General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Shapps supports decision by the CAA to revoke Flybe’s operating licence – losing its Heathrow slots
Flybe collapsed into administration in March 2020. It had some slots at Heathrow because it was given them under “remedy” procedures aimed at preventing British Airways from dominating the market. The (how many) pairs of slots, which prior to the pandemic changed hands for up to £52 million each are still believed to be worth about £10m despite the impact of coronavirus. When Flybe failed, the slots were allocated back to BA last summer. Flybe still had the right to access them – but only if the airline had an operating licence after June 3. But now Grant Shapps has supported a decision by the Civil Aviation Authority to revoke Flybe’s operating licence. The slots therefore remain with BA. Had Flybe been granted the licence, it could have meant a lot of money of hedge fund manager, Lucien Farrell of Cyrus Capital. Flybe has been bought by a new company called Thyme Opco, now called Flybe Limited. It hopes to resurrect the brand (though it has always made a loss) and wanted those valuable slots, but has been awarded separate but less valuable slots at Manchester and Birmingham airports.
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Flights v flamingos: can Barcelona wetland wildlife reserve survive airport expansion plans?
The Delta del Llobregat, one of the most important wetlands in the western Mediterranean, is being eroded on one side by the sea and on the other by Barcelona's land-hungry airport. Before the pandemic there were already close to 90 flights an hour and, if the airport authority has its way, this will increase still further. The delta covers 920 hectares and has 14 distinct ecosystems, ranging from coastal, marshland and lagoons to pine forests and farmland. As well as being home to a birds, a colony of turtles, there are more than 1,000 plant species, including 22 varieties of orchids. In the decades-long war of flamingos versus air passengers, the flamingos have lost every round. The airport wants to extend the runway into the wetlands and build another terminal, allowing passenger numbers to rise from 55 to 70 million a year. But now the European commission has weighed in, accusing the Spanish and Catalan governments of failing to protect the wetlands and warning against a proposed expansion of the airport. The EC says the Llobregat Delta ecosystem hosts outstanding biodiversity and plays a crucial role in the migratory routes of many European bird species.
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Eastleigh BC confirms its decision to allow Southampton airport 164 metre runway extension
Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) has confirmed, on 3rd June, its decision to permit Southampton airport's 164 metre runway extension. The PCU (Planning Casework Unit at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government) had an informal agreement with Eastleigh to hold off on the decision while the Sec of State, Robert Jenrick, considered the call in request. The PCU said the planning permission would not be issued until the S106 Legal Agreement was completed. On 14 May EBC told the PCU that they had completed the S106 and would grant permission at the end of May unless they heard back to the contrary, from the PCU ... which they didn't. It is now too late for the application to be called in. Extinction Rebellion Southampton said the Secretary of State must be held to account for his failure to act on climate grounds. Work on the runway extension could start later this summer. Campaigners have not confirmed whether they will challenge the final decision.
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After years of cheap carbon allowances, price has doubled from around €25 to around €50 in the past 6 months
Airlines flying within Europe have to pay for their carbon emissions, through the Emissions Trading System (ETS). They have to buy carbon allowances, for the carbon emitted. Until 2020, the price of those allowances did not rise beyond about €25. Before that, till around 2018 it was more like €8 per tonne. But there has been a sharp rise in the price in the past 6 months or so, reaching €56 recently and now being around €49. This is not what airlines like, as for other carbon intensive sectors in Europe, they must buy the tradable credits to cover the amount they pollute under parallel emissions systems in both the UK and the EU. The nascent UK carbon trading system, which launched this month, started trading at higher prices, of above £50 a tonne. The higher prices hit the dirt-cheap airlines hardest, with their low ticket prices - Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air have been hit particularly hard as almost all their flights are in Europe or the UK, requiring carbon allowance payments. Traders and market participants expect the price of carbon to keep rising as net zero pledges of governments and corporates become more ambitious.
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Stansted to reclaim costs from Uttlesford council due to winning its expansion planning appeal
Stansted Airport intends to reclaim "hundreds of thousands of pounds" from Uttlesford District Council (UDC), after it won its appeal over expansion plans - against the council's refusal. In January 2020 UDC had rejected proposals to increase Stansted's passenger cap from 35 to 43 million per year. The officers had recommended approval of proposals. An inquiry by the Planning Inspectorate found "overwhelmingly in favour of the grant of planning permission". Uttlesford is a small council, which should not have to bear vast costs, in order to try to prevent harm to its local residents. Stansted already has permission to increase capacity from 28 million to 35 million annual passengers.
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Rising use of private jets (most in UK using Luton and Farnborough) sends CO2 emissions soaring
An analysis by campaign group, Transport & Environment, has found that CO2 from private jets in Europe increased by about a third between 2005 and 2019. Flights that entered or left the UK accounted for nearly a fifth of these emissions, giving the UK the largest share of any European country. Private jet use continued in 2020. By August 2020, when the number of commercial flights was about 60% down in the UK, the level of private jet use was almost as high as in 2019. Of the top ten highest carbon private flight routes that take off or land in Europe (the 27 EU members plus Britain, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland) six involved either Luton or Farnborough airports. The Luton to Teterboro New York route had the highest private jet emissions, with 565 flights a year, despite a commercial alternative routes between Heathrow and John F Kennedy airport. The private jet sector has grown rapidly, and provides convenience for the very rich, and the ability to reduce personal Covid infection risk at airports, and in crowded planes. The CO2 emissions from a private jet, with very few passengers, is hugely more per person (5 to 14 times) than on a commercial flight - even first class. The inequity of private jet use, and the huge climate impact, mean the sector should be under the spotlight, especially for the UK in the year it hosts the COP26 talks, in November in Glasgow.
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Unreasonable behaviour
"Unreasonable behaviour": these were the words used by the Panel of Planning Inspectors to describe the conduct of Uttlesford District Council (UDC) in their formal ruling, dated 26 May, which approved an increase in Stansted Airport's planning cap from 35 million to 43 million passengers per annum ('mppa'). This followed a Public Inquiry which ran from 12 January to 12 March 2021, involving three main parties, namely UDC, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE). (Note that SSE has since been succeeded by Stansted Airport Watch (SAW). Commenting on the outcome of the Public Inquiry, SAW Chairman Brian Ross, said: “We are, of course, disappointed but we are not at all surprised, bearing in mind that the Council's planning officers made no real attempt to defend the decision of their own Planning Committee. We will carefully review the Panel's ruling and discuss with our legal advisers before deciding whether to seek leave to appeal." The approval comes despite UDC's Planning Committee having last year voted unanimously to refuse MAG's application for further expansion of Stansted.
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Stansted wins appeal, against refusal by Uttlesford Council, of its plans to increase capacity to 43 million passengers per year
Expansion plans for Stansted Airport have been approved by the Planning Inspectorate (PI) after an appeal. In January 2020 Uttlesford District Council (UDC) rejected proposals to increase Stansted's passenger cap from 35 million to 43 million a year. However, the councillors voted against the advice of council officers, who had recommended approval of proposals. The council had originally approved the plan, in November 2018 but only by the casting vote of the chairman; many councillors then had not read, or properly understood, all the documents. Then after the Residents for Uttlesford group took control from the Conservatives in May 2019, the decision was referred back to the planning committee - the rejection decision. Stansted already had permission to increase capacity from 28 million to 35 million passengers per year. The airport appealed against the decision, despite Covid and the near collapse of air travel in 2020. A public inquiry was held in January to March 2021 by the Planning Inspectorate. In its decision, the PI said: "there would be a limited degree of harm arising in respect of air quality and carbon emissions" but that was "far outweighed by the benefits of the proposal". UDC has also been ordered to pay the costs of Stansted's appeal.
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DfT and MHCLG both reject application to have Stansted expansion called in
There was a Planning Inquiry from January to March, into the rejection by Uttlesford council of the application by Stansted airport to increase its annual air passenger cap from 35 million passengers, to 43 mppa. Local campaign, Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) asked the government (two departments) to call in the application, for consideration by government, rather than just by Uttlesford District Council. Now SSE has received letters from both the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Transport, refusing the request for a call in. The MHCLG said "the Secretary of State has carefully considered your request but has decided in this case not to issue a direction for joint determination under s266 of the 1990 Act. The jurisdiction of the case therefore remains with the appointed planning Inspectors, and the Planning Inspectorate will inform you of a decision in due course." Grant Shapps (DfT) said that "the application is not of sufficient scale or significance to justify a direction. I will therefore not be making a direction in relation to this appeal." SSE said they were unsurprised, and concerned that this may set a bad precedent for appeals by other airports, where the planned increase in annual passengers is lower than that at Stansted.
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Fewer airport jobs the more automation is brought in
Airports produce plans for expansion, which always have extensive claims about the number of jobs that will create. In practice, the sector reduces the number of staff as much as possible, and numbers reduce by around 2.5% each year. The massive disruptions to air travel caused by the Covid pandemic may have accelerated some of the drive towards more automation, because of passengers not wanting to touch surfaces that have been touched by others, and not wanting to interact with strangers. There are plans for ever more facial recognition and biometric technology at immigration, so arriving passengers can be checked automatically, without the need for a member of Border Force staff. The hope is that this would be more efficient, take less time, and save the cost of an employee. There are also plans for automating check in, security and baggage, often via smartphones. "At Abu Dhabi Airport, Etihad Airways is testing a bag-drop system that uses AI to recognize unique scuff marks and other characteristics on nearly identical suitcases and match them to the correct passenger with a digital tag." There are also automatic rail shuttles around airports, and car park shuttles.