General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
BAA puts duty-frees up for sale
BAA has started the auction of its chain of World Duty Free shops. Prospectuses were sent out to interested buyers earlier this month. The business has an annual turnover of £440m with profit before tax of £30m and the 12-year lease on the 65 shops could fetch up to £450m. (Telegraph)
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Oil price forecasts over the next few decades
The price of oil in the next two or three decades will be crucial to the aviation industry. However, there remains great uncertainty. Each year, DECC does forecasts for the price of oil out to 20 years ahead, with high, central and low forecasts. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also produces three figures, as does the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), and there are many other forecasts. With the prospect of huge volumes of "tight" oil, from shales, in the USA, as well as oil from tar sands, world supplies of oil are now expected to be much larger than was predicted some 5 - 10 years ago. The impact of the new oil in the USA in particular may only have an impact for a couple of decades, but nevertheless the arrival of "peak oil" or even "peak cheap oil" may have been postponed. Nevertheless, it is puzzling how in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement in December, he used figures for his anticipated price of oil from 2014 to 2018 well below those of DECC only two months earlier
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MAXjet goes bankrupt
A business class only airline that flew transatlantic routes from Stansted airport in Essex has ceased flying a day before Christmas after filing for bankruptcy. American-owned MAXjet, which started services 2 years ago, operated between Stansted and New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. (Guardian and Telegraph)
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Domestic UK flights take off thanks to high rail fares
Domestic air travel has risen by a third in 7 years despite a record amount of public money spent on the railways and official advice to avoid flying within Britain. New routes are starting between destinations that are fewer than 200 miles apart and which are connected by rail and trunk roads. (Times)
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Joint letter from AirportWatch NGO members to Ruth Kelly
The main NGO members of AirportWatch have written to Ruth Kelly, to ask for a meeting with her at the earliest opportunity to address the relationship between Government’s climate and aviation policies. AirportWatch believes that Government's airport expansion policy is utterly incompatible with tackling climate change.
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Christmas dinners that cost the Earth
Academics from the University of Manchester have worked out that tasty Christmas dinners in the UK will cost the carbon equivalent of 6,000 car journeys around the world. The Soil Association have announced a crack down on the casual flying of out of season produce from the developing world. (Soil Association)
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Rail firms accused of forcing Christmas travellers to pay hundreds of pounds for ‘rip-off’ tickets
Millions of train passengers are paying up to 3 times over the odds for their tickets because of a Christmas fare "rip-off". Passengers who try to book the cheapest tickets have found they were all sold out weeks - and in some cases months - before. (Daily Mail)
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Credit crunch brings private jet market down to earth
The executive jet - the ultimate symbol of conspicuous wealth for business high-rollers - has become the latest victim of the credit crunch. Aviation experts report that in the past fortnight, the 'forward' price for these jets has plummeted, as even the mega-rich start tightening their belts. (Guardian)
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Climate fears fail to curb air travel
Some 29.6 million flights were scheduled in 2007 - an increase of 4.7% from 2006 – in the highest rise in air travel since 2004. Almost 81,000 planes took off worldwide every day in 2007. Low cost airlines, which represent 19% of seats worldwide, are responsible for much of the overall rise in air travel. (Independent)
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IATA slashes profits outlook for airlines as fuel price and credit crisis hit
The airline industry has cut its forecast for profits next year by a third as soaring fuel costs and the credit crunch begin to take their toll. IATA predicted that the global aviation business would make profits of £2.4 billion in 2008, compared with a previous forecast of £3.6 billion. The greatest burden on airlines next year will be fuel prices. (Times)