General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
Gatwick submits plans for second runway to double passenger numbers
Gatwick has formally submitted plans for a £2.2bn second runway, as the airport looks to double its passenger numbers to 75 million a year. There are the usual claims of more jobs and "a £1bn annual boost to the region", which ignores the impact of yet more holiday flights, taking money out of the region and reducing tourism spend in the UK. The additional flights would significantly worsen noise and air pollution, as well as carbon emissions, from the airport. The 30,000-page application for a Development Consent Order to convert its standby runway for routine use was lodged with the Planning Inspectorate on 6th. The process is expected to take about a year before it reaches the Transport Secretary for final approval. The project will convert the emergency runway by moving its centreline 12 metres north, allowing planes to take off while others come in to land on the existing runway. There are road changes with additional local road lanes and flyovers. Gatwick has hopes work will start in 2025 for the runway to be in use by 2030. The political decision may potentially be just before or after a general election in 2025. The extra million tonnes of CO2 per year are totally inappropriate, with worsening climate change and global heating already apparent.
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Report by the CCC to government shows failure on climate targets, including on airports and aviation
The Climate Change Committee, the government’s advisors on climate, have produced their 2023 report, which shows that targets are being missed on nearly every front. Fewer homes were insulated last year under the government-backed scheme than the year before. There is little progress on transport emissions, no coherent programme for behaviour change, and still no decision on hydrogen and boilers for home heating. Meanwhile the installation of new wind and solar farms and the upgrading of the electricity grid are still too slow to meet net zero. The lack of urgency of government and a failure of political leadership means progress has stalled. Greenhouse gas emissions have been falling by just under 3% a year, but this will need to double over the next eight years. Chris Stark, chief executive of the CCC, said what is missing is the right political leadership, at a high level to get actions done. On aviation it says there needs to be a framework to manage airport capacity. There has been continued airport expansion in recent years, counter to the CCC assessment that there should be no net airport expansion across the UK.
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Gatwick Airport expected to submit second runway DCO application within two weeks
The long-awaited Development Consent Order (DCO) application to convert Gatwick Airport’s emergency runway into a second runway is expected to be submitted within the next two weeks. No date has been given. Gatwick wants to rebuild its Northern Runway, which is currently used as a standby and for maintenance, to be used by smaller departing aircraft. This would include moving the centre line of the runway further north by 12m, bringing it within global safety standards to operate dual runway departures. The plan also include provision for road changes, a new pier, improvements to existing terminal buildings and additional parking and hotels. Due to the scope of the plans, the scheme has been deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project meaning that a DCO is needed before construction can start. The DCO application is expected to comprise of 25,000-30,000 pages with approximately 100 plans. Gatwick is using its legal advisors’ SharePoint site to submit the documents. Most of Gatwick's passengers are leisure travellers, for holidays or visiting friends and family. The flights enabled by the extra runway would lead to an increase of perhaps 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. At a time of climate crisis.
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Protesters against the expansion of Bristol Airport still “have eyes on” the airport and its impacts
Protesters against the expansion of Bristol airport made it clear they still "have eyes on" the airport, at a demonstration on 22nd June. Members of Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN), Extinction Rebellion and the local community joined forces on a roundabout at the airport’s entrance to tell the world they are still watching – despite plans to expand the airport being approved. The network has been campaigning against expansion proposals for over four years, during which time the application was refused planning permission by North Somerset Council before the government stepped in to overturn the decision. A further appeal was rejected by the High Court in January this year, giving the airport the greenlight to expand from 10 to 12m passengers per year. Local people say they are already experiencing problems caused by increased flights, night flights, more traffic on rural roads and traffic congestion. Protesters are concerned about extra carbon emissions and the building of a multi-storey car park on local greenbelt land. Despite their pleas being ignored, protesters want the authorities to know they will continue to hold the airport to account.
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Doncaster Council gets £3.1 million to help it buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport
A £3.1 million financial package has been approved to help Doncaster Council prepare a Compulsory Purchase Order for Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA). The money is coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to help with the "complex" preparations. The SYMCA also agreed funding for Doncaster's Place Plan, which includes the potential purchase of the airport. Work will now continue on the potential purchase order as well as the negotiations on a potential lease. There will be costs to reinstate the airport for operations and these costs will form a part of the business plan the council is preparing. The council said it has potential buyers and operators who are aware of this and willing to work with the authority. The Mayor of Doncaster said: "Peel continues to be unwilling sellers; they have not gone to the open market or made any effort to sell the airport as an operational airport and working business."
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Airlines’ unrealistic hope that sustainable fuels will propel them to a guilt-free future
Airlines are desperate to believe, and get everyone else to believe, that flying can be made "low carbon", so everyone can continue to fly, with a clear conscience about their impact on irrevocably altering Earth's climate. But the only real option,(while the sector is trying to grow as much as possible) that might make a significant reduction in aviation carbon emissions, is using other novel fuels. So-called SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel). Currently if aviation used every drop of available SAF, it would be about 0.1% of total aviation demand. There are grandiose plans to aviation to use 10%, 20%, 30% or whatever within the next 2 or 3 decades. ie. unrealistic growth. But as Cait Hewitt, of the AEF said: "...there is increasing scepticism about the possibility of scaling up SAFs ... There’s no feedstock – everything is in demand elsewhere. They work really much more like an offset. ...The idea of using waste from processes such as intensive agriculture or animal fats, or plastic manufacture, that are fundamentally unsustainable … I don’t think you can claim that as a sustainable carbon reduction.”
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Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford & Isleworth, reaffirms her opposition to Heathrow expansion
Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford & Isleworth, used a speech in a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament to reaffirm her opposition to a third runway at Heathrow, while also raising a number of other constituency issues relating to Heathrow expansion. In her speech Ruth warned that even without a third runway at Heathrow there could still be a large increase in the number of flights arriving at Heathrow if runway alternation is ended. She also mentioned the need for adequate noise insulation schemes to ensure residents locally could get double glazing and other improvements to reduce noise pollution in their homes. She said: ‘‘Whether you live in Brentford, Isleworth, Osterley or North Chiswick the excessive noise from the existing two runways is already having a huge impact. A third runway or an expansion in the number of existing flights would only make noise pollution worse....‘‘I will continue to work with campaigners, local community groups and residents across west London to protect our local community from expansion."
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Leeds Bradford Airport warned by Leeds City council that it breached rules on night-time flights in 2022
Leeds Bradford Airport has been warned it could face legal action after breaching the number of flights allowed at night. Leeds City Council served a breach of planning condition notice after finding that there were there were 3,667 night-time flights last summer – about 25% more than permitted under planning rules. Failure to comply with the limits is a criminal offence. If the airport continues to breach the rules it could be served with an enforcement notice to ensure compliance. The airport is bound to limit flights between 11pm and 7am to minimise noise pollution. An investigation was launched after the council received a complaint in October last year. Leeds Bradford Airport said the technology it used to record flight traffic data was not working correctly. Chris Foren, chair of Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport, said: "Last year, we told the council that we believed there had been over 600 more flights than allowed at night from LBA during the 2022 summer season." It is hoped that the airport will now stick to its limit this summer.
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Mayoral authority to vote on funding to support purchase of Doncaster Sheffield Airport
The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is to decide whether to grant £3.1m to support the purchase of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The authority's board will meet later to discuss a request from Doncaster Council for funding for legal action to force owners Peel Group to sell the site. Peel closed the airport in November, saying it was not financially viable. The council is considering pursuing a compulsory purchase order (CPO.) In April, the local authority agreed to set aside £3.1m towards the costs of taking legal action. It said a CPO would only be needed if all other avenues, such as a negotiated sale or lease, were exhausted. The council has asked SYMCA for financial support for "the costs of building a case", a report to the SYMCA's annual general meeting said. The council believes its costs could reach up to £6.25m and has warned it may be unable pursue a CPO if funding is refused.
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‘Pigs do fly’: Growing use of animal fats in cars and planes increasingly unsustainable
Europe’s growing use of animal fats to power its cars and planes is becoming increasingly unsustainable, a new study on behalf of Transport & Environment (T&E) shows. They are asking for greater transparency on use of animal fats, so that consumers know what is going into their vehicle tanks and fuelling their flights. Use of animal fat biodiesel has doubled in the past decade and is 40 times higher than it was in 2006. European lawmakers have been promoting the by-product of industrial meat farming as a way of attempting to reduce the carbon impact of transport fuels.They are now setting their sights on planes – and to a lesser extent ships. However, there is not enough to go around. Nearly half of all European animal fats already go into biodiesel, despite being used extensively in the pet food, soaps and cosmetics industries. That can’t be sustained without depriving other sectors, which will in turn likely switch to damaging alternatives like palm oil. Only category 1 and 2 animal fats are too contaminated to even be used for animal food or soap etc, so can be used for fuel. The suffering of pigs and cattle in factory farming (and their slaughter) to provide these fats should be a concern to everyone.