 23 March, 2011
At long last business and private jets are to be included in APD. For decades
the anomaly persisted of the righest fliers being tax-free. Though the aviation
and travel industries had lobbied hard for a cut in APD, the Chancellor has frozen
the tax for this year, with rises in line with the Retail Price Index likely in
2012. The banding is to be made more fair to the Caribbean. A Treasury consultation
on APD has now started, largely on taxing private jets.
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European White Paper postpones serious transport CO2 cuts until 2030
Date added: 22 March, 2011
A leaked draft of the Commission’s new white paper on the future of transport
says EU transport should look to reduce its emissions by ‘at least 60%’ by 2050
compared to 1990, but that almost all of these cuts would 'magically' take place
after 2030. As transport emissions are still growing, that means a cut of around
70% compared with today. But transport emissions should be cut by just 20% by
2030, which is an 8% increase from 1990 levels. (T&E)
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Labour close to ditching support for Heathrow 3rd runway
Date added: 21 March, 2011
Reports are emerging that the Labour Party is close to ditching its long-standing
support for a 3rd runway. Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle is quoted in today’s Times as saying:
“Ed Miliband has always been clear that he is sceptical about a third runway at
Heathrow. So I do not start our policy review with any preference.” She added
the party does not give unequivocal support for the runway, as it is off the
agenda for the length of this parliament.
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Boris’s airport arguments don’t stand up to scrutiny
Date added: 19 March, 2011
Boris Johnson’s attacks on the government’s aviation policy are becoming increasingly strident. He has said the government’s refusal to discuss new runways at London’s airports was “crazy”
and its air passenger taxes were an “absolute disgrace”, and hindering London’s
long-term competitiveness. John Stewart argues that this is just plain wrong,
and research shows a 3rd Heathrow runway is not critical to the London economy
because, for business as a whole, other factors were of greater importance than
the size of Heathrow.
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Eurocontrol’s new direct routes to save over one million flight kilometres and 12,000 tonnes of CO2 annually
Date added: 18 March, 2011
The Eurocontrol Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre has implemented 142 new
direct routes that are expected to substantially reduce flight times, fuel burn
and emissions in high-density European airspace. Eurocontrol says savings from
the first phase are estimated at 1.16 million km per year, resulting in reductions
of 3,700 tonnes of jet fuel, 12,000 tonnes of CO2 and 37 tonnes of NOx. In 2009
a flight’s route was on average 47.6km (or 5.4%) too long compared to its optimum
trajectory.
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Leeds Bradford Airport: Flybe axes London Gatwick service
Date added: 18 March, 2011
Leeds Bradford Airport is to be left without flights to London after Flybe announced
it was to axe its 3 flights per day to Gatwick on 31st March. The airline said it had been forced to pull out because of increased landing
fees for regional airlines at Gatwick. Leeds Bradford Airport said it was seeking to replace the London service. More
than 50,000 passengers flew from Leeds Bradford to London Gatwick with Flybe in
2010.
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Lufthansa Group racks up double-digit increase in carbon emissions in 2010 despite efficiency improvement
Date added: 18 March, 2011
According to Lufthansa Group it saw its carbon emissions increase by 10.1% to
26.6 million tonnes in 2010, the benchmark year for airlines entering the EU ETS. Fuel consumption across the operating fleet declined from 4.30 litres per 100
passenger-kms (pkm) in 2009 to 4.20 in 2010. Direct CO2 emissions declined from
108.4 grams per pkm to 105.8. The Group’s target is to cut CO2 emissions per pkm
by 25% by 2020 compared to 2006
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When aircraft waiting at the gates rather than on taxiways saves time and fuel
Date added: 18 March, 2011
Reseacher have realised that holding planes for an average of 4 minutes longer
at the gate — instead of having them line up like dominoes on the runway — reduced
taxi times by 20% and cut fuel consumption by up to 20 gallons per plane without
increasing flight delays. The study could eventually be used to create a tool
that tells air traffic controllers when planes should leave the gate. Taxi times
have inreased over the past 15 years.
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Boris again … this time attacking ‘disgraceful’ air taxes and airport policy
Date added: 17 March, 2011
Mr Johnson says the government’s move last year to scrap any new runways in the
south-east of was hindering London’s long-term competitiveness, and increasing
capacity could “deliver growth and jobs for a long time to come”. Also “I think it is an absolute disgrace that you are seeing a kind of bourgeois repression
of people’s ability to take holidays, and I think it is a matter of social justice
that we look at aviation capacity in this country".
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UK to Spain is the biggest intra-European airline market; UK-Germany 4th and UK-France 5th
Date added: 16 March, 2011
Anna Aero has looked at air journeys from May to August, comparing 2009 and 2010.
They show that the route within Europe in mid summer with the most passengers
is UK to Spain. 2nd is Germany-Spain. 3rd is Germany-Italy. 4th UK-Germany. 5th
UK-France. The figures also show the extent to which Ryanair and EasyJet have
grabbed a lot of the trade within Europe, for example on routes betweem Spain,
Germany,France and Italy.
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