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Summaries of, and links to, the latest aviation news stories appear below. News is archived into topics
For a daily compilation of UK articles on national and regional transport issues, see Transportinfo.org.uk | For more stories about specific airports see Aviation Environment Federation Transport & Environment Anna Aero TravelMole Press releases from CAA IATA BA Ryanair easyJet Jet2.com For climate change ECEEE news and Guardian Climate and NoAA monthly analysisCheck Hansard for reports on Parliament |
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Latest news stories:
Bristol – Councillor says Bristol Airport should pay for policing
Bristol airport should contribute to the cost of its policing, a Weston town councillor has said. He made the comments at a meeting of the town council on December 11, where he raised the issue after discovering the numbers of officers employed to cover the site.
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HYENA – Heart attack risk link to air noise
A new study published by Imperial College proves a connection between prolonged exposure to air noise and being at greater risk of suffering from hypertension and heart attacks. The study questioned people who had lived near the airports for at least 5 years. (UK Airport News)
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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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Frankfurt Airport Expansion Enrages Residents – December 2007
Frankfurt airport, one of the world's biggest hubs, has received the go-ahead to build a new terminal and runway. The regional government says the €4 billion expansion will create 40,000 jobs. But residents and environmental groups are furious at a decision to allow night flights, and plan a wave of lawsuits. Horst Schneider, mayor of the Frankfurt-area city of Offenbach, said the increased noise of aircraft landing and taking off will hit his community especially hard. "We will use all legal means, right up to the EU level if necessary," he said. Schneider said some 150,000 people will be negatively affected by the expansion. Unlike protected animal species, people couldn't simply be moved elsewhere, he said.(Spiegel Online)
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Frankfurt – Citizens plan massive protests against new Frankfurt runway
(Germany - Spiegel) Germans are fighting Frankfurt expansion again... Environmentalists, neighbours and neighbouring cities and communities plan to go to court to stop the expansion of Frankfurt Airport. The minister of economic affairs just signed the spatial planning permit for the construction of the third terminal and fourth runway.
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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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Newquay – Climate protest on airport roof
Environmental Protestors have climbed onto the roof of Newquay Airport in Cornwall to highlight their concerns about climate change. The group from Rising Tide UK wants to stop any further expansion. The protest coincides with new flight route from Newquay to Geneva. (BBC)
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Britain’s Only Unique Bird Faces Climate Extinction
The Scottish crossbill, the only bird found exclusively in Britain, is facing extinction by 2100 owing to climate change according to a new RSPB report. (I Count)
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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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Climate deal sealed in Bali
Negotiators trying to agree a road map for a new international climate change deal finally managed to broker a compromise deal today after days of wrangling. Ministers from around 180 countries agreed the agenda for a global emissions cuts agreement to launch negotiations for a post-2012 agreement to tackle climate change. They have agreed to negotiate on a deal by the end of 2009 (Times)
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Doncaster Robin Hood Airport – Link road opens for airport
Yesterday saw the opening of a £5m link road for Robin Hood Airport. Peel Holdings eventually hope to get Government permission for a link road to the airport from the nearby M18 motorway. (Yorkshire Post)
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Climate talks in Bali near end amid row
World climate talks in Bali have gone into their last scheduled day amid fierce disagreement over targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. EU ministers have warned they will boycott a US-led climate summit next month unless the Bush administration backs firm targets for emissions cuts. Indonesia is trying to broker a compromise that would remove firm targets from the final text. (BBC)
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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)
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Exeter – EU rules change sees more post at Exeter Airport
A change in EU regulations for lorry drivers has lead to Exeter Airport handling more mail than ever before. The amount of post routed through the airport has risen - and is expected to increase further in 2008. An average of 568 kilos of post passes through the airport each night on flights East Midlands and Stansted Airports six nights a week. (UK Airport News)
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Plane Stupid activists shut down travel agents on route of climate march
Environmental campaigners from direct action group Plane Stupid claim to have shut down travel agents and airline offices along the route of yesterday's National Climate March in London as part of the Global Day of Action against climate change. In Manchester Climate Camp activists shut down all the Flight Centre stores on Saturday 8th. (UK Airport News)
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Women climate activists blockade DfT
Women blockaded the Department for Transport, preventing staff from getting to work and carrying out their policies which are catapulting us towards dangerous run-away climate change. This action comes in response to Ruth Kelly confirming the government's intentions to build a third runway and a sixth terminal at Heathrow. (Plane Stupid press release)
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Biggin Hill Airport hotel plan rejected
Campaigners have called a government rejection of the building of a new hotel at Biggin Hill Airport a 'victory for common sense'. Plans for the 100-bed hotel were rejected by the two secretaries of state on Monday, after the airport appealed against an earlier refusal from the council. (UK Airport News)
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Carlisle airport – charter flights probe
An official probe is underway into claims illegal charter flights have taken off from Carlisle Airport. The claims centre on two aircraft operated by WA Developments International, a company owned by Cumbrian businessmen Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart. The CAA is investigating if the aircraft were hired for private charters without an air operator’s certificate. (News & Star)
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Edinburgh Airport needs 1500 new hotel rooms by 2013, say planners
More than 1500 new hotel rooms are needed at Edinburgh Airport by 2013 to cope with the number of visitors coming to the Capital, planners have warned. The number of people passing through Edinburgh Airport is expected to rise from around 8.9 million a year now to around 13 million in 2013, and 23 million by 2030. (Edinburgh Evening News)
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Report attacks Heathrow expansion
The effect of the delays and inefficiency of Heathrow on the economy, and on the City in particular, is cited by the government as the chief reason why the airport should expand, with the construction of a third runway to the north of the existing pair. However, a new report commissioned by opponents of the expansion plans questions the economic justification for the airport's growth. (Times)
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‘UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts’ from the DfT
The Department for Transport produced a report entitled 'UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts' on 22nd November. The 2006 progress report on the 2003 Aviation White Paper required that the government produce updates in 2007, on the latest passenger demand, CO2 forecasting, and appraisal methods, as well as updates on the economic appraisal results. (DfT website)
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Birmingham Airport shelves plans for second runway
News there will be no second runway at Birmingham International Airport has been welcomed by the MP, Caroline Spelman, representing hundreds of families whose homes were blighted by the plans. The airport confirmed that plans for a second runway will be suspended until at least 2030, when it published the final draft of its master plan. (Birmingham Post)
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Gordon’s answer to climate change?
Enoughs Enough have produced a full-page newspaper advert, with a stunning image of Gordon Brown cheerily stepping out of 10 Downing Street, onto an airport runway. The ad is seriously questionning how Gordon is going to turn the UK into a low carbon economy - as he suggests - by building a 3rd runway at Heathrow? (Enoughs Enough - and Guardian)
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Business call for plan on climate
Global businesses have called for a legally binding and comprehensive international deal on climate change. This would encourage business to invest in low-carbon technologies, a statement from 150 businesses said. The statement will be sent to environment ministers and heads of state ahead of talks in Bali. (BBC)
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UK top for flying fashion
A report on ethical fashion in August 2007 looked at a range of studies which showed that British fashion buyers rely twice as much on air freight for imports from China and India in comparison to French, German or Spanish buyers. Estimates of the greenhouse gas emissions of air freighting fashion varied between 20 and 150 times greater than for sea freight. (Rose Bridger)
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Leeds Bradford – BMI ready to cut flights to London
BMI, the airline which operates Yorkshire's only flights to Heathrow, is threatening to cut the service unless it gets a subsidy from both ends. BMI took over Leeds Bradford's Heathrow route from British Airways but is having doubts whether it can continue if BAA makes short-haul airlines pay higher charges at Heathrow. (Yorkshire Post)
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Boeing rapped over carbon claims ad
Boeing UK has become the latest firm to have its knuckles rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority over an ad claiming its new 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft would emit less than 75 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre. (BusinessGreen)
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Runway protest disrupts MPs’ inquiry into airport group
Campaigners protesting against the construction of a 3rd runway at Heathrow interrupted the deliberations of MPs in the Commons Transport Committee investigating the future of BAA. As BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd prepared to give evidence protesters began chanting "no third runway at Heathrow". Three stripped off outer garments to reveal white T-shirts bearing the same slogan. (Guardian)
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Shoreham airport banking on rescue plan
The owner of Shoreham airport said it hopes to agree a recovery strategy with its bankers before Christmas. This may involve the sale of its assets. Erinaceous looked to have got a bargain when it bought the airport for £8.6 million from Brighton and Hove City Council and Worthing Borough Council last year. But now the property group may have to sell the airport to avoid going through some form of insolvency procedure. (Argus)
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Anger over NATS south coast flight path plans
MPs have criticised a lack of consultation on flight paths to south coast in a House of Commons debate. The new path will be over North Hampshire villages. North West Hampshire MP, Sir George Young initiated Monday evening's debate, over plans by NATS (National Air Traffic Services). (UK Airport News)
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Heathrow – Noise and pollution fears grow as planned runway gets even longer
The new runway planned for Heathrow will be 500 metres (1,640ft) longer than the Government had originally proposed in order to allow much noisier and more polluting long-haul aircraft to use it. Ruth Kelly has quietly abandoned a commitment to allow only short-haul aircraft to use the runway. The consultation document proposes a new 2,500-metre runway and an increase in the maximum number of flights permitted from 480,000 to 702,000 a year. (Times)
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Legal action threatened over ‘sham’ Heathrow consultation
The Liberal Democrat leader of Richmond council, which is under the Heathrow flightpath, said that his authority would be seeking legal advice on a possible judicial review against Ms Kelly for announcing consultation on a plan to allow the third runway after already having said that it was vital for the economy. (Independent)
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Flights from Heathrow’s third runway will emit same amount of CO2 as Kenya
According to figures released by the World Development Movement, to coincide with the launch of the government’s consultation process on the third runway at Heathrow, flights from the proposed runway will release as much carbon as Kenya’s total carbon emissions every year. The number of flights leaving Heathrow will nearly double as a result of the proposed expansion. (WDM press release)
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HEATHROW EXPANSION PLANS MUST BE SCRAPPED
The Government must abandon airport expansion plans - including a 3rd runway at Heathrow airport - if it is serious about tackling climate change, Friends of the Earth said. A public consultation into Government proposals to expand Heathrow is expected to begin later today (22 November). Earlier this week Gordon Brown pledged to make the UK a world leader in developing a low carbon economy. (Friends of the Earth press release)
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Third runway at Heathrow is vital to UK’s economic future, says BA chief
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, has warned that Britain faces a low-growth future if the Government fails to allow a third runway to be built at Heathrow. In a speech to the Guild of International Bankers Mr Walsh said building the runway would benefit the UK economy to the tune of £9bn a year without increasing carbon emissions (sic). (Independent)
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Heathrow: Airport’s expansion could cost £9bn
The project to construct a highly controversial 3rd runway and a 6th passenger terminal at Heathrow, the most congested airport in Europe, could cost about £9bn, the Civil Aviation Authority said. It would be the largest single investment made by BAA, a subsidiary of Spain’s Ferrovial, since the UK airports group was privatised in 1987 and would be double the £4.5bn being spent on Terminal 5, which is due to open in late March. (Financial Times)
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Carlisle: Agency backs airport revamp plan
Cumbria's regeneration agency has urged council bosses to approve plans to redevelop Carlisle Airport. Cumbria Vision said the plans, submitted by Stobart Air, were vital to the county's economic revival. They have urged Carlisle City Council to approvae the plans, to be considered in December. (BBC)
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Heathrow – Ministers push ahead with third runway plan
Ministers will launch a public consultation on building a new runway and terminal at London's Heathrow airport, giving the clearest signal yet that its controversial expansion will go ahead. But the consultation, which may be announced as early as this week, could be overshadowed by fresh evidence that BAA has been closely involved in shaping its remit. (Observer)
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MEPs take faltering first step on aviation emissions
EU plans to tackle aviation's increasing climate change impacts through the Emissions Trading Scheme remain inadequate after MEPs failed to significantly strengthen European Commission proposals in Strasbourg earlier today (13th November. The European Parliament voted on proposed legislation to include the aviation sector in the EU’s ETS. Green NGOs feel that the legislation as approved by the vote, doesn’t go far enough towards curbing the sector’s emissions. (WWF and FoE press releases)
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BA flying empty ‘ghost planes’ across Atlantic
British Airways is shuttling dozens of empty planes across the Atlantic because it has a shortage of cabin crew. The "phantom" services have been flying between Britain and Canada and the US over the past 2 weeks in order to retain valuable slots at London's airports. Several BA flights took off without a single passenger, using up thousands of tonnes of jet fuel. (Telegraph)
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Stansted – Airport extension ‘should now stop’
THE Government should abandon plans for further expansion at Stansted Airport. The ANASE (Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources in England) report concluded people were more annoyed by all levels of aircraft noise than they were in 1985 and that even relatively low levels of noise could cause some annoyance. The study vindicates virtually everything Stop Stansted Expansion has been saying for the past 5 years. (Cambridge Evening News)
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£700m plan for third runway at Heathrow
The airline industry will take its first decisive step towards getting a third runway at Heathrow with a proposal to raise £700m over the next 5 years to pay for enabling work on the project. In a clear signal the industry thinks the Government is about to give the scheme the green light, it will lobby the CAA to make provision in the current 5-year funding review for the extra money to be raised. (Telegraph)
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Tatenhill Airfield – Airfield planning inquiry opens
A long-standing struggle over controversial plans to expand an airfield near Burton has moved closer to completion with the opening of a planning inquiry. Representatives from East Staffordshire Borough Council and the Dutchy of Lancaster, which owns Tatenhill Airfield, met at Burton's Town Hall to present their arguments at a public planning inquiry. (Burton Mail)
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Echo of Concorde heard in fight to justify third Heathrow runway
The ghost of Concorde has been enlisted to help to justify a third runway at Heathrow and an extra 500 flights a day over London. The Government has pledged that the area blighted by 57 decibels, known as the 57 decibel contour, will be no greater than in 2002, the last full year of Concorde flights. (Times)
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More Stanstead ‘flights’ taking off from Liverpool St station
MORE 'airport express' trains are being laid on from London to Stansted in the New Year. An extra 13 trains a week start on January 2nd to meet the increased demand of air passengers, the train operators announced today. It means passengers on late night and early morning flights now get more rail connections to and from central London, seven days a week. (East London Advertiser)
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Africa caught in the tough ‘food miles’ war with UK
Kenyan air freighted goods land in Europe as a surging air-miles debate continues threatening to curtail growth in the agriculture sector. Kenya, as an exporting country, feels that air freight has been unfairly picked out as being the prime contributor to carbon emissions and that the concept of ‘food miles’ as indicative of environmental sustainability is misleading. (Business Daily, Kenya)
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London City Airport – Council bid to block ariport growth
BARKING and Dagenham residents will be plagued by the droning of planes if London City Airport is allowed to add tens of thousands of extra flights each year, council officers have warned. The officers want to block the airport's application to increase flight numbers from the current 80,000 a year to 120,000 by 2010, and passenger numbers from 2.4 million to almost 4million. (London 24)
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Heathrow noise ‘annoys 2 million more’
Aircraft noise from Heathrow annoys far more residents than previously thought, an independent study (ANASE) has found. The number of respondents at least "very annoyed" generally increases in areas above 43 decibels, the study for the Department of Transport found. (BBC)
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Living near an airport ‘can cause high blood pressure’
Living near a noisy airport increases the risk of high blood pressure, according to research. The findings suggest that constant exposure to high levels of noise may be damaging to health. The team reports in the journal Epidemiology that the men exposed to an average daily noise level of more than 50 decibels were 19% more likely to have high blood pressure. (Times)
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Examples of crazy cargo being air freighted – some really heavy stuff
Surprisingly, a great deal of really heavyweight shipments are being air freighted. These make a particularly heavy footprint on the earth. Some examples are racing cars and racing car fuel; a 63 tonne ice-skating rink; 80 tonne steel beams and a 4 tonne Buddha statue. All being lifted to 30,000 feet plus in a plane.
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‘Food miles’ soared by 31% in a year, study reveals
Almost a third more food was flown into Britain last year than in 2005, embarrassing the Government which has promised to slash the pollution and congestion from "food miles". Air-freight rose 31% in the year to 2006, according to DEFRA, which published the figures on its website without a press notice yesterday, a day after the Soil Association decided not to implement a full ban on air-freighted food. (Independent)
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Soil Association – Flown-in organic food rule change
Food flown into the UK will be stripped of its organic status unless it meets new stricter ethical standards, the Soil Association has warned. The association, which certifies 70% of the UK's £1.9bn organic food sector, says firms must show trade brings real benefit to developing world farmers. (BBC)
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Activists plan to cause chaos when Terminal 5 at Heathrow is opened
Environmental activists are planning to disrupt hundreds of flights by blockading key areas in Heathrow’s giant new terminal when it opens in the spring. Supporters of Plane Stupid, an anti-aviation group that caused chaos by occupying a taxiway at East Midlands airport last year, have infiltrated passenger trials taking place over the next three months at Terminal 5. (Times)
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Private jet sales breaking barrier
THE private-jet boom is soaring to new heights with Honeywell, the American aerospace group that is a key supplier, saying orders are up 100% and forecasting record sales for the next decade. Honeywell expects deliveries of business jets to exceed 1,000 this year for the first time, up from 861 aircraft delivered last year. (Sunday Times)
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Gloucestershire airport – AIRPORT EXPANSION – PROTESTERS CAMP OUT
More than 100 people will be camped in front of Gloucestershire airport tonight in protest over its expansion plans. Campaigners from across the country will make their voices heard over proposals to accommodate larger aircraft at the Staverton airport. This summer, bosses at Gloucestershire Airport revealed plans for flights to European destinations. The airport has submitted planning applications to Tewkesbury Borough Council to remove buildings at the end of its runway on safety grounds. (This is Gloucestershire)
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Airlines Seek Unified Air Traffic System for Europe
The IATA, representing 240 airlines, assailed governments for failing to create a single air traffic management system in Europe to help lower carbon emissions. IATA Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani said "Europe has achieved a single currency - the euro - but the 34 European air navigation service providers are living in a completely different age, wasting 12 million tons of C02 annually in delay and inefficiencies" (Bloomberg)
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Stansted campaign group says BAA expansion plan ‘in tatters’
The inquiry into the application by BAA, the UK airports group, to expand the use of the existing single runway at Stansted closed yesterday after more than 4 months of hearings. BAA had failed to provide "a shred of evidence" that expanding Stansted, the UK's third busiest airport, would deliver any net economic benefits, the leading campaign group against the growth of the airport - SSE - claimed. (Financial Times)
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STANSTED AIRPORT PUBLIC INQUIRY: "REFUSAL" IS THE ONLY LOGICAL OUTCOME
Five months of forensic examination of the arguments for and against BAA's expansion proposals for Stansted have left their case in tatters, Stop Stansted Expansion said, as the Public Inquiry into proposals to expand the capacity of the single runway came to a close. BAA is now expected to announce yet another postponement to its timetable for submitting a planning application for a second runway at Stansted. (SSE press release)
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Keep Stansted price cap, easyJet tells regulator
The indebtedness of BAA, Britain's largest airport owner, came under renewed attack when easyJet warned that plans to scrap price caps at Stansted would benefit creditors at the expense of passengers. EasyJet is fighting a proposal from the regulator to allow the market to determine landing charges at the airport. (Guardian)
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Carlisle airport expansion plans submitted
Plans for a £25m expansion of Carlisle Airport, which could see passenger flights to London operating by 2009, have been submitted. Stobart Air wants to build a new runway, control tower and hangars, with a view to launching the airport's first commercial services. Carlisle City Council is now considering the planning application. (BBC)
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Heathrow: Flying in the face of disaster – BA optimistic
After two years of calamity, BA is looking forward to clear skies over a new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, after 27th March 2008. BA is BAA's largest customer, with two-thirds of its flights taking off from Heathrow. Walsh insists relations have improved since last summer's hiatus but bemoans the lack of investment in Heathrow over the years.Interview with Willie Walsh - (Observer)
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FoI documents reveal ‘collusion’ between DfT and BAA on forthcoming Heathrow expansion consultation
The Department for Transport (DfT) has been accused of colluding with BAA in drawing up the expansion plans for Heathrow which will form the basis of the forthcoming consultation. Documents obtained by Putney MP Justine Greening under the Freedom of Information legislation reveal the extent of BAA’s involvement. (HACAN press release)
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BA facing a fierce fight at Heathrow
THE fight for the world’s most lucrative air route will heat up this week when America’s Delta Air Lines teams up with Air France to take on British Airways at Heathrow. The pair are expected to announce their first-ever transatlantic flights from the London airport. Delta is likely to serve New York, Atlanta and one other American city, with Air France studying a Los Angeles service. (Sunday Times)
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Nobel prize for Al Gore recognises climate crisis
In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the IPCC, the committee has signalled its view that climate change is now one of global society's defining security issues. Past prizes have been awarded to people working on issues which threatened to affect, and in many cases did affect, the well-being of citizens inside and outside the conflict zones. Now the Nobel Foundation has added climate change to the list. (BBC)
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UK flights emit same amount of CO2 as the 15 poorest countries’ total CO2 emissions
Each year, the UK releases as much carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere through flying as the total annual CO2 emissions from the 15 poorest countries in the world, the World Development Movement revealed today. While the government claims to be a world leader on climate change, UK carbon emissions have increased since 1997. (World Development Movement)
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Heathrow Airport emits as much CO2 as four countries’ total CO2 emissions
Each year, flights from Heathrow Airport release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as the total annual carbon emissions from Tanzania, Nepal, Mozambique and Uganda combined, the World Development Movement has revealed. The statistics that refer to Heathrow Airport relate to CO2 emissions only. The real climate impact will be much greater because flying emits greenhouse gases at altitude. (World Development Movement)
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Shipping pollution ‘far more damaging than flying’
New research suggests that the impact of shipping on climate change has been seriously underestimated and that the industry is currently churning out greenhouse gases at nearly twice the rate of aviation. Shipping, although traditionally thought of as environmentally friendly, is growing so fast that the pollution it creates is at least 50% higher than previously thought. Maritime emissions are also set to leap by 75% by 2020. (Independent)
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City Airport – London Development Agency look at alternatives to City Airport
The LDA has started to look at alternative uses for the land needed for the expansion of London City Airport and for a ‘post airport scenario’. The announcement came in response to a question from Darren Johnson, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, who is opposing the plans for expansion on environmental and economic grounds. (Darren Johnson press release)
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(Manchester) Activists end protest at airport
A group of environmental activists who blocked an entrance to a departure lounge at Manchester International Airport have ended their protest. The group took action inside a public area in Terminal Three and a screen was later set up in front of them. One of them, Vanessa Hall, is a Green Party member of Manchester City Council and said she was "disgusted" with the authority's actions in relation to the airport. (BBC)
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Climate change activists blockade domestic flights at Manchester Airport
Activists from Manchester Climate Action and Manchester Plane Stupid blockaded the security check-in of Terminal 3 of Manchester Airport. Passengers were denied access to the departure lounge by 7 activists locked together using arm-tube devices. Two banners were unfurled reading, "Manchester City Council... supporting climate chaos" and "Domestic flights cost the Earth". (Plane Stupid and Daily Mail)
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Full length third runway at Heathrow ‘another broken promise from BAA’
Campaigners fighting the expansion of Heathrow Airport say the local area would be devastated if rumours that the proposed new runway could be double the length originally proposed are true. Airport operator, BAA are reportedly planning to get Government ministers to agree to a 4,000 metre runway, which is twice the length stated in a 2003 white paper. John Stewart, Chairman of HACAN Clearskies, the anti-noise group, said: 'The impact locally would be devastating." (UK Airport New)
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European Investment Bank publishes its investment policy
The EIB has renewed its policy on lending to the transport sector. The new transport lending policy sets the guiding principles and selection criteria that will reinforce the Bank's contribution to this sector, in particular taking into account climate change concerns. (European Investment Bank)
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9 October: the day humanity starts eating the planet
New research reveals rising consumption of natural resources is pushing the world into ever earlier ecological debt, or ‘overshoot’. New calculations show that from now until the end of the year we will be living beyond our global environmental means. From 9th October humanity has used up what nature can renew this year and is now eating into its ‘ecological capital’. (NEF)
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Minister sits on damning report on impact of Heathrow noise (ANASE study)
Aircraft noise causes much more annoyance than previously thought, according to a study for the Department for Transport which the Government is attempting to conceal while it plans the expansion of Heathrow. The existing method of measuring aircraft noise, adopted a quarter of a century ago, is too narrow and outdated, the study concludes. It fails to take account either of the huge growth in the number of flights or the public’s growing demand for quietness. (Times)
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Another broken promise from BAA – longer Heathrow runway
Campaigners fighting the expansion of Heathrow Airport say the local area would be devastated if rumours that the proposed new runway could be double the length originally proposed are true. BAA are reportedly planning to get Government ministers to agree to a 4,000 metre runway, which is twice the length stated in a 2003 white paper. (Ealing Times)
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Frankfurt protesters
The biofuels bandwagon may be running out of gas with soaring costs for feedstocks like wheat and palm oil prompting producers to shelve planned plants and cut output at existing facilities. (Reuters)
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Major flaws exposed in County Council case for Newquay Airport
The first independent report into the future of Newquay Airport has exposed major flaws in Cornwall County Council's plans for expansion. It was personally delivered to the chief executive and leader of CCC on Wednesday 3rd October 2007. Groundswell Cornwall ommissioned the report to test the County Council's claims that Cornwall's future development can only be secured by turning the regional airport into an international gateway. (Groundswell)
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Fears over London City Airport plans
Residents in Tower Hamlets are concerned about plans by London City Airport to increase the number of flights it handles by 50% over the next 3 years. The airport has applied to Newham Council to raise the annual number from 80,000 to 120,000. Tower Hamlets Council has outlined its concerns about the plans to Newham Council, which include air pollution, aircraft noise, climate change and traffic related pollution. (Eastend Life)
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