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Latest news stories:
HACAN East presents London City Airport with a 30th Birthday cake – it’s time for it to clean up its act
Campaigners at local group HACAN East want London City airport to stop growing, cap the number of annual flights & end concentrated flight paths, to protect residents from the noise and the pollution. Today was London City Airport's 30th birthday. Campaigners - dressed up as bakers - presented the airport will a beautiful cake. They say that now it is 30 years old, it should CLEAN UP ITS ACT. The campaign wants London City to be a better neighbour - the airport is in a totally inappropriate location, surrounded by such densely populated areas that are home to so many people. The airport should NOT be allowed to grow further, as it affects too many people. There is a moving film, with people affected by the airport speaking out. One lady says: "We have lived in our house in Mottingham, SE 9, for over 35 years, Then last year without any consultation or warning we suddenly found we had low flying, noisy planes coming over our house from early morning till late at nights. These flights are devastating to me. I sometimes hate living in my house and I want to move. But the thought of moving away from family and friends at this stage in our life is just too hard to do." A sad reflection on how aviation impacts people's lives.
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Residents across many areas negatively affected by Heathrow protest against 700 MORE planes per day
A number of areas already badly affected by Heathrow plane noise held photo shoots early today, to provide a graphic visual reminder of just how much worse the noise problem would be, if a Heathrow 3rd runway was built. Links to photos of some of the actions below. It is likely that a 3rd runway would enable about 50% more flights per year. That translates to around 700 more planes, every day (350 more landings, 350 more take offs) with the runway. Though not all would go over the same areas, it means more planes and more noise for those under existing flight paths, and new intense noise pollution to many areas (details are not yet known) not currently overflown. The groups in areas already overflown, especially in areas near Heathrow, used 700 red cardboard planes, at their different locations - getting their message across "loud and clear" just one day after the DfT announced its second phase of consultation on the Airports NPS (National Policy Statement), which aims to press through the Heathrow 3rd runway. This consultation deals with air pollution, noise and passenger forecast data - none of which was properly available during the earlier NPS consultation that closed in May. The need for the 2nd consultation demonstrates just how weak the case for the Heathrow runway is, and the enormity of the hurdles it faces, including those on environmental issues.
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East Midlands Airport boss on plans for future expansion (hope to double passengers and triple freight)
East Midlands Airport (EMA) is owned by MAG, the Manchester Airports Group, and the 3rd largest after Manchester and Stansted. In its most recent accounts, revenue grew by 3.6% to £62.4m for the year to March 2017 – far behind Manchester airport’s 12.5% growth to £444.5m, but slightly above the 3% for Stansted, which had a £294.1m turnover. The airport's management hopes that being near Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, and with programmes such as HS2 and the Midlands Engine aiming to grow the local economy, it has growth prospects for the future. There are always hopes of connections to 2nd-tier Chinese cities such as Ningbo, where the University of Nottingham has a campus, India and the United States – possibly key markets in the post-Brexit world. East Midlands wants to double is passenger number, to 10 million - and almost treble the amount of freight to one million tonnes by around 2030 to 2035. It is the UK’s largest pure freight airport – for aircraft dedicated to carrying cargo – in the UK. (Heathrow has much more, but that comes as belly-hold cargo, in passenger planes). EMA handles about 350,000 tonnes of freight and cargo through a 24/7 operation. Noisy planes fly all night.
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DfT publishes another 8 week consultation on the Heathrow NPS, showing further weaknesses
As stated in September, the Government has now published a second part of its consultation on the "Airports NPS", on building a 3rd Heathrow runway. The 8 week consultation ends on 19th December. This consultation contains updated air passenger forecasts which were not produced for the earlier NPS consultation (which ended in May). It also looks at air pollution issues, which were not covered properly before, and also noise. This consultation comes exactly one year since the Government announced it favoured a 3rd Heathrow runway. The DfT is very aware of the problem Heathrow has with air pollution saying the runway means "there remains, however, a risk that the options could delay or worsen compliance with limit values, albeit decreasing over time." Since the report by the Airports Commission, in July 2015, the arguments it put forward for the 3rd Heathrow runway have been seriously undermined - on economics, air pollution, carbon emission, noise, cost to the taxpayer etc. Yet Government tries to push on with it. Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park, commented: “It is as if our politicians have been collectively hypnotised, but sooner or later reality will click and the project will be shelved once again.”
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Dublin: Planned new 2nd runway twist as IAA grounded on aircraft noise
Fresh complications are clouding the planned use of a new runway project at Dublin Airport after the Irish Government backtracked on proposals to put the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) in charge of enforcing an EU aircraft noise regulation. New legal advice from the Attorney General's office has meant that it "would not be consistent with the principles of good corporate governance of the IAA as a whole" to appoint the authority as the competent body to enforce the legislation, contained in regulation EU 598/14. The decision has left the Department of Transport scrabbling for an alternative to the IAA. The EU regulation was introduced to reduce the noise impact from aircraft arriving and departing at airports in the EU. Its implementation could have consequences for Dublin Airport, where passenger traffic is expected to hit about 30 million this year. The DAA, which controls Dublin and Cork airports, has almost finished site preparation work for the new runway, and a tender for the actual runway construction is expected to be awarded next year. The runway is due to be operational in 2021. Local residents and groups have mounted High Court legal challenges against the runway plans.
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Buyers of new homes near Schiphol airport to get official warnings about aircraft noise (to avoid future complaints)
People moving into new homes close to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport will be warned about aircraft noise before they move in, and the warning will become part of sales contracts. Agreement on an official aircraft noise warning has been reached between the Dutch junior infrastructure minister, Schiphol airport, airline KLM and local and provincial governments. While no new homes are being built directly under flight paths, thousands of houses are being built in areas where noise is likely to be a problem - as aircraft noise is heard some way from the direct line of a flight path. In particular, 4,500 new homes are being built south-east of Amsterdam close to the Buitenveldert runway and there are other building projects in areas where aircraft noise will have to be taken into consideration. People are told they can then not complain about plane noise, so the aviation industry will not be faced with extra costs and further expansion of housing stock will be made possible. It has already been agreed that municipalities and provinces will point out the new residents to potential inconvenience. Municipalities will not submit requests to change the flight path routes. The aim is that housing can not block further aviation growth after 2020.
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Lancet Commission prompts critical Heathrow air pollution question
With the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health reporting that air pollution is responsible for 8% of all deaths in the UK (50,000 annually, and an increase of 25% on previous estimates), the poor air quality surrounding Heathrow has again been cast into focus. Importantly, it is not just the existence of pollutants, but the proximity of their source to populations that damages health. Heathrow, which sits within the UK's most densely populated residential region, not only has the highest level of aircraft emissions. It is close to the M3, M4 and M25 (motorways, much of whose traffic services the airport), and regularly fails to meet Air Quality legal limits for NO2. Meanwhile there is growing evidence that London exceeds WHO recommended limits for Particulate Matter, thought to be responsible for 45% of air pollution related deaths. Studies have identified higher risks of stroke, respiratory and cardiovascular disease (for both hospital admissions and mortality) in areas close to Heathrow. Paul McGuinness, Chair of the No 3rd Runway Coalition said: "This report highlights yet again one of the many reasons why expanding Heathrow can't happen. Its proximity to people. There could be no worse place to concentrate yet more pollution."
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European Commission moves to Brexit-proof Emissions Trading System
The European Commission has agreed on a new measure to protect its Emissions Trading System (ETS) against a potential breakdown in Brexit negotiations. The EU ETS sets a cap on the total emissions from electricity generation and enables UK-based industries to purchase emissions reductions from overseas. Member States met on 18th October to agree in principle to change ETS regulations to nullify any permits to emit greenhouse gases under the scheme if they are issued by a country that leaves the EU from January 2018 onwards. The UK is the 2nd largest CO2 emitter in the EU, and research suggests that a UK departure from the EU ETS would tighten the supply-demand balance of the system by around 745 million tonnes. The new measure is intended to stop potential sell-offs of permits if UK businesses are ejected from the market because of Brexit. The Committee on Climate Change found that if the UK did leave the ETS, the 5th carbon budget should be extended to a 61% emissions reduction by 2030. The recently-announced Clean Growth Strategy outlines the trajectory towards the approved 57% reduction, but analysis suggests the strategy will fall short. Aviation is only partly included in the ETS, with just intra-European flights.
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European Parliament make progress on dealing with aviation non-CO2 impacts
The meeting on 17th October between the European Council and EU Parliament has finally come to an agreement on how to deal with non CO2 emissions. This is at least 9 years overdue. It opens a fundamentally new and important avenue of aviation climate mitigation work. The non-CO2 impacts on climate forcing are short-lived but they are potentially of great magnitude – potentially more than double CO2 according to the EC’s own assessment. A research consortium led by Professor David Lee will publish early next year a fresh report on non CO2 climate impacts. Then it will be necessary to follow through with further research including into ways to mitigate. The non-CO2 impacts issue is much more important in the northern hemisphere than the southern as there is where most land, and most flights, are. Europe is well placed to begin assessing what measures could potentially be implemented, such as operational re-routeing (altered flight levels) action on NOx, particulates and black carbon. The meeting reached a provisional agreement on a regulation to extend existing ETS provisions covering aviation beyond 2016 and to prepare for the implementation of CORSIA from 2021.
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Newcastle Airport’s part owner (49%), Australian AMP Capital, buys Leeds Bradford Airport
The Australian investment group which owns almost half of Newcastle Airport has bought another airport in the North, Leeds Bradford. AMP Capital, which took a 49% stake in Newcastle Airport in 2012 (51% is owned by 7 local authorities in Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham), has bought Leeds Bradford outright - after buying it from European investment group Bridgepoint. AMP Capital say the airport offers a “highly attractive investment and a great fit for its global infrastructure platform”. It is likely that a competition probe could take place on the deal, with one company potentially having a major stake in two Northern airports whose target markets have some crossover. Though theoretically serving a larger population area, Leeds Bradford is currently smaller than Newcastle Airport, with many people in Yorkshire choosing to fly instead from Manchester. Newcastle recorded 4.8m passengers in 2016 compared to Leeds Bradford’s 3.6m.
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Stansted Airport lowers growth target from 44.5 million to 43 million per year
Stansted Airport has scaled-back its expansion plans, saying it will achieve is growth ambitions without seeking any increase in the number of flights it is allowed to handle. Stansted current has permission for 35 million passengers per year, while it currently has about 25 million. But the airport said in June that it ‘urgently’ needs the cap to be raised to 44.5 million. Stansted is now saying it wants the cap raised to 43 million, not 44.5 million - and they can accommodate that growth by use of larger planes. They say they can get to 43 million passengers without increasing the noise “footprint” that is already authorised under the current capping arrangements. Stansted is hoping to get a lot of growth in passenger numbers, in the time before (if it ever happens) a 3rd Heathrow runway is built. Stansted hoped to get the growth to 44.5 million passengers, about 9 million more than now, through on a regular planning application - rather than having to go through the more rigorous National Infrastructure process, that would be needed for a 10 million passenger increase. Local campaign Stop Stansted Expansion said: “People shouldn’t be hoodwinked by Stansted Airport’s spin doctors. The new planning application would still mean an extra 1,800 flights a week compared to today’s levels.” There will now be more feedback sessions by Stansted during November, before a final planning application to Uttlesford Council early in 2018.
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Government set to face fresh legal challenge from ClientEarth for inaction in cutting air pollution
Environmental lawyers, ClientEarth, are set to take the government back to court over what they say are ministers’ repeated failings to deal with the UK’s air pollution crisis. ClientEarth has already won two court battles against the government. It has has written a legal letter demanding that the environment secretary Michael Gove sets out a range of new measures to address UK air pollution. If the government fails to comply with this “letter before action”, ClientEarth will issue new proceedings and ministers are likely to face a third judicial review. The courts forced the government to produce its latest air quality plan in July but the document was widely criticised as inadequate by environmentalists and clean air campaigners. The government’s proposal had “simply passed the buck to local authorities who will have little option but to impose charges on diesel vehicles”. Better action by the government itself is needed, such as changes to the tax system to favour less polluting vehicles; a targeted diesel scrappage scheme and a “clean air fund” to help local authorities tackle pollution. In 2016 some 278 of the 391 local authorities (71%) missed their air quality targets, up from 258 in 2010 even though measures to reduce pollution are meant to be taken “in the shortest possible time”.
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Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG (with over half Heathrow’s slots) again says its expensive 3rd runway plans are “a ridiculous glory project”
Willie Walsh, the boss of British Airways’ parent company, IAG, has again lambasted Heathrow’s expansion plans as a “ridiculous glory project”. He said the £17.6bn plan to build the 3rd runway (just £200 million for the runway itself - not counting the M25 problem) could lead to a “completely unjustified” increase in airport charges, which airlines would have to charge to passengers, denting demand etc. IAG (which owns Iberia and Aer Lingus) have over 50% of Heathrow landing slots. IAG wants a 3rd runway, though it would increase its competition, but they want a cheap no-frills scheme - and have backed the £7 billion cheaper scheme promoted by Surinder Arora. The Heathrow scheme requires the demolition of the BA HQ at Waterside in Harmondsworth and IAG could end up effectively paying its own compensation through increased charges levied by Heathrow. Willie Walsh also said IAG's new long-haul, low-cost brand Level might one day fly from Heathrow. At present, the subsidiary operates just two aircraft from its base in Barcelona. He hopes it will have 30 planes by 2022, and fly to destinations currently off the BA route map, like secondary cities in China.
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Aviation biofuels plan would use palm oil and ‘destroy rainforests’ – warn 200+ environmental organisations
A new plan to accelerate production of biofuels for passenger planes has drawn stinging criticism from environmentalists who argue that most of the world’s rainforests might have to be cleared to produce the necessary crops. Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, with an 8% leap reported in Europe last year and a global fourfold increase in CO2 pollution expected by 2050. To rein this back, the industry is hoping for what it (unrealistically) calls "carbon neutral growth" by 2020 – to be met by biofuels, and offsets. The “green jet fuel” plan would increase the use of aviation biofuels to 5m tonnes per year by 2025, and 285m tonnes by 2050 – enough to cover half of overall demand for international aviation fuel. This is three times more biofuels than the world currently produces, and advanced biofuels are still at too early a stage of development to make up the difference. Environmentalists say that the most credible alternative fuel source would be hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), even though this would probably trigger a boom in palm oil plantations and a corresponding spike in deforestation. The vast use of palm oil for aviation biofuels would destroy the world’s rainforests, vital to life for local people and the habitats of endangered species such as orangutans. Over 200 environmental organisations are urging ICAO to scrap its misguided biofuels plan.
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BEIS “Clean Growth Strategy” admits aviation CO2 cannot be kept below 37.5MtCO2 – it has no plan on aviation carbon
The government's long-awaited Clean Growth Strategy has been published by BEIS setting out how it plans to deliver the carbon reductions needed by the Climate Change Act. BEIS claims that “This strategy sets out our proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy through the 2020s.” But there’s a huge hole in the strategy - there is no plan for aviation CO2. Despite the Committee on Climate Change repeatedly asking for details of how the sector will keep to within is recommended cap of 37.5MtCO2 pear year, BEIS has been unable to provide any. The Clean Growth Strategy now gives up on the 37.5MtCO2 target, and anticipates the aviation sector emitting 44 MtCO2. Worse than that, in its calculations it lumps in shipping with aviation in that 44 MtCO2 - which presumably is simply an error. The strategy document just says the government “has not reached a final view on the appropriate level of aviation emissions in 2050.” There is not only no policy to limit aviation carbon to the 37.5MtCO2 level, but also no clue how all other sectors could make even greater carbon cuts, to allow for the higher aviation emissions. Cait Hewitt, of AEF, commented that as the government has no proposals or answers on limiting aviation CO2, and there should not be a new Heathrow runway until or unless these are clear.
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Leo Barasi: UK Government’s new aviation strategy is a plan for climate chaos
In his new book, The Climate Majority, Leo Barasi looks at the problem the UK has with its carbon targets and its desire to fly more and more. There is no doubt about the fact that to meet its climate targets the UK must restrict flying – but the government is going backwards on this, and the public are becoming less worried about aviation’s environmental cost. A 3rd Heathrow runway, with ever more longer haul flights, might produce around 9 million tonnes of CO2 each year, which is about 8% of all the emissions the UK can release in 2050 if it is to meet the Climate Change Act. The government is well aware of, but trying to ignore and conceal, the fact that the Heathrow runway can only be built and used if aviation growth at other UK airports is restricted - or we fail to meet the UK carbon target. The Airports Commission was well aware of the problem, and suggested the entirely implausible solution would be to hugely raise the cost of flying a few decades ahead, to cut passenger numbers. The current consultation by the DfT is focused almost entirely on planning for huge aviation expansion, prioritising consumers over the climate. Ironically, while an ever larger percentage of the population realises climate change is real, and caused by humanity, fewer are prepared to reduce their own flying at all. Just 21% say they would be willing to fly less to reduce the impact of climate change.
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Bankrupt Air Berlin (Europe’s 10th biggest airline) to end all flights by 28th October
Air Berlin has revealed all flights will be grounded by the 28th October. Air Berlin has been in financial crisis for months, culminating in forced insolvency mid-August. It was bailed out by a £137 million loan from the German government, which has kept planes flying until now. Air Berlin’s crisis began when Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which holds a 29% stake in Air Berlin, finally withdrew its funding as the airline kept losing money. Lufthansa and easyJet are in talks with Air Berlin to buy up parts of the company. Customers who booked Air Berlin flights prior to August 15 will not get their money back from the airline. Monarch ceased trading earlier this month, less than two months after Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy, and in May, Italian airline Alitalia also became insolvent. The demise of 3 major European airlines recently has prompted concerns about the future of the aviation industry. Competition between airlines has become every more intense, and more failures of European airlines are likely. While easyJet, Ryanair and Norwegian may be able to continue, some 'mid-market' carriers with relatively high cost bases being continually squeezed to a point of failure. All this could spell the end of the ultra-low fares people have become accustomed to.
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Stobart plans to open a 24 hour private jet centre at Southend airport in November
London is Europe's busiest city for private aviation, and Southend airport (some 65 km east of London) has become the latest airport to tap into the market. It has announced that the "Stobart Jet Centre" will open in November. Stobart - the owners of Southend airport - hope it will cater for 5,000 private flights per year by 2022, and will be open 24/7 for 364 days a year. That means plane noise on any night for nearby residents, but Stobart see the possibility of flying any time of the night as a big draw for London's private jet users. [That is, if they can be bothered to travel all the way out to Southend ...] And it will be cheap. Stobart says it is "...confident that London Southend Airport will become a refreshing, hassle-free alternative to London’s current, crowded private aviation terminals.... The airport is 42 miles from the heart of London's West End, while chauffeur transfers are under an hour by road to central London. There are also helicopter transfers to and from Canary Wharf or Battersea Heliport." London Southend said that with no slot restrictions, it will be able to offer faster departure routes outside of London airspace, reducing flight times. There are restrictions on night flights at Southend, to protect residents from night noise. But these apply to commercial flights, not private jets.
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Philip Hammond admits, to Treasury Cttee, that no deal on Brexit could have serious impacts on flights to and from UK
Chancellor Philip Hammond has become the first Cabinet minister to admit leaving the EU without an agreement could ground all flights from the UK to Europe. Giving evidence to MPs on the Commons Treasury Committee, the Chancellor said that was “theoretically possible” and a failure to reach agreement with the EU would halt air traffic between Britain and the 27 member states on March 29, 2019. However, he did not believe that would happen, and a deal on air travel would be struct regardless as it would be in the mutual interest of both sides. It would be necessary to make decisions so there is no interim period with no deal. He said: "What I am not proposing to do is allocate funds to departments in advance of the need to spend it." All flights within the EU for the last 25 years have been governed by the “EU Internal Market for Aviation” - known as "open skies". This allows any EU airline to fly between any two EU airports, subject to slots being available, and has worked since 1992. When the UK leaves the EU, there are no WTO rules to fall back on, and the UK would need to negotiate an entirely new treaty with the EU for any flights. All flights from the UK to the US are governed by the Air Transport Agreement between the EU and USA, and this would also need to be re-negotiated.
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Letter to ICAO, from hundreds of organisations, calling on it to oppose the promotion of biofuels in aviation
ICAO supports the aviation industry’s quest for unending rapid growth, a quest which is incompatible with keeping global warming to 1.5oC or even 2oC per (a goal endorsed by the Paris Agreement). Greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation alone grew by 87% between 1990 and 2014 and are rising faster than those from almost any other sector. Efficiency improvements lag far behind growth in the number of air passengers worldwide and there are no available techno-fixes which would allow planes to fly without burning hydrocarbon fuels. ICAO hopes for vast-scale use of biofuels in aircraft: it wants to see 128 million tonnes of biofuels a year being burned in plane engines by 2040, going up to 285 million tonnes (half of all aviation fuel) by 2050. By comparison, some 82 million tonnes of biofuels a year are currently used in transport worldwide. The only aviation biofuels which can currently be produced reliably and at scale – although they are still expensive – are made from vegetable oils and animal fats, using a technology called hydrotreatment. Any large-scale use of aviation biofuels made from hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) would almost certainly rely on palm oil. That would be an environmental disaster. See details of the letter to ICAO from Biofuelwatch signed by hundreds of organisations
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Britain’s toxic air – especially PM2.5 particulates – ‘could cause dementia and diabetes’
The Commons health committee has warned toxic air could contribute towards dementia and even diabetes, as well as lung and cardiovascular effects. A new Inquiry by 4 parliamentary select committees, in to UK air pollution, has been started. Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, chair of the health committee, said: “There is an increasing amount of evidence showing the impact of nitrogen dioxide and invisible particulates on human health. Many people are aware of their impact on our lungs and hearts, but new evidence suggests that they could also contribute to diseases as disparate as dementia and diabetes.” The 4 committees launched a similar Inquiry in March, ending on 12th May. However, the General Election was called, and finally committees were re-constituted in September, with different membership. The Chair of the Transport Committee was Louise Ellman, and is now Lilian Greenwood. She commented that “Real change is possible if Government leads from the front to co-ordinate an effective response to one of the biggest issues of our time.” The mechanism by which PM2.5 particles could increase dementia may be through a critical Alzheimer’s risk gene, APOE4, interacts with air particles to accelerate brain ageing but the science is unclear. The mechanisms by which diabetes risk is raised are also unclear.
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4 Commons Committees (Health, Transport, EFRA and Environment) re-launch joint inquiry on UK air pollution
Four Parliamentary Committees have re-launched their joint inquiry into improving UK air quality - for one month. The Committees are Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Environmental Audit, Health, and Transport. They started a similar inquiry in March, which ended on 12th May. In July 2017, after UK courts twice ruled that the Government’s plans to cut air pollution were inadequate, the Government released a new air quality plan. The new cross-party inquiry will examine whether this new plan goes far enough, and fast enough to both meet legal limits and to deliver the maximum environmental and health benefits. The Chair of the Health committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, said there are concerns that air pollution may not only cause lung and heart problems, but possibly dementia and diabetes too. Mary Creagh MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said local authorities do not believe the Government's plans for air pollution are adequate. Air pollution needs to be tackled by m any government departments across Whitehall working together. The joint Inquiry will hold Ministers from key Departments to account, on the effectiveness of plans to reduce air pollution. The huge role of road transport in lowering air quality is recognised. The Inquiry ends on 9th November.
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Opinion: Ryanair and Monarch show the era of cheap short-haul flights is coming to an end
A customer proposition that has served short-haul European airlines well for over two decades may be coming to an end. It is 22 years since easyJet first offered passengers European flights for the price of a pair of jeans; back then just £29.99. And this generation of British travellers has grown to expect trans-continental hops for prices more akin to everyday clothes. The real costs of all these low-cost flights are becoming apparent, and there are doubt whether this is sustainable. Ryanair pilots are now rebelling over their pay and workload. Perhaps people will have to pay more for hopping across Europe, and that premium should go to creating a better experience for passengers and minimising environmental damage. The rock bottom fare prices were the death of Monarch. And even easyJet, whose marketing and PR have been good, is facing a crisis over the forecast impact of Brexit on its operations. More expensive flights is a very difficult proposition for any single airline, with the intense competition and minimal profit margins of their business model. But future air passenger numbers forecasts are increasingly likely to now be inaccurate - not the sort of thing to base massively expensive airport infrastructure investment on.
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Heathrow consultation on its plans delayed as CAA hopes to reassure airlines on lower 3rd runway costs
The Times says Heathrow’s plans for a 3rd runway have been delayed until at least December, or early 2018, as the airport tries to cut £6 billion from the cost. A report by the CAA said that Heathrow’s proposals would be published for consultation “no earlier” than December. This had been expected by August. The CAA report was distributed to airlines, and said that Heathrow was working on revised proposals designed to cut £6 billion from the previous £17.6 billion budget. Heathrow's attempts to cut the cost is to reassure airlines like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic over “gold-plated” facilities planned for Heathrow expansion - that airlines fear they would have to pay for. Airlines fear higher landing charges, leading to higher fares, knocking their profits and even driving some airlines out of Heathrow. Heathrow has already publicised cuts to its plans, like delaying Terminal 6 and an underground passenger transit system to limit the expense. The problem of how to get the runway over the M25 has not been resolved, but it would be cheaper to do a bridge over the motorway rather than a proper tunnel, as the Airports Commission had expected. The airlines want Heathrow to "make available more mature information/data on costs and benchmarking before [the consultation].”
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AvGen analysis casts doubt on accuracy of Heathrow’s “Fly Quiet & Clean” league table
Following the recent revisions to Heathrow's flagship "Fly Quiet" programme, which every 3 months ranks the airport's top 50 airlines on their environmental performance, UK-based consultancy AvGen Limited has cast serious doubts on the published results. Some of the anomalies AvGen uncovered are that in the latest Q2 2017 results of some of the airport's regular scheduled airlines, such as Icelandair, MEA and Egyptair, while carriers with markedly fewer flights during the period (for example Croatian and China Southern) are included. Another anomaly is airlines being awarded scores on average 45% higher than their performance, under Heathrow's own published rules, should merit. There is also inconsistent application of the "weighting" scheme, resulting in most airlines not being ranked in their true position (e.g. top performer Delta Air Lines gets demoted to 7th place). There is a serious lack of transparency, with no way to know how many points a given airline is awarded for each individual environmental measure, such as NOx emissions, and no ability to tell whether a carrier's performance in any area has improved or worsened quarter-on-quarter. So the Heathrow tables, much flaunted by the airport, mean very little and are not helpful.
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London’s air pollution from PM2.5 is widespread and bad – electric vehicles don’t solve the problem
New research shows just how bad air pollution by PM2.5 is across London. The latest updated London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, shows that every area in the capital exceeds WHO limits PM2.5, which are particularly bad for health as they penetrate deep into the lungs. The particles have serious health implications – especially for children – with both short- and long-term exposure increasing the likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Young people exposed to these pollutants are more likely to grow up with reduced lung function and develop asthma. However, the main sources of PM2.5 emissions in London are from tyre and brake wear, construction and wood burning. A recent European commission research paper found about half of all particulate matter comes from tyres and brakes. Cutting the number of diesel vehicles helps reduce NO2 levels, but even converting to electric does not solve the problem of the particles from tyres and brakes. Heathrow hopes getting more vehicles on the road network near the airport might reduce air pollution enough to get its runway - but that will not solve its PM2.5 problem.
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Scottish plans to cut APD and introduce Air Departure Tax hit snag with EU state aid rules
Plans to replace Scottish air passenger duty with a discounted alternative have been disrupted by legal issues. The Scottish government wants to replace APD with a new devolved Air Departure Tax (ADT) in Scotland from April next year. MSPs voted for the new tax by 108 votes to 11 in June. However plans to continue exempting journeys from airports in the Highlands and Islands required EU approval under state aid rules. It is understood that getting this approval could take longer than Brexit. It could cost the Scottish government £320m to maintain the exemption of these flights in the meantime. The Scottish government wants to cut the new tax by 50%, before eventually scrapping it completely. It argues the move will boost the economy by increasing the number of flights to and from the country. To introduce the new tax, it has to be approved by the European Commission, and tough EU rules which ban state aid make it potentially problematic for flights to and from the Highlands and Islands being exempted. Transport & Environment says the state aid issue may never be resolved. If the UK wants to remain in the European Common Aviation Area, it will have to abide by EU rules including those on state aid. ECJ is the final arbitrator in that agreement. And the UK will have no vote in shaping future EU state aid rules.
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Monarch failure: Government to pay bulk of repatriation costs – perhaps £60 million
The government will pick up the cost of repatriating the majority of Monarch Airlines’ passengers following the collapse of the airline and its sister Monarch Travel Group. Flights returning 110,000 passengers from overseas will cost about £60m, according to the CAA. The CAA confirmed the Air Travel Trust fund will pay only the cost of repatriating and refunding Atol-protected customers. CAA deputy director of consumer protection David Moesli said: “The government will pay. The Air Travel Trust is only covering the Atol-protected customers. However, the government has said it intends to recover the money from other parties.” The operation will bring home passengers, using aircraft from 16 different carriers, including British, North American and Qatari. The CAA insisted it had not sent Monarch into bankruptcy by refusing to renew its Atol licence. The CAA expects debit card issuers to join credit card issuers in refunding customers’ bookings, although there is no legal requirement for them to do so. The closure of Monarch will lead to nearly 1,900 job losses and is the largest ever closure of a UK airline. The reasons for its collapse are "depressed prices" in the short-haul travel market, fewer tourist trips due to terror attacks in Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, increased competition, and the weak pound meaning many costs eg. fuel were higher.
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EasyJet hoping to fly electric planes within a decade – reality is very limited, and a long time ahead
EasyJet has announced that it is hoping to fly planes powered by batteries rather than kerosene to destinations including Paris and Amsterdam within a decade. EasyJet has formed a partnership with US firm Wright Electric, which is developing a battery-propelled aircraft for flights under two hours. It has all sorts of hype about the difference this will make to carbon emissions etc. However, the weight problem of batteries imposes limits on distance a plane could fly. Jet fuel is around 50 times more energy dense than the best lithium batteries we have now. It seems extremely unlikely they could get a fully electric passenger aircraft carrying 120 passengers on 300 mile journeys in service in 10 years? It is more likely that the aircraft will use some kind of hybrid power system, using batteries to provide a boost on take-off, but then running engines using power from an on-board generator during flight (or vice versa). And it will take a lot more than 10 years for them to be in regular service. The short flights on which these could be used would be precisely those where rail (especially high speed rail) is a good alternative. Routes without a rail option might be Southampton to Dublin or Bristol to Paris. It is likely to be the kind of fake 'aspiration' to allow an uninformed public to believe that there is, or could be a green version of aviation. It is peddling false dreams, to let the industry continue with "business as usual" avoiding real cuts to CO2 emissions.
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Biofuelwatch to publish report about aviation biofuels ahead of ICAO high-level conference
From 11th to 13th October, ICAO will be holding a High-Level Conference on Alternative Aviation Fuels, in Mexico City. ICAO's Secretariat has published a proposed "Vision" which would see 128 million tonnes of biofuels per year used in aircraft by 2040 and 285 million tonnes by 2050. By comparison, a total of 82 million tonnes of biofuels was produced worldwide for all uses last year. ICAO and airlines are keen to promote biofuels as solution to their CO2 problems. Greater efficiencies cannot possibly cancel out the impacts on CO2 emissions of the industry's expected rapid, continuous growth. Meaningful measures to curb aviation CO2 emissions would be incompatible with an airline's shareholder profits. The aviation sector hopes to use carbon offsetting (condemned by over 100 civil society groups last year) and biofuels (which, contrary to scientific evidence, continue to be largely classified as zero carbon). There is no possibility of producing the vast quantities of biofuels that would be needed for such an endeavour without disastrous impacts on forests, on the climate, on food prices, food sovereignty, on human rights and land rights. The prospect of even limited use of biofuels in aircraft is particularly concerning, especially if palm oil is used. There will be a new report on 6th October, and a Webinair on 6th October (4pm).
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Climate change: Ministers should be ‘sued’ by “Plan B” over insufficient 2050 CO2 targets
Prof Sir David King, the government's former chief scientist, has said Ministers should tighten the UK's official climate change target - or face the courts. He supports a legal case forcing Ministers to shrink UK CO2 emissions to zero by 2050 - and says the current government goal - an 80% emissions cut by 2050 - is too weak to protect the climate. Ministers have failed to enshrine a 100% cut by 2050 within the Climate Change Act, though it knows what needs to be done. A small group, called "Plan B"(run by former government lawyer Tim Crosland) is taking preliminary legal action against the government. The basis of their case is that the UK is obliged under the Act to tighten CO2 targets if the science shows it is needed. Professor King is backing this legal action. Mr Crosland has written to the Business Secretary (at BEIS) Mr Clark and says if there is no satisfactory reply after 14 days, he will take the case to the High Court for judicial review. The case would be argued in court by Jonathan Crow, a former senior Treasury lawyer. Targets do not on their own reduce emissions, but efforts are needed to ensure Climate Change Act fulfils its purpose. Meeting the CO2 target is made much harder, as the government apparently intends to ignore CCC advice on aviation carbon, allowing it to grow - seriously threatening the 2050 target and the chances of achieving it.
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Algae biofuel claims overhyped – GE algae risks to environment if they escape
A new report suggests that industrial scale production of biofuels and chemicals via genetically engineered (GE) microorganisms such as GE algae pose serious environmental and health risks. Microalgae Biofuels: Myths and Risks and a companion briefing, published by Biofuelwatch and Friends of the Earth US., reveals that even after decades of investment, viable commercial production of algae biofuels has failed and is unlikely to succeed. There are already problems caused by algal blooms in some places, and it therefore seems very unwise to be encouraging mass-scale production - with the inevitable accidental release of GE microalgae into the environment. Many of the traits that are being engineered to create algal ‘chemical factories’ could result in their outcompeting and proliferating out of control in the wild. These organisms could become ‘living pollution’ that is impossible to recall. The continued market hype about GE algae biofuels as sustainable, claims of unrealistic productivity, and historic promises of commercial viability just over the horizon perpetuate the myth of a “miracle fuel” and that unsustainable energy consumption may continue “business as usual.”
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Packed Labour fringe meeting hears from John McDonnell, Andy Slaughter and Leonie Cooper on Heathrow runway air pollution problem
While Heathrow airport continued shmoozing any Labour party MP it could, with its corporate hospitality at the Labour Conference in Brighton this week, anti-runway campaigners raised concerns about high air pollution levels from Heathrow. A packed fringe meeting, standing room only, organised by the NO 3rd Runway Coalition, was addressed by John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington. John was extremely busy during the Conference but had found time to open the meeting on a subject close to his heart. Aside from his long-standing and determined opposition to a 3rd Heathrow runway, to protect his constituents, he was emphatic that the runway could and would never meet the 4 tests Labour have set. These tests refer to environment and economic aspects of the expansion. On air quality alone, the airport already generates high pollution levels, and these could only worsen with another 50% more flights. Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter also spoke convincingly on the low chance the runway would even actually be built, because of the catalogue of serious problems. Leonie Cooper, Chair of the GLA Environment Committee reiterated the seriousness of the air pollution problems around London, the harmful impacts on childrens' lungs, and the determination of Mayor Sadiq Khan to get improvements.
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Frustration as Gatwick continues to blight communities with noise – new independent noise survey for residents
The Chair of CAGNE, representing communities affected by Gatwick noise in West Sussex and Surrey, has met senior members at the DfT to raise concerns about the continuing problems. A year on from the formation of the Gatwick Noise Management Board (NMB), Gatwick continues to ignore the people most impacted by aircraft noise, day and night 7 days a week - with no respite. CAGNE says Gatwick airport continues to focus on areas that already have respite from plane noise, with some seeing a decline in aircraft movements according to data from the CAA. To get a better picture of the problem, CAGNE has now launched an independent survey questionnaire for residents. It is being circulated to CAGNE members, parish and town councils via the CAGNE Council Aviation Forum. It is also being sent to MP in affected constituencies, asking them to encourage residents to take part in the survey. It is a huge concern for those already affected by the airport that Gatwick continues to push for a 2nd runway, (even if there is a 3rd Heathrow runway) and CAGNE will be attending the Conservative Party Conference to ensure that the community’s voice of frustration at Gatwick’s continued blight is heard.
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FAA cites over 42,000 complaints of plane noise from residents near Washington airports
The FAA’s annual aircraft report lists 42,683 complaints about noisy flights from Reagan airport (Washington) and Dulles International airport (Washington) in 2016. That compares with just 10,000 complaints the year before. Many people are complaining about planes about every three minutes, all day long. People say the plane noises increased tremendously since December 2015. That’s when the FAA launched a new GPS navigation tool called the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen for short. The system, which takes the place of radar, allows planes to travel safely at closer distances, and to use more direct routes - and means concentrated, narrow flight paths. Upset residents call the flight paths “sacrificial noise corridors,” with the same routes being used continually, over the same homes and neighbourhoods. People are being badly affected, and unable to use their outdoor space, because of noise intrusion. Local group the “DC Fair Skies Coalition" is suing the FAA to move routes back to over the Potomac and other waterways, as they were before. The FAA is unwilling to change anything, as the concentrated routes improve their efficiency and save airlines a small amount of money on fuel. One resident said, on plane noise: “It goes away, but as soon as the noise is gone, another plane starts.”
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CAA rejects Edinburgh Airport’s application for flight path change due to “Technical and Coordination” issues
Edinburgh airport’s planned new flight path has been put on hold after the CAA announced it was halting the process. The CAA’s decision - which is very unusual - is understood to relate to technical aspects of the proposal, as well as a delay in receiving elements of the submission. It is not yet clear what this means for local communities that are affected by the airport and its noise, but the CAA decision is welcomed by local noise campaigners. This was the first Airspace Change proposal, by Edinburgh airport, which anticipates many more. Local group, Edinburgh Airport Watch (EAW) said that during the 2 year consultation process, multiple flaws and errors by the airport were identified at every stage. It remains to be seen whether the CAA will require a new application by Edinburgh airport to be determined under the CAA’s new rules for Airspace Change, rather than the old ones. Many people under newly concentrated flight paths have been experiencing much worse plane noise, in the past few years. EAW says the airport now has fewer aircraft movements than 10 years ago, and new routes are not needed. They want the airport to "learn from their past mistakes, and start a proper, meaningful and respectful dialogue with Communities that leads to substantial improvements."
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Criticism that Government’s Heathrow leaflet was “mere propaganda” justified, says judge
The comms team at the DfT has been criticised over a promotional leaflet extolling the virtues of a 3rd runway at Heathrow, which has been branded as a "hard sell". The retired judge, Sir Jeremy Sullivan, asked to assess and oversee the quality of the DfT consultation said criticisms of propaganda in the DfT's NPS Heathrow consultation leaflet were justified, but the consultation was otherwise well run. Sir Jeremy was critical of the mass-produced leaflet, which went to about 1.5 million homes. There was inadequate information in the leaflet about consultation events, and it was unduly biased in favour of the runway. He said that it "fell short" of best practice and criticisms that it was "mere propaganda" on behalf of Heathrow were justified. "The headline points, as presented in the leaflet, did give the impression of a 'hard sell' for Heathrow." ... "It would have been much better if a more neutral leaflet had been distributed, giving more information about the addresses of the local events." The DfT said they were analysing over 70,000 responses, which "will be fully considered" before the NPS is presented to Parliament for a vote next year.
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Tech & creative sectors the key to London’s future, as well as professional services and FinTech (not Heathrow)
According to the latest CBI/CBRE London Business Survey the majority of respondents said that the tech and creative sectors were the principal sectors for the capital’s economic growth over the next five years. That is followed by professional services and FinTech (financial technology). About 90% considered London a good or great place to do business. Around 75% of firms surveyed wanted the Government to push ahead with Crossrail 2 whilst over half wanted Heathrow’s 3rd runway to be a priority project. With the overwhelming majority of London businesses employing staff from the EU, Brexit is having a significant impact on the capital’s companies. Almost 75% of firms view uncertainty over the UK’s role in Europe as their top concern, whilst a similar number have developed, or are developing, a contingency plan for when the UK leaves the EU. About a quarter are planning to move part of their operations overseas, and two thirds have, or are developing, a strategy to address skill shortages that could be incurred if restrictions are placed on EU nationals working in the UK. The CBI London Director said London is a great place to do business, and the CBRE said the unrivalled cultural and social benefits the capital provides are important.
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Consultation on flight path changes at Leeds Bradford airport – ends 6th October
A public consultation (ends 5th November) is under way into air space changes around Leeds Bradford Airport. The departure routes will not change, but aircraft will climb quicker, reducing plane noise to some of those under the flight paths. The airport says that to provide improved spacing between arriving and departing aircraft and greater efficiency of operation, the new procedures require additional airspace within which to manoeuvre aircraft. Some new areas would be overflown. After the consultation, the airport will submit its application to the CAA, which has 17 weeks to reply. Once approval is achieved, LBA will complete controller training with the changes set to be implemented from autumn next year. The proposals affect Class G airspace, and would significantly concentrate flight paths – so some local residents will be blighted with considerably more noise then they experience today whilst others may benefit. The documentation claims that the change in airspace proposed will not automatically mean an increase in air passenger numbers and aircraft movements but then refers readers to the airports development plan published elsewhere which clearly states their ambition to grow passenger numbers to 7 million per year by 2030 (from around 3.5 million now).
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Heathrow wants Chancellor to scrap APD on domestic flights – which would help make some routes viable
Heathrow is urging the Government to scrap Air Passenger Duty on domestic flights. It has written to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, before the Budget on 22nd November, arguing for this.. Air Passenger Duty is £13 per person (aged over 18) per flight leaving a UK airport. Therefore while a passenger on a return flight to a European airport only pays £13, on a domestic return flight they pay £26. Heathrow says if APD on domestic fights was scrapped, it would result in a £24m "annual saving" for those flying from that airport. [That means a £24 million loss to the Treasury]. Domestic air tickets tend already to be cheaper than rail for the same journey, and this would make them even cheaper. Consultancy Frontier Economics reckons removing APD on domestic flights would increase GDP growth and boost tax receipts to offset the loss to the Treasury from the abolition of the tax. That would mean there would have to be a lot more domestic passengers. Heathrow has promised there will be more domestic links, if it gets a 3rd runway. Many of those would need to be subsidised. Removing APD could make these domestic links viable, without costing Heathrow anything. That results in the taxpayer losing tax, and Heathrow saving itself money.
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Plane Justice Ltd -v- CAA: Gatwick Route 4 Court Case passes its first big test
In the High Court Mrs Justice Lang DBE granted permission for Plane Justice’s Judicial Review case against the Civil Aviation Authority to proceed to a full trial hearing on all grounds.In granting permission, Mrs Justice Lang said Plane Justice’s grounds of claim merited full consideration. Gaining permission to proceed is a vital first step that all JR cases have to go through, and only a minority of JR cases achieve it. Plane Justice is trying to get changes to Gatwick\s Route 4 departure route, which was altered in May 2016 and now overflies (or in some cases vectors over) new populations to the north of the airport in Newdigate, Capel, Leigh, Norwood Hill, Sidlow, Salfords, Outwood and Horley. The route was changed to avoid overflying other areas, and a different group, Plane Wrong, fought hard to get the route change that badly affected them in 2013 altered. Plane Justice wants the route to revert to how it was before 2013. The case is now likely to be listed for a full hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in the new year. Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council, affected by Route 4, has made a substantial donation towards the legal costs, and Plane Justice has to date raised 82% of its budget to fund the High Court action.
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City ramps up pressure on politicians to push ahead with Heathrow runway, after likelihood of delays
The City of London Corporation has taken the opportunity of the Lib Dem Party Conference to urge the party “to not stand in the way of Heathrow expansion”. The Corporation’s policy chair Catherine McGuinness, said: “Increased airport capacity at Heathrow is near the top of the list when we speak to firms about what can do to help them trade more, create jobs and invest for the future.” (Many other surveys of businesses over the years do not show this - but it depends on which firms are sampled). Speaking at the party conference yesterday, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable (a long term opponent of the runway) said: “I want our party to remain where we were, which is opposed to Heathrow expansion, strong on the environment, protective of our climate change obligations, but committed to support business, but in a practical way that rebalances the UK.” The Labour party is also known to be very divided on the issue of Heathrow, with a lot of opposition. Some Labour MPs have been misled by inaccurate forecasts of jobs that the runway might create. Big business tends to stand with its colleague, Heathrow. The CBI wants progress on the runway quickly, and the Institute of Directors said after waiting years, they want to see "spades in the ground" at Heathrow.
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Offsets can play limited role in reducing aviation CO2 – but there’s poor understanding of their limitations
With the growth in air travel demand forecast to outstrip fuel efficiency improvements, the only hope for the aviation industry’s CO2 emissions goals is if they could be achieved through the purchase of carbon offsets. However, says a new study, there is considerable misunderstanding about offsetting and the difference between scientific and policy perspectives. Offsets are merely a way to cancel out aviation carbon, by nominally assisting other sectors to make actual reductions in carbon emissions. Offsets are just a way of concealing the problem, and giving the impression that aviation is not just adding to global carbon emissions. The study says offsets do not "make emissions ‘go away’ in some miraculous manner" and there is a low level of understanding about the limitations of offsets in reducing global CO2. For example, the influence on the global climate system of additional atmospheric CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels is not neutralised by offsets in the land sector. As it does not reduce atmospheric concentrations of CO2, carbon offsetting should be seen as a second or even third best option behind technological advances or demand reduction efforts to make the necessary deep cuts in aviation emissions over the long term.
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MEPs place limits on aviation ETS exemption and put airlines on intra-EU flights CO2 reduction path
MEPs have voted to limit the exemption from the EU ETS of flights to and from Europe until 2021, pending further information regarding ICAO's offsetting measure ‘CORSIA’ (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation). It would be much more effective, in limiting aviation CO2 emissions by flights using European airports to have them all included. However, only flights between EU airports are now included in the ETS. But sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomes this vote saying an indefinite exemption of flights to and from Europe would have been a blank cheque to ICAO. It would have been reckless, as it is not yet known how the CORSIA scheme will operate or how effective it will be. There is still no clarity on CORSIA rules on offset quality and enforcement, for future aviation carbon emissions. "Europe now has a leverage to make aviation contribute to our collective climate efforts as proportionally as other sectors of the EU economy should the global measure fail.” For intra-EU flights, MEPs have also voted to start reducing the cap in CO2 allowances from 2021, thus bringing aviation into line with other sectors covered by the EU ETS scheme. This is an important shift in the EU’s approach to aviation’s climate impact. They are also to look at aviation's non-CO2 impacts, so far ignored.
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Local MP says RAF Northolt is becoming a commercial airport ‘in all but name’
Labour MP Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) says military base, Northolt Airport, in west London near Heathrow is hosting 10,000 passenger flights a year and this number could quintuple. It is used by many VIP passenger flights and by the royal family. It is not supposed to be a commercial airport, but it seems to have become one "by stealth" and it is “increasingly apparent that it is a commercial airport in all but name”, with military status used “as a smokescreen”. While it is a military airfield, the number of commercial flights has dramatically increased in recent years. The number of passenger journeys, mostly involving VIP jets, dwarfs the 3,800 military flights. In a report commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, consultants suggested increasing the number of commercial flights to 50,000 a year, with the regional airline Flybe among those campaigning for commercial passenger flights to start operating there. Local residents had not been consulted over further changes including the proposed increase to 50,000. Some enthusiasts for Northolt hope it could become “an alternative to London City airport” for regional flights with up to 100 seats and a “key access airport” for Heathrow. It is unsuitable for larger planes. Gareth Thomas said the number of flights was already having a major impact on local people’s quality of life, including noise pollution, poor air quality and concerns about safety.
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BA flight to Athens returns to Heathrow (flying across London) after engine fire soon after take off
A British Airways flight was forced to turn back to Heathrow on Weds 6th September after witnesses reported seeing flames coming out of the engine. The Boeing 777, bound for Athens, headed back to Heathrow within minutes of taking off. Flight tracking website FlightRadar24, showed a graphic of the aircraft departing from Heathrow, circling around Maidstone in Kent and then returning. The plane had the engine on fire closed down, so flew right over London in order to land (landing from the east towards the west). Airlive tweeted: “British Airways Boeing 777 (reg. G-VIIH) returning to Heathrow with engine #2 shut down.The flight departed as scheduled at 1.44 this afternoon but was forced to declare an emergency and return to British Airways London hub." British Airways had not confirmed the fire but said they were looking into the incident. Speaking to The Independent a British Airways spokesperson said: “The flight landed safely after returning to the airport, and our highly trained engineers are investigating what happened." This is a reminder that is it very far from ideal for planes limping, damaged, back to Heathrow - across miles of densely populated London. This should remind people of the safety issues of the location of Heathrow - with the risk even higher with a 3rd runway.
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Privately funded rail link project from Windsor to Heathrow T5 – making a “rail M25”
Plans have been published for a new railway connecting the Great Western Main Line with Heathrow and Waterloo - via Windsor, which could be a link creating a future ‘M25 rail route’ encircling Greater London. It is considered to be feasible. Most of the rest of such a route either exists or is already being built, such as East West Rail between Oxford and Bedford. The Windsor project includes a new railway in tunnel connecting the two existing stations at Windsor, with Riverside being replaced by a new central station and transport interchange. A new railway would be built connecting the present Windsor Riverside line with Heathrow Terminal 5, with several possible routes identified. The cost is being put at £375 million, to be funded by the private sector. Investors would also bear the risk of any cost overruns. Promoters of the Windsor Link Railway have published a strategic case, and a formal feasibility study – a ‘GRIP 2’ report – has now been submitted to Network Rail. The Windsor Link report was prepared by engineering consultants Pell Frischmann in collaboration with Network Rail, with support from Skanska Infrastructure Development. This scheme is separate from the other privately funded scheme called - Heathrow Southern Railway - which like the Windsor Link would use the two vacant platforms at Terminal 5 station.
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Newcastle Chronicle asks: “Could Heathrow expansion hurt the North East and Newcastle Airport?”
Because Heathrow hopes to get support from the Newcastle area for its hoped-for 3rd runway, it held one of its "business summits" there. The airport has elaborate projections, based on extremely weak and shaky premises, of the economic benefit - and the jobs - that its runway would bring to the north east. However, the No 3rd Runway Coalition has pointed out (which came as news to the local press, that has been starved on the real facts) just how few jobs the runway would probably bring, and how Heathrow has used unreliable estimates based on out of date, discredited, numbers. While Heathrow takes one figure (all the UK over 60 years) of economic benefit of £147 billion, the DfT downgraded this figure in 2016 to £61 billion. Even that is hugely inaccurate, with the actual number taking all costs into account, more like £1 - 2 billion at most. Heathrow implies (based on the incorrect £147 bn) that the north east region would get some 5,000 jobs The other harsh reality is that a 3rd runway is unlikely to do much to increase domestic links to Heathrow, as these are only maintained if subsidised. What is much more likely to happen is that Newcastle airport would have fewer long haul flights, with even more of a concentration of these at Heathrow. The Coalition said that for good connections between the north east and international markets, the Government should be working to get direct flights into airports such as Newcastle.
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Gatwick continues to claim it would build a runway even if there is also a 3rd Heathrow runway
The boss of Gatwick, Stewart Wingate (in line for huge bonuses if he can get a 2nd runway approved) is repeating his claim that he will get the runway, and build it instead of - or in addition to - a 3rd runway at Heathrow. Gatwick has managed to considerably grow its passenger numbers this year, as affluent citizens have plenty of spare spending money and flying is so dirt cheap (especially with the oil price being very low). Gatwick is increasingly adding long-haul destinations in the US, Florida and the Caribbean to its tourist customers. Gatwick says it has had an 11% rise in long-haul passengers this summer compared to 2016. Stewart Wingate said: “Later this year, we’ll be further adding to our more than 60 long-haul connections with routes to Denver, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Taipei and Singapore ... As Gatwick continues to grow beyond 45 million annual passengers, we remain ready and willing to build our financeable and deliverable 2nd runway scheme ...." His comments came as Labour peer Lord Blunkett claimed that the party will support building a 3rd runway at Heathrow because it fears the anger of powerful trade unions if it does not. He said the unions would “not countenance” the parliamentary Labour party being told to vote down the plans due to the sheer number of jobs involved. He has been persuaded by the job numbers put about by Heathrow.
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Holland-Kaye confirms again that Heathrow will need to build its runway etc in phases to spread costs
Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, has again said the airport may need to build its 3rd runway and associated airport infrastructure in phases, to spread the massive £17 billion cost over many years. It will be interesting to see the latest government air travel demand forecasts when they are finally published later this year. It is likely they will show more demand at Gatwick than the Airports Commission had assumed, when it pressed for a 3rd Heathrow runway. There may be less strong demand for Heathrow than originally suggested, with impacts on Heathrow's finances. Holland-Kaye says he is not in favour of the cheaper runway plan by hotel tycoon Surinder Arora, which could be some £7 billion cheaper than Heathrow's own. Not otherwise very bothered about the extra noise caused by his 3rd runway, Holland-Kay says ..."I’m most concerned about the idea that the runway might move closer to London – that means more homes lost, more people hit by aircraft noise." He says: ‘We can expand the airport with fewer new buildings. We can do the construction on a phased basis so we can smooth out the price. Originally we were going to expand Terminal 2 early on which would have given us an extra 20 million passengers a year. ...Now we’re going to do that in phases, adding enough for 5 million at a time."
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Excellent AEF analysis: Why Heathrow’s sustainability strategy “Heathrow 2.0” doesn’t quite cut it
Heathrow produced a plan it calls "Heathrow 2.0" in an attempt to persuade MPs that its hoped for 3rd runway would be environmentally "sustainable" and its carbon emissions would all be offset, producing a "carbon neutral" runway. In a masterful rebuttal of the Heathrow 2.0 document, the AEF (Aviation Environment Federation) sets out clearly why this plan falls very far short of its ambition. It is likely that Heathrow hopes its document will be enough to give MPs who are poorly informed on UK carbon emissions the assurance they need, to vote for a 3rd runway. However, AEF points out that even if the airport itself tries to be "zero carbon", that is only around 3% of the total carbon emitted by all Heathrow flights - so a sideshow. AEF explains how offsetting CO2 emissions by Heathrow planes is not an acceptable way or effective way to deal with the problem. Indeed, this is the advice given consistently by the government's climate advisors, the CCC. Offsets will just not be available in future decades. The Heathrow 2.0 document pins its hopes on the UK plan, CORSIA, but this does not achieve actual cuts in aviation carbon and Heathrow has no plans to do anything practical to cut emissions. The key problem is that the UK has no strategy for limiting aviation emissions to a level consistent with our obligations on climate change, though the CCC and the EAC have repeatedly asked for one.
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Heathrow promises of thousands of jobs to the North East are based on flawed projections
On the day of Heathrow's Business Summit in Newcastle, the No 3rd Runway Coalition has revealed that far from bringing the economic benefits that the airport claim, the actual benefits of Heathrow expansion are likely to be negligible. While the figure of £147 billion benefit of the runway to the UK (over 60 years), by the Airports Commission, using one future scenario was seized upon by Heathrow to claim huge regional job figures, even the DfT admitted by October 2016 that the £147 was far too high. The DfT's own analysis, taking into account costs and not just adding up putative benefits, indicates very low benefits indeed to the UK - more like under £6 billion (for all the UK, over 60 years). So the inflated, exaggerated promises Heathrow had repeatedly made to the regions, of huge economic benefits and thousands of jobs, based on the £147 billion figure, are utterly spurious. The No 3rd Runway Coalition says the actual benefit per UK person per year might be of the order of £1.50. That is a very paltry paltry benefit and would not "play a major role in boosting jobs and growth" in the North East, or any other region. The runway will also probably reduce - not increase - the number of domestic routes to Heathrow, and these would only be kept open by public subsidy, as they would not be financially viable without being propped up by the taxpayer.
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SHE – taking the fight against Heathrow expansion to the TUC at the Brighton seaside
At the start of the TUC conference in Brighton, there was a small gathering outside the meeting by opponents of a 3rd Heathrow runway, from local group SHE (Stop Heathrow Expansion). A coach full of runway opponents, many from the villages near Heathrow like Harmondsworth that would be obliterated by the runway - or made virtually impossible to live in - went down to Brighton, to ensure TUC delegates were reminded of the situation. With the Trade Unions split on whether to oppose or support a Third Runway at Heathrow, the residents and campaigners were determined to put their side of the story and convince the Unions that opposition is the best course of action. The group was joined for a briefing on the latest developments by Hayes & Harlington MP John McDonnell, who posed with the team from SHE for photos. Many unions are keenly aware of climate change issues, and the need to reduce the UK's emissions. They are aware that building new high carbon infrastructure is contrary to that. However, some unions (such as Unite) hope that expansion would bring jobs, at least to some parts of the country, and that hope overrides carbon responsibilities. Benefits from a 3rd runway to the rest of the country, in terms of jobs - other than near Heathrow - are tenuous and uncertain.
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Chris Grayling publishes Sir Jeremy Sullivan’s NPS bland consultation review report
Chris Grayling appointed the former Senior President of Tribunals, Sir Jeremy Sullivan, to provide "independent oversight of the consultation process." Apart from the fact Sir Jeremy says he does not use a computer, and has never been involved in a large consultation exercise, he has come out - predictably - finding very little to criticise. He presumes those opposed to the runway will find fault with the consultation. He does say that because of the purdah period before the 8th June election, some of the consultation was curtailed, the government will need to make up for this with more consultation. He acknowledges that the leaflet by the DfT, sent to 1.5 million people, was a bit biased in favour of Heathrow. He says: "...in my view the headline points, as presented in the leaflet, did give the impression of a “hard sell” for Heathrow. It would have been much better if a more neutral leaflet had been distributed ...". But he says (to paraphrase) people should jolly well know that the DfT favours Heathrow, and not be surprised. And they should already know the arguments against the runway, so cannot expect them all to be in the leaflet. ... That does not appear to be an acceptable attitude, for someone overseeing the consultation. Chris Grayling has announced that Sir Jeremy "has agreed to oversee the period of further consultation."
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Chris Grayling announces the launch of a further consultation in the Airports National Policy Statement process, later this year
Transport Minister, Chris Grayling, has announced that there will be a further short period of consultation on the Airports National Policy Statement (NPS), about a Heathrow 3rd runway. The date of the consultation is not known, but it will be this year. The initial consultation on the NPS was between 2 February and 25 May this year. Some 70,000 responses were received, which the DfT is plodding through. Now there is further evidence on air pollution and the DfT feels it necessary to consult on this. There is also more evidence on air travel demand forecasts, which the DfT had said it would release months ago, but has not yet done so. Grayling says the new consultation is partly as documents could not be publicised during the purdah period in the run-up to the June election (that was disastrous for the Tories). In his statement Grayling says "This government remains committed to realising the benefits that airport expansion could bring, [note, could not would] and I can confirm that we do not expect this additional period of consultation to impact on the timetable for parliamentary scrutiny of the NPS." The Times considers this added need to consult, and the potential embarrassment of the air travel forecasts, could put the Heathrow process back by a year - with the vote on the NPS in the Commons not taking place till 2019. But this is merely speculation.
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GACC Chairman – Brendon Sewill – to retire after 27 successful years in the role
Brendon Sewill, chairman of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, is to retire on 15 October. He has been chairman since 1990, and has masterminded successful campaigns against a second Gatwick runway in 1993, in 2003 and again in 2013-16. Brendon says: ‘Campaigning to protect the environment around Gatwick for so many years has been exciting and immensely worthwhile. I have been fortunate to have had such strong support from our committee, from all our GACC members, from local councils and from our local MPs.’ Brendon is now 88 and feels that is a suitable age at which to reduce his commitments. He will be sorely missed by his colleagues, for his untiring and hugely expert campaigning over more than 27 years. His connection with Gatwick goes back a long way. As a child he attended the 1936 opening of Gatwick – with grass runways and biplanes. As a young man he was a member of the Gatwick Protest Committee which in 1952-54 opposed the construction of the existing airport. Brendon Sewill CBE has had a distinguished career with numerous high level and responsible positions, including being an advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on economics.
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Heathrow spent almost £1.25 million advertising on TfL properly in the year to June 2017
Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show Heathrow Airport spent over £1million advertising on TfL property in the year leading up to the June 2017 general election. Details obtained by campaign group Friends of the Earth reveal that in the 12 months up to 8th June, Heathrow spending on TfL property was £1,244,434. Gatwick Airport spent a total of £255,342 in the same period. The No 3rd Runway Coalition say that whilst the Government announced its own preference for the Heathrow scheme in October 2016, the amount spent by the airport over the period reinforces the view that Heathrow still has some way to go to convince parliament to support its proposals for a 3rd runway. A vote in parliament on the Airports National Policy Statement (for the 3rd runway) is expected in the first half of 2018. Heathrow is uncertain about whether it really can persuade MPs that its deeply environmentally damaging, and economically doubtful, runway plan can succeed - hence the need for so much advertising spend. Rob Barnstone, Coordinator of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said: “If Heathrow have spent over a million pounds with one organisation, I wonder how much money has been spent across the board. It is alarming that a company the size of Heathrow can buy support in this way.”
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“Heathrow Southern Railway”: The new £1.2 billion train line which could link Heathrow with Guildford and Waterloo
Plans have been unveiled for a new £1.2bn railway line which could finally link Heathrow Airport with trains from Guildford, Farnborough, Woking and London Waterloo. The Heathrow Southern Railway (HSR) proposal aims to greatly improve rail access to the airport. It is not part of Heathrow Ltd. A new route could see trains from Woking go direct to Heathrow at the same fares to those if you were going to Waterloo. The project could also see direct access to the airport from towns such as Weybridge, Egham, Guildford, Woking and Farnborough too. Though still in its extremely early stages, the HSR team have given some consideration thought to how the project could be achieved. Easier rail travel to and from Heathrow for those to the south and in Surrey has been needed for a long time. The proposal includes an additional 8 miles of rail to be constructed along the M25. The HSR scheme hopes to deliver fast, direct and frequent rail access to Heathrow from the south and south west where services are not offered by rail. Also frequent service to Waterloo via Richmond and Putney and links to south London, Sussex and Kent through Clapham Junction and Waterloo East. It could also provide direct trains to Paddington from the south and south west via Heathrow creating an alternative London terminal to Waterloo and with Elizabeth Line providing connections to the West End, the City and Docklands.
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Labour opposition could try to block Heathrow 3rd runway in the Commons
Labour could vote against plans for a 3rd Heathrow runway, in a move that could see the plan blocked by Parliament. Senior allies of Jeremy Corbyn told the Financial Times that he and colleagues are almost certain to oppose the 3rd runway in a Commons vote - on environmental grounds. This means the plans for the £16.5billion runway are at significant risk, because as many as 60 Tory MPs are also opposed to the expansion of Heathrow. It could leave PM Theresa May dependent on the support of the Scottish National Party and rebel MPs, as she tries to push the plans through Parliament. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and Justine Greening, the Education Secretary, have been given a free vote on the issue (the vote may be some time after June 2018) because of their long standing fierce opposition to the runway. John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, is a vociferous opponent of the scheme. The position of Labour is that the runway would have to pass four rather vague tests - and unless the bar for each is set ludicrously low, the Heathrow runway cannot pass any of them in any satisfactory manner. The issue of the high levels of air pollution, damaging the health of thousands of people near Heathrow, is a serious one for Labour. There are also probably insuperable problems of plane noise, and increased CO2 emissions.
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How Heathrow’s new runway would be funded, (higher landing costs, more costs to taxpayer) – all unclear
Heathrow's plans for a 3rd runway, and associated building, are due to cost the airport at least £18 billion (not including unexpected over-runs and engineering problems etc). Heathrow now wants the right to make airlines and passengers contribute to any unexpected higher costs. The CAA controls the amount Heathrow can charge airlines. Heathrow has asked the CAA to factor in a huge array of risks from building the 3,500 metre runway across the M25 into the charges it is allowed to claw back from carriers. Heathrow keeps insisting its landing charges would remain close to current levels, aviation experts said there are few credible alternatives to charging users more. IAG believes the huge construction costs will lead to charges doubling to landing charges per passenger, from about £40 now to £80 for a return ticket. Heathrow is mainly owned by overseas investors. As well as higher than expected costs of construction, there are risks such as lack of interest from airlines in taking up the new landing slots; financial markets turning against the airport, leading to a downgrade of its credit rating; higher debt costs; and politics. There is real fear that if the Heathrow expansion project was allowed, the costs - many £ billion - might fall on the taxpayer - if the enterprise becomes a bit of a white elephant. The Airports Commission and DfT have said little about this massive risk to the public finances.
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Algal biofuel production is neither environmentally nor commercially sustainable – blow to aviation hopes
Modern biofuels have been touted as a greener alternative to petrol and diesel since the early 1900s. Professor Kevin Flynn, of Swansea University, says though it seems like a good idea on paper, and they do work – their use and production doesn’t come without problems. The first generation of biofuels – mainly ethanol made from plant crops – and second generation, derived from plant and animal waste streams, both led to concerns about competition for land and nutrients between biofuels production and food production. It was with a lot of hope, and hype, that production of the third generation of biofuels was started. Unlike their predecessors, these biofuels are derived from algae, and so in theory the food vs fuel dilemma of crop-based biofuels would be solved. Huge sums of money have been spent trying to get the algal marvel to work, refining the engineering process, electrically lighting the crop – which grows in a liquid suspension – harvesting and draining it. However the hype has been misplaced. Research has found that the production of algal biofuels is neither commercially nor environmentally sustainable. The attainable production levels are a fraction of those that were claimed. The algae cannot produce enough oil, without vast areas, or vast input of fertilisers etc. The process cannot be scaled up adequately.
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Planes are flying too low, say residents – but Bournemouth Airport say flight path hasn’t changed
Bournemouth Airport says its flight paths are ‘set in stone’ and have not changed in any way,. But some West Parley residents complained of low flying aircraft, and believe the planes flying over their homes are lower than they were before. People have complained to local officials about ‘changed flight paths’ at the airport, also believe noisier aircraft are flying late at night. The airport's managing director said there are no changes to the ILS for landings, or the times planes fly and "The last commercial aircraft comes in around 2300, sometimes a little bit later, but that is it." A local councillor said: “Some of these planes are operating on the red eye flights and late at night, and one or two of the planes, in particular, are considered to be considerably noisier than normal flights. If this is the case, then it is quite antisocial for people living nearby.” At other airports there has been a problem of terminology. Airports and the air traffic control services have their own definitions of what "change" is. That does not include changes to flight mix, changes to times of day, heights, or how accurately planes follow a flight path. What residents who are overflown consider change is often not considered significant by the industry.
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Luton Airport plans further growth to 25 million passengers (not just 18 million) within 10 years
Luton Airport is planning to expand to 25 million passengers, in a move campaign groups are arguing could increase noise pollution above Hertfordshire. Luton is planning significant expansion, while NATS says the skies over south east England are overcrowded and close to saturation. Neil McArthur of local group, Harpenden Sky, submitted a Freedom of Information Request which revealed that the LLAL planning strategy is for steady growth to 25 million passengers within 10 years. This represents nearly a 40% increase over the current planning limit of 18 million passengers, which was agreed by Luton borough council. Residents who live under flight paths in St Albans, Harpenden and elsewhere in Hertfordshire have made multiple complaints to the airport about plane noise, due to a new routing system which has narrowed the flight paths and concentrated the noise over a smaller area. Over the past year, noise complaints have increased from 191 in the first quarter of 2016, to 1,849 in the first quarter of 2017. Neil said the airport is not being properly managed, and changes are being rushed through too fast. Andrew Lambourne, from campaign group LADACAN (Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) said the airport's focus is entirely on growth for airlines, giving no mention of making the :airport a better neighbour to local communities.
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IATA says global air freight rose more in first half of 2017 than any time since financial crisis
IATA says global air freight traffic rose 10.4% during the first half of 2017, making it the largest growth in half a year for 7 years. Global air freight capacity for the first half of 2017 grew 3.6% compared to the same period in 2016, resulting in a freight load factor of 44.8%. “Demand growth continues to significantly outstrip capacity growth, which is positive for yields,” IATA said. In June, air freight traffic grew 11% year-over-year, down from 12.7% in May, but much more than the 3.9% five-year average pace. But IATA senior economist David Oxley reaffirmed that the “best of the cyclical upturn in air freight may now have passed … while business surveys still indicate growing export orders, the new export orders component of the global manufacturing PMI [purchasing managers’ index] has broadly tracked sideways since March.” Unless global manufacturers’ export orders increase, a moderation in year on year air freight growth will likely materialize toward the end of the year." IATA said carriers in Asia-Pacific and Europe were responsible for two-thirds of the annual increase in traffic during the first half of the year. IATA said air cargo demand "is growing at a faster pace than at any time since the global financial crisis."
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Edinburgh Airport flight path plans altered slightly after public consultation with negative responses
Edinburgh Airport said it has modified its proposals for changes to its flight paths following its latest public consultation. It has submitted these revised airspace change proposals to the CAA. Residents living under the new routes said they were concerned about increased aircraft noise and the impact on their communities. Campaign group Edinburgh Airport Watch said: "We call on the airport to halt this flawed process now. The CAA must scrutinise this application very carefully, and understand that there is no community support for these changes....We call on our government to intervene and ask serious questions about whose interests are being served by such radical proposals for change to flight paths that will have life-altering consequences for the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people across east central Scotland." The airport said it would only use any new routes when "they are required, and that we should explain very clearly when that is and why". It said it had also restricted the routes to peak hours. Campaigners said the airport had only published "vague information" about the changed plans. The airport's CEO said they will do a phased approach, and the new routes will help the airport handle more planes during the short peak periods. The airport is not busy enough at other times to need them. There have been two public consultations held into the proposals.
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550% increase in complaints to City Airport following introduction of concentrated flight paths
Complaints to London City Airport have gone up by 550% since the introduction of the new concentrated flight paths. The figures were revealed in the airport’s 2016 Annual Performance Report, just published. Last year there were nearly 400 complaints, up from 95 in 2015. In its report, London City admits the increase is down to the concentrated flight paths which were introduced on 4th February 2016, as part of the implementation of Phase 1a of the London Airspace Management Plan (LAMP). The release of the complaint figures comes a week after the London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for an end to the concentrated flight paths. In an answer to a question from Green London Assembly member Caroline Russell, he said, “It is clear that the concentrated flight paths introduced by London City Airport are not working. We will continue to raise the issue with London City Airport. We also continue to make the case to the CAA that there must be a fairer distribution of flight paths that will address the severe noise impacts." At present the CAA is assessing a report from London City into the operation of the concentrated flight paths. It is expected to make its recommendations in the next month or two.
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Blog by Cait Hewitt (AEF): Is global aviation climate policy heading in the right direction?
Cait Hewitt, Deputy Director of the Aviation Environment Federation looks at aviation emissions and whether we’re on course to tackle them. Nobody knows yet whether the ICAO agreement to implement a Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) beginning in 2020 will be at all effective in limiting aviation CO2 emissions. It depends on the unsatisfactory process of "offsetting" emissions from planes, using real CO2 cuts made by other sectors. At present, CORSIA is far less ambitious than the 2015 Paris Agreement. Cait asks: "...does carbon offsetting offer an effective response to the global climate challenge, as its advocates argue, or is it merely a way of putting off difficult decisions?" The UK’s statutory advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change, has advised that market based measures should be seen as only a short to medium term solution for tackling aviation emissions, arguing that the sector should be preparing for deep cuts in its own emissions. Analysis suggests that achieving the Paris Agreement will require our economies to be zero emissions by 2070. However the UK government plans a huge expansion of the aviation sector, with Heathrow's claimed economic benefits calculated over 60 years. The does not seem compatible with zero carbon by 2070. Cait: "We have yet to have a public or political conversation about what that could mean for the role of flying in our economies and our lives."
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Stansted had 25m passengers this year – finally well above levels in 2007 after years of declines
Stansted airport had 25 million passengers in the past year, its highest number ever. Numbers of passengers using Stansted have been growing rapidly in recent years following its acquisition in 2013 from the former BAA group by Manchester Airports Group (MAG) - and the end of the recession that started in 2008. There are now some new operators, as well as increased activity by established airlines, including Ryanair. Stansted says it now has 190 destinations, and a growing route network. They are now having their busiest summer ever, and hope to get to 26.5 million passengers by the end of 2017. Ryanair said that since its first Stansted flight in 1989, it has carried over 230 million passengers through Stansted with over 140 Stansted routes. The airport has recently given formal notification of its intention to submit a planning application later this year to seek permission to grow to an annual throughput of 44.5 million passengers and 285,000 flights. This compares to last year’s throughput of 24 million passengers and 180,000 flights. Stansted only got back the number of passengers it had in 2007 by 2016 - after years of declines.
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Thousands sign petition for more transport cash for north of England – which gets far less than London
More than 34,600 people have signed a petition calling for more investment in transport in the north of England, after rail electrification plans across the country were scrapped. Chris Grayling gave his backing last week to Crossrail 2, a £30 billion railway that will tunnel under London, days after ditching a scheme to electrify some train lines in Wales, the Midlands and the north. His suggestion that full electrification may be too complicated raised further doubts over the proposed modernisation of the TransPennine route between Manchester and Leeds, a project seen as critical to the “northern powerhouse”. The petition, (by IPPR North and 38 Degrees), calls on the transport secretary to give his immediate backing to HS3, a high-speed railway line from east to west across northern England, connecting Liverpool with Hull. It also asks the government to make an immediate commitment to at least £59bn of “catch-up cash” for the north over the coming decade, and urges the Transport for the North body be given the same powers as Transport for London to raise private finance. But the government is hell-bent on pushing through a 3rd Heathrow runway, and not requiring the airport to pay for surface access infrastructure. That means the taxpayer picking up a bill of at least £15 billion. That is money that will not be going to other transport - such as what is needed for the north and regions.
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University pension scheme, 10% owners of Heathrow, have £17.5 deficit in pension fund
Universities face a new blow to their finances after the main pension fund deficit has risen to £17.5bn. The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) now has the largest pensions deficit of any UK pension fund after it increased by £9 billion last year. One expert said student fees may have to rise or be diverted from teaching. But a USS spokesperson said the pensions were "secure, backed by a solid investment portfolio and the strength of sponsoring employers." The USS funds pensions for academics who are mostly based in the pre-1992 universities, and has more than 390,000 members. The pensions deficit has grown rapidly since 2014, when benefits were reduced for new entrants to plug a £5,3bn deficit. The USS bought an 8% stake in Heathrow in 2014 and has since increased that to 10%. They also bought, in 2013, a nearly 50% stake in the Airlines Group, which owns almost half of air traffic controller, NATS. USS said: "USS pensions are secure, backed by a solid investment portfolio and the strength of sponsoring employers." The owners of Heathrow are expected to put up money for the very expensive Heathrow expansion scheme, and will be needing large returns on their investment if the runway is ever built. Heathrow is having to cut the costs of its scheme, now saying it will delay a terminal + underground rail link, which it cannot afford.
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Bristol region bidding to become one of 4 construction partners in Heathrow expansion
Heathrow announced in April that it planned to have four construction hubs to allow components of its 3rd runway expansion project. These logistics hubs would pre-assemble components for the proposed building work before transporting them to the airport. Heathrow claims this will make the project cheaper, and provide some jobs and some economic benefits to other parts of the country. Now Bristol is hoping to be one of these hubs. The West of England Combined Authority (Weca) – which includes Bristol, B&NES and South Gloucestershire – has placed a bid to be one of the hubs. The announcement was made by Metro Mayor Tim Bowles at a Weca meeting on 26th July where he revealed he had recently met with CEO of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye. The earliest that work on the 3rd runway expansion could start would be 2020, and there are many hurdles for the project to get through first. Bristol hopes it has a good chance of being selected, as it is not too far from London and has strong port, rail and road links. The Metro Mayor is keen for the potential partnership to be about more than just physical materials, he would also like the West of England to contribute to the technological development of the airport. A shortlist of candidates to be hubs is expected to be published later this year.
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London City Airport campaigners do cake stunt outside CAA offices, as Sadiq Khan backs calls to end concentrated flight paths
On Friday 28th July campaigners against London City Airport’s concentrated flight paths, introduced last year, staged a colourful stunt outside the headquarters of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Kingsway. The campaigners from HACAN East highlighted the impact the concentrated flight paths are having on local communities. The stunt was timed to coincide with a review the CAA is conducting into the operation of the flight paths. Campaigners have won the backing of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, in their bid to get rid of the concentrated flight paths. In written answer to a question from Green London Assembly member Caroline Russell, he said; “It is clear that the concentrated flight paths introduced by London City Airport are not working. We will continue to raise the issue with London City Airport. We also continue to make the case to the CAA that there must be a fairer distribution of flight paths that will address the severe noise impacts.” Campaigners from a wide range of places affected by the flight path changes each brought along a cake with the name of their area indicated. A cake was also presented to the CAA, along with a letter. Campaigners want the CAA to require London City Airport to replace concentrated flight paths with multiple routes, rotated, so that each community gets some relief from the noise.
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Aerospace body the ADS says the UK should stay in EU during transition period
ADS is the premier trade organisation for companies in the UK aerospace and defence sector. It has said the UK must remain an EU member during a Brexit transition period from March 2019. ADS said the UK would struggle to sign the necessary agreements with global safety regulators before then, risking disruption to air travel. The government has indicated an "implementation period" may be needed to avoid an abrupt exit from the EU. But it has yet to outline what that could involve. When or if the UK ceases to be an EU member, it needs to have in place a whole new set of international agreements with, for instance, countries like the US, with Canada and emerging major markets like China, India, Japan. The industry needs a transition period and that the UK remains an EU member. Such agreements are needed, even if the UK chooses to remain a part of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which has largely replaced domestic air safety regimes in EU member states over the past 15 years. ADS was not aware that the UK government had started "detailed work" on these relationships. If the UK leaves the EU without these in place, it would mean "chaos, because we don't have a system to ensure that our products are safe and secure to fly". Remaining part of EASA could prove controversial as the UK would have to pay, and would be subject to European oversight, ultimately by the European Court of Justice.
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Heathrow plans to cut building costs of its runway plan, to keep fares low, by not adding new terminal
Heathrow has said it will - allegedly - guarantee to effectively freeze passenger landing fees when [if] a 3rd runway is built, by scrapping plans for a new terminal. The cost for the whole planned expansion is about £17.6 billion, and Heathrow knows it will have trouble raising all this and paying for changes to surface access transport. The government does not want air fares to get any more expensive. So Heathrow now says it will knock “several billion” pounds off the cost of its plan by abandoning facilities such as an additional terminal. The terminal would require a huge subsurface baggage handling system and an underground passenger metro system, which was estimated to cost £1 billion alone. They instead suggest extending Terminals 5 and 2 and phasing the expansion work over as long as 20 years, to control costs. The main airline at Heathrow, IAG, is not prepared to pay higher charges to fund inefficient expansion, that is unnecessarily expensive. The amended expansion plans by Heathrow will be put out for a public consultation later in 2017. The publication of the final Airports National Policy Statement [the consultation on it ended in May 2017] setting out the Government's position, and a subsequent House of Commons vote, are expected in the first half of 2018 with the vote not before June. Heathrow hopes to cut costs in every way it can, and get in the necessary funds by attracting many more passengers, even if paying hardly more than they do now - about £22 landing fee - each.
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RAE report (over) optimistic that 2nd generation transport biofuels will help cut aviation CO2
The Royal Academy of Engineering has produced a report on second generation biofuels, commissioned by the UK’s transport and energy government departments, DfT and BEIS. It looks at the viability of "sustainable" second generation liquid biofuels, including their use in aviation. The report says the aviation sector, as well as shipping and heavy goods vehicles (which all need a great deal of energy, but cannot use electricity) are considered a priority for the development and use of biofuels. Biofuel is already used in road transport, though it is probably often producing more environmental harm, and more CO2, even than conventional fuels. Little progress has been made on biofuels for aviation and even less for shipping. The industry wants government money to subsidise research into these fuels, to "incentivise the development of second generation biofuels such as those derived from wastes and agricultural, forest and sawmill residues." Just how genuinely "sustainable" environmentally these fuels might ever be is unknown - the early ones were very environmentally harmful. The government is very keen to grow the aviation sector, though aware the carbon emissions from doing so are likely to mean the Climate Change Act is put at risk. So they are placing faith in these (magical) fuels to solve the problems - but it is likely their faith will prove to be misplaced.
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Campaigners say government’s £3 billion clean air strategy for NO2 does not go “far enough or fast enough”
The government's (DEFRA's) £3bn clean air strategy was released on 26th July. It suggests ways in which roadside NO2 pollution can be reduced. However, air pollution campaigners say it does not go "far enough or fast enough", and is disappointing. Some of the measures proposed include banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2040 (so there are none on the roads by 2050) and £255m for councils to tackle air pollution locally. But there is mention of a scrappage scheme for diesel vehicles, or the creation of clean air zones, which environmental groups say are needed. Funding from government of £40 million (raised by a tax on diesel vehicles) will be used to start local schemes rolling, for things like changing road layouts, retrofitting public transport or schemes to encourage people to leave their cars at home. If those measures do not cut NO2 emissions enough, charging zones for the most polluting vehicles could be the next step. Greenpeace UK's clean air campaigner said 2040 was "far too late" and called for the UK to "lead the world in clean transport revolution". ClientEarth - the law firm that took the government to court over pollution levels - said the plans were "underwhelming" and "lacking in urgency". Labour said the government was"shunting the problem on to local authorities" and "With nearly 40 million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, action is needed now, not in 23 years' time."
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Sadiq Khan backs campaigners HACAN East, fighting concentrated flight paths in east London
Residents fighting the concentrated flight paths to and from London City Airport have welcomed the backing of Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. People who have been fighting concentrated flight paths, introduced in February 2016, which have turned their communities into “noise ghettos” with much more traffic over certain areas, badly affecting the homes below. The number of noise complaints rose four-fold since then. Residents in Leytonstone have been hit particularly hard by the paths, with some saying they are considering selling their houses. Caroline Russell, Green Party Member of the London Assembly, raised the issue with Sadiq Khan on behalf of residents. Sadiq said: “It is clear that the concentrated flight paths introduced by London City Airport are not working. We will continue to raise the issue with London City Airport. We also continue to make the case to the CAA that there must be a fairer distribution of flight paths that will address the severe noise impacts.” HACAN East will stage a protest outside the CAA headquarters on Friday, July 28th to coincide with a review the authority is conducting into the changed paths. They will provide cakes, with the names of all the areas affected, and give a suitable cake to the CAA. Protesters want the CAA to make City Airport scrap the new paths and replace them with multiple routes which are rotated to ensure each area gets periods without the noise.
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Anti 3rd runway campaign puts on “Bare necessities” display at Theresa May’s Maidenhead festival
Stop Heathrow Expansion (SHE), a local campaign group made up of residents opposing the plans for a 3rd Heathrow runway, attended the Maidenhead Festival 22 and 23 July. They had a fun but serious message – fighting for the ‘bare necessities’ that Heathrow expansion would threaten. The theme of the need for "the bare necessities of life" took centre stage at the group’s pitch to local residents at the annual festival, with essentials including: - the right to a settled home, - air free from pollution, - good health, - quiet time for essential rest, - a planet safe from climate change. SHE believes all these would be put at risk with a 3rd runway, and to get the message across, three members wore distinctive bear costumes for the day - to highlight the ‘bare necessities’ theme. The extra 260,000 planes per year that would use an expanded Heathrow would serious noise problems for tens of thousands in the area, worse air pollution, and huge strain on local housing caused by the displacement of the two villages of Harmondsworth and Longford nearby. The negative impacts on her constituency should be a matter of concern to Theresa May, its MP. The previously opposed the runway, but is now prepared to sacrifice her residents' quality of life, for the slightly desperate attempt by this weakened government to show "Britain is open for business" post-Brexit, by backing a highly dubious, costly, damaging, runway project.
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UK air traffic controllers NATS warn of over-crowded skies – so they must “modernise” systems
The skies in the south east of England are among the most crowded anywhere in the world. And the government wants a new Heathrow runway, and expansion in numbers of flights at all other airports. But NATS, the UK's National Air Traffic Control Service, says their ability to deal with this surge is being stretched to the limit. The air traffic controllers warn that UK skies are running out of room amid a record number of flights. Friday 21st July is likely to be the busiest day of the year, as Brits take off for their foreign holidays.Air traffic controllers expect to manage a record 770,000 flights in UK airspace over the summer - 40,000 more than last year. NATS can only deal with the stunning number of flights anticipated if they get drastic modernisation in the way aircraft are guided across UK airspace. Otherwise there would be delays (and the industry does not like delays - they affect profits). The DfT has put out a consultation on how it will expand the UK aviation sector, and has had to mention noise as one of the inevitable consequences of the intended increase in numbers of flights. NATS needs airspace to be modified, with more concentrated flight paths. But the DfT, the CAA and NATS still have no clear idea (other than platitudes) how to manage the increased noise, without creating noise "ghettos" or noise "sewers" where the amount of aircraft noise is, frankly, above what people should be expected to tolerate.
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Heathrow does not plan to end the Cranford Agreement till it gets 3rd runway go-ahead – bad news for Windsor area
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is calling on Heathrow not to delay action that could ease the burden of noise on Windsor, Datchet, Wraysbury and Horton. The borough wants Heathrow to press ahead with ending the Cranford Agreement, which was established in the 1950s; it prevents planes from taking off over the village of Cranford at the eastern end of the northern runway, when Heathrow is on easterly operations. It means Cranford is protected from the worst of the take-off noise. But it means areas near Windsor get all the landings on the northern runway, rather than having them shared between runways. Windsor suffers more noise now because of the Cranford agreement. They have always wanted it ended. At a recent meeting of the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee, Heathrow Airport Ltd said it would now wait until [if] the 3rd runway got final approval before initiating plans to alternate runways on easterly operations - meaning the Cranford Agreement stays. And Windsor continues to get the noise. Windsor's Cllr Bowden said: “The council is extremely concerned with the decision made by Heathrow Airport, without public consultation to further delay runway alternation." Matters would get even worse for the borough, with a 3rd runway.
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