General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Monbiot: Why have government agencies been paying to increase the number of flights?
Monbiot writes that air travel in the UK is in decline, and yet government thinking has not moved with the times, and it is still planning to double the capacity of our airports by 2030. IATA admits business travel habits are changing. Monbiot's research shows that over the past 10 years government agencies have spent £80m on helping private enterprise to increase the number of flights. And government has helped pay to accelerate this growth.
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Transport secretary Lord Adonis warns ailing airlines there will be no bailout
Transport secretary Lord Adonis waded into the row between Virgin and British Airways after warning there would be 'no bailouts' given to ailing airlines. Branson enraged BA when he said the Government should not rescue the struggling carrier, which admits it is in a 'fight for survival'. Lord Adonis insisted: We are not in the business of giving bailouts. Nor would the public expect us to." (Mail)
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Airlines reduce size of spoons to save fuel during recession, says IATA
Airlines are reducing the size of spoons and dropping in-flight magazines to make planes lighter and save fuel. Northwest Airlines has excluded spoons from its cutlery pack if the in-flight meal does not require one. JAL has shaved a fraction of a centimetre off all its cutlery to cut weight. Catering trolleys are becoming lighter and less water - both bottled and in the tank - is being loaded. Aircraft seats could be 30% lighter. And then biofuels. (Telegraph)
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Hundreds forced to change holiday plans as Scots travel firm goes bust
Hundreds of people from across the north and north-east have been forced to change their holiday plans after a Scottish travel company went bust. ScotTravel Holidays, based at Bellshill in Lanarkshire, ceased trading on Thursday. The firm, which specialised in trips to Turkey, mainly sold holidays through travel agents, but they were also sold directly via the company’s website. (Press & Journal - Aberdeen)
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Air France plane: ‘No hope’ of survivors
An Air France Airbus A330 has disappeared between Brazil and France with 228 people on board -126 were men, 82 women and 8 children. If no survivors are found it will be the worst loss of life involving an Air France plane in its 75-year history. The officials believe the Airbus A330-200 aircraft crashed after running into lightning and thunderstorms and turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean. A combination of circumstances may have caused the crash. (Guardian)
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Airlines set to suffer steep decline in May – says IATA
The rate of decline in demand for air travel slowed in April, but preliminary data for European airlines suggests a renewed steep fall during May. Bisignani said "the worst may be over. However, we have not seen any signs that recovery is imminent." Air cargo shipments showed a year-on-year drop of 21.7% in April, the 5th successive month more than 20% down. Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and BA have reported operating losses for the first quarter of 2009. (FT)
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Action on wind farm radar threat to aircraft
NATS is seeking a solution to the potentially disastrous problem of commercial and military aircraft disappearing in radar blackout zones caused by wind farms. They have asked an American defence company to design a system to allow radar to see through wind farm interference. The cost of the £5 million project is expected to be picked up by the wind energy industry. Wind farm turbines create a Doppler effect which shows up on radar screens. (Times)
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EU freezes airline take-off slot rules
Airlines hit by the economic slowdown will gain new flexibility in how they use take-off and landing slots after the EU assembly agreed on Thursday to loosen "use-or-lose rules". The decision was the last step in a process that protects traditional carriers like BA but has angered airports and budget airlines like easyJet. Carriers will be entitled to the same slots in summer 2010 season as were allocated in 2009, regardless of how much they use them.
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Brtish Airways results and passenger figures for March 2009
In March, passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, was 0.9% above March 2008. Traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, fell by 7.3%. This resulted in a passenger load factor decrease of 6.4%, versus last year, to 72.7%. Traffic comprised a 13.0% decrease in premium traffic and a 6.0% fall in non-premium traffic. Easter fell in March 2008 and April 2009. Cargo, measured in Cargo Tonne Kilometres, fell by 10.0%. (BA press release)
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Downturn ‘hits regional airports’
Some regional airports could struggle to survive the recession because of falling passenger numbers, the Airport Operators Assoc warns. Its figures suggest overall traffic in March 2009 was down 15%, with passenger numbers reduced by 70% at Blackpool Airport and 50% at Durham Tees Valley. The Air Transport Users Council believes passengers will be targeted with more charges. The AOA said the government should step in to help small airports. (BBC)