General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
EasyJet celebrates reaching 500 routes
Date added: 20 February, 2010
easyJet celebrated at Luton Airport after it reached a milestone of 500 routes.
Its most recent route is Milan Malpensa Airport to Porto. It has flights to 118
destinations. From Luton, there are flights by easyJet to 38 different destinations.
It has established 19 bases and has a fleet of 182 aircraft. In 2009, EasyJet carried 45.2 million passengers. By contrast, Ryanair has 40
bases, and flew 65 million passengers in 2009.
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World’s top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, report estimates
Date added: 20 February, 2010
A report by Trucost for the UN into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest
companies estimates one-third of profits (equal to on average 6-7% of turnover) would
be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment.
The so far unpublished report is likely to argue for abolition of billions of
dollars of subsidies to harmful industries like agriculture, energy and transport, tougher regulations and more taxes on companies that cause the
damage. (Guardian)
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“The Government remains committed to ……” – petition response on the ATWP
Date added: 19 February, 2010
A petition to 10 Downing Street, that closed on 6th February, read: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to explain how the UK will meet
it's 2050 80% reduction in CO2 emissions whilst expanding aviation in line with
the 2003 Air Transport white paper". The Government has now produced its reply, deemed to be remarkably disingenuous
and inadequate. It confirms that there really is no convincing way to square
the circle and the ATWP will have to be rewritten.
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Climate change department sends staff on hundreds of domestic flights
Date added: 18 February, 2010
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is in charge of a multimillion advertising
campaign telling the country to cut down on carbon intensive activities, such
as taking domestic flights. But last year officials from DECC took just under 1,200 domestic flights, including
26 return flights to Manchester that can be reached in two-and-a-half hours by
train. Staff at Defra, which also urges the public to fly less, took 1,938 domestic flights in 2008/09. (Telegraph)
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£45m Government funding boost for aero engine research
Date added: 11 February, 2010
The Government - Lord Mandelson - has announced a £45 million support package
to research and develop more fuel-efficient, lower-carbon aero engines at universities
including Cambridge. The move will fund new partnerships between Rolls-Royce and many universities
around the UK. Projects will include developing lighter fans to cut fuel consumption,
simulation technology for virtual engineering and new high-temperature alloys
to improve fuel efficiency. (Peterborough)
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Help needed in making business travel "greener"
Date added: 10 February, 2010
The Assoc of Corporate Travel Execs and KDS international did a survey of business
travel. It found 45% of respondents say top managers set a bad example in the
‘greenness’ of their travel choices, with 41% in the UK. 61% saw employers cut
the amount of business travel in 2009. 66% would like greater information about
the carbon emissions of a travel option before booking. (TravelMole)
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Branson and business leaders warn UK over ‘oil crunch’
Date added: 10 February, 2010
The UK risks being hit by painful hikes in the cost of food, heating and travel
because it is unprepared for surging oil prices, Sir Richard Branson and other
business leaders have warned. The report compiled by the Industry Taskforce for Peak Oil and Energy Security,
a group of private British companies , entitled "The Oil Crunch - a wake up call for the UK economy", warns the world
is running out of oil and predicts shortages and price spikes as soon as 2015.
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Aviation after Copenhagen: ICAO must now develop a bold strategic vision
Date added: 6 February, 2010
Chris Lyle, Chief Executive of Canadian-based Air Transport Economics, writes
about the future of the aviation industry and its carbon emissions, after Copenhagen,
and what ICAO should be doing. The industry continues to hope to grow globally by 5% per year, ad infinitum.
It realises that its target of 10% alternative fuels by 2017 and a 6% mix of
second generation biofuels by 2020 is not realistic. Current business-as-usual
would give - by 2020 -an absolute fuel consumption of some 53% over 2009.
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Budget airlines to influence plane design
Date added: 5 February, 2010
Two budget airlines, Australia's Jetstar Airways and Malaysia's AirAsia, that are doing well compared to full service airlines, say they want plane makers to design aircraft to suit their special needs. They want larger overhead storage bins, and a design that will help speed up turnaround times. Airbus reckons Asia will overtake the US and Europe to become the world's largest air transport market in 20 years - much will be budget airlines. (BBC)
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South Koreans to take 12% stake in Gatwick Airport
Date added: 2 February, 2010
South Korea’s National Pension Service, the world’s 5th biggest pension fund,
will next week take a 12% stake in Gatwick airport, an investment of a little
less than £100m. The NPS last year bought the headquarters of HSBC in Canary Wharf for £773m in cash. GIP, which owns Gatwick, said the deal was
part of plans on the purchase of Gatwick to sell a minority interest in the airport
in its portfolio management.
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