General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Low-cost flights herald age of ‘hypermobility’
The spread of low-cost air travel has created a phenomenon of "hypermobility" that has changed the leisure and career options for millions of people, according to an Oxford academic, and flying is no longer the preserve of the rich. Much of the growth in aviation within Europe had been triggered by the fall of the Iron Curtain and the enlargement of the European Union to include former members of the Warsaw Pact.
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Middle Eastern billionaire signs up for ultimate toy – an A380
A mystery Middle Eastern client has signed a letter of intent for the ultimate boys' toy - a VIP version of the double-decker Airbus A380 superjumbo. The client, whose identity remains a closely guarded secret, has asked Airbus for the first available manufacturing slot for an aircraft that executives have dubbed internally as "The Flying Palace".
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European Parliament set to back tough rules on aircraft emissions
In December 2006, the Commission tabled a legislative proposal to include aviation in the emissions-trading system (ETS). If approved by Parliament and Council, the scheme would enter into force as of 2011 for all intra-EU flights and one year later for all flights using EU airports. The contentious issues are: 1). the Commission's decision not to include international flights in the scheme until one year after intra-EU flights (in 2011), and; 2). the level of the cap that airlines will be subject to and the system for distributing allowances.
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Sir Montgomery’s recognition of the few who fly for the many
Sir Montgomery Cecil, Chairman of spurt-aviation.com, is placing a huge motivational 96 sheet billboard en-route from Paddington to Heathrow Airport, so passengenrs aboard the Heathrow Express train, on the way to catch their plane, can ponder the magnificent contribution they are making.
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WDM say scrap airport expansion and raise aviation taxes
Commenting on today’s cross-party Commons Environmental Audit Committee report that the EU emissions trading scheme will have little effect on the growth in aviation’s contribution to climate change, the World Development Movement said the government must scrap its plans for airport expansion and introduce proper environmental taxes on the aviation industry. The government still fully supports a doubling of the number of air passengers between 2002 and 2020 and a doubling of air freight between 2002 and 2010.
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International Development Secretary Hilary Benn asked consumers to aid "social justice" on Valentine's Day. Importing African flowers is better for the environment as they are not grown in heated greenhouses, he said. Almost a third of the UK's imported flowers come from Kenya, with about 70,000 people, most of them women, working on the country's flower farms. Producing and transporting any flowers, other than those that grow seasonally in Britain in spring and summer, is a high energy process.
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Why Manston is in the wrong place
Why Manston is not in the right place to be a larger passenger, or even freight, airport
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New plan revealed for flight-path Britain
Labour wants to cut CO2 emissions but it is also pursuing a dramatic expansion of Britain’s airways. Can the circle be squared? The National Air Traffic Services, has plans for many new flight paths and stacking areas, as well as heavier use on existing flight paths.
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Environmentally aware bishop pledges not to fly for a year
The Bishop of London, who was criticised last year when he suggested that flying to go on holiday was sinful, has agreed not to fly for a year to prove his point. The Right Rev Richard Chartres, one of the Church of England's leading spokesmen on environmental issues, said he would not fly to meetings nor, since he took family breaks in Devon, to go on holidays.
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Sir Montgomery Cecil urges us to do our patriotic duty – and fly
Sir Montgomery has again, in his inimitable way, taken out advertising space as a reminder that - next time you hear someone whinge about global warming, tell them to stop being so miserable. "Remember what we at SPURT say: SOD THEM.LET’S FLY".