General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
BAA says ash chaos cut passenger numbers by a fifth – but air cargo up
In April the volcanic ash closed UK airspace for 6 days (20% of the month). BAA figures for April show a drop of 22.7% in passenger numbers compared to April 2009, and a drop of 28.2% at the Scottish airports. Heathrow was down by 20.8%; Stansted down by 24.4% and Southampton down by 19.4%. Air cargo increased by 6% with Heathrow cargo up by 7.8% and the Scottish airports up by 24.7%.
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Ryanair admits volcanic ash in engines of two planes
Ryanair has said that volcanic ash has been found in the engines of 2 of its aircraft at Belfast City Airport. Initially, the airline said the planes all had separate technical problems unrelated to the Icelandic eruption. But after further tests on Sunday, it confirmed 2 aircraft at the City airport showed small traces of ash in their engines. "These aircraft will return to service once the manufacturer's approved procedures for return to service". (BBC)
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British Airways – fresh round of strike dates announced
The BA cabin crew union, Unite, has announced fresh strike dates in its long-running dispute with the airline. Cabin crew will walk out for 4 separate 5-day strikes in May and June. The first strike will begin on 18 May, ending on 22 May, with the 3 further strikes beginning on 24 May, 30 May and 5 June. Unite members rejected a fresh deal for cabin crew earlier this month, and 81% voted against BA's offer last week, which sought to resolve the dispute. (BBC)
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BA passengers down 22% in April, largely due to the volcano problems
During April, some 6 days of flying (20% of the month) were lost due to the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano. Available Seat Kilometres was down 20.9% on April 2009. Revenue Passenger Kilometres fell by 22.4%. This resulted in a passenger load factor decrease of 1.5 points versus last year, to 76.6 %. There was a 19.8% decrease in premium traffic and a 22.9% decrease in non-premium traffic. Cargo, measured in Cargo Tonne Kilometres, fell by 11.0%. (BA)
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Volcanic ash cloud grounds more flights and could bring summer of disruption
Vulcanologists predict that some ash will be produced for months ahead. The last time this volcano erupted, it erupted for 2 years -from 1821 to 1823. The key to flight disruption, and a summer of discontent, is not ash, but the wind. Northerly winds on average occur 15% of the time during the summer. There is no certainty that all future travellers will have insurance to pay for delays and cancellations caused by the ash. (Guardian)
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Volcano ash: EU ministers review air traffic control
EU transport ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss ways to improve on their response to volcanic ash disruption. Ways to improve the EU's management of air traffic will be considered. EU transport ministers are now under pressure to speed up implementation of a plan that would introduce trans-national airspace blocks. Ministers are also expected to discuss what compensation, if any, should be given to the airlines affected. (BBC)
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13 near-miss incidents for flights in the Yorkshire region in the past 3 years
CAA data on airprox incidents shows there were 13 near miss incidents at Yorkshire airports. Inattentive military pilots, hapless trainee air traffic controllers and wayward model aircraft are among the causes of a catalogue of incidents involving passenger airliners and other commercial aircraft flying in and out of Leeds Bradford, Humberside and Doncaster Robin Hood airports. One was a Category A, and several involved the RAF. (Yorkshire Post)
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Tribunal’s airports decision ‘perverse’
Peter Freeman, Competition Commission chairman, said he would strive to reverse an independent tribunal judgment that scrapped an order for BAA to dismantle itself because its dominance harmed passengers' interests. He said the decision to allow BAA to maintain much of its airports near-monopoly is "perverse, wasteful and wrong", and he is pushing through a counter-appeal against the ruling - which affects the possible sale of Stansted. (FT)
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Volcano ash flight ban ‘might have ended sooner’
The suspension of UK flights after the volcanic eruption in Iceland might have ended sooner. If airline engine manufacturers had specified a safe level of ash earlier, the CAA says it could have reopened the skies earlier. Manufacturers probably knew roughly what a safe level was, that they knew there was an acceptable level of safety but they were not prepared to underwrite the risk and validate it. The issues has been discussed by the industry for years.(BBC)
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EU transport chief urges Single European Skies (SES) acceleration as post-volcano recovery measure
EU transport commissioner Siim Kallas has urged acceleration of the Single European Sky programme to deliver integrated airspace management by the end of 2010 – 2 years before the scheduled implementation date of 2012. In response to the recent disruption resulting from the volcanic ash cloud Kallas presented a series of recovery recommendations on 27 April. The aim is to have a better coordinated approach to assessment of flow and react quickly to problems.