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Latest news stories:
BA hopes to get government help & subsidies to fund the “Shangri-la” of “sustainable” jet fuels
BA claims using a tiny proportion of jet fuel, derived from used cooking oil, or from municipal waste, will make dramatic cuts in its carbon emissions. The reality is that of all the publicity flights made so far, of airlines using around 20% jet fuel from biological origins, the vast majority have been using used cooking oil. That is the only fuel that can be seen as environmentally sustainable, and not compete with food resources or with land for growing food. There is, of course, a limited amount of used cooking oil - and most of this is already snapped up by other, terrestrial users, such as for a diesel substitute or for pharmaceuticals. So the aviation industry has not found its "get out of jail free" card by using biofuels. And the industry demands that, for biofuels to be cheap and plentiful enough, there need to be government subsidies, from the taxpayer. The industry says "airlines and the rest of the industry cannot do it alone – political support and financial investment will have to come from a number of stakeholders." With Solena, BA is building a much publicised factory in Essex to convert London waste into fuel. However, there may well be better uses for this waste - for instance, making fuel for necessary local council, or emergency services vehicles. Why jet fuel?
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GACC confirms that Gatwick’s Noise Action Plan is just a regurgitation of the old one, barely changed
The Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, (GACC) has checked through the Noise Action Plan that the airport has put out, as a revised plan. The prospect of a better plan may have raised the hopes of thousands of people affected by aircraft noise that there would be some significant changes,. But those hopes have been quickly dashed. The plan is little more than the Noise Action Plan which was published in November 2013 and, after a rushed consultation, submitted to the Government in February 2014. It is still dated Nov 2013. A significant failing of the Plan is that it was submitted to the Government before the introduction of new concentrated departure routes and before the recent consultations on departure and arrival routes, so there are now many more people with an interest than when it was written. Many of the promised actions have already taken place – and people find them disappointing. The promised "respite" has not yet materialised. Contrary to what is said in the Noise Action Plan, Gatwick is encouraging airlines to fly more night flights. And so on.
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Gatwick airport makes a few cosmetic changes to its Noise Action Plan – not actually reducing noise
Gatwick airport has added a few, small changes to the Noise Action Plan that it wrote in November 2013. The airport says this is in response to comments they received to their airspace consultation from Oct 2013 to Jan 2014. The few changes will do very little to actually reduce noise. Logically, that will not be possible, with ever increasing numbers of flights. However, the changes include: "Explore whether ‘rotating respite’ can be provided to communities most affected by noise from aircraft;" increasing CDA landings (already doing that); more consultation with residents (in the vain hope this deflects opposition); "commission noise studies to gain an insight into the noise climate" (ongoing); Request that the DfT explores ways to describe and measure aircraft noise more clearly to help people understand noise impacts;" "Gatwick Airport Ltd will write to the DfT requesting research be undertaken to fully understand the effects of aircraft ion human health;" (by 2018) and "Commission public studies on noise impacts on particular areas." So not a lot of action by Gatwick itself. Or any action at all really. A bit more PR - requiring careful reading of the small print.
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Manston Airport site sold to developers for manufacturing and homes
Manston airport has been bought by developers, Trevor Cartner and Chris Musgrave who have done two other regeneration projects in the UK - the largest being in Billingham. They are part of joint venture company Wynyard Park Limited. They recently met with former airport owner, Ann Gloag, and reached agreement to acquire a majority interest in the Manston site. Future development will be aimed at providing space for a wide range of businesses, with a focus on attracting companies interested in advanced manufacturing, as well as the provision of housing, shops, schools and community facilities. They say it is still is too early to be specific about their plans, but they will be looking to comprehensively redevelop the whole site to create a mixed-use community. The airport has closed, the equipment has been sold and it will not reopen. "We are aware that there were a number of job losses when the airport closed and a far greater number will replace these." They plan a 20-year £1bn redevelopment to "create more than 4,000 jobs". Roger Gale, Tory MP for Thanet North, said it sounded "remarkably like opportunist land-banking".
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Ed Balls and Mary Creagh, at Labour conference, both say there needs to be a quick decision on runway capacity
At the Labour conference, Shadow Sec of State for Transport, Mary Creagh said, on aviation: "More airport capacity is vital to Britain’s economic success, but David Cameron was too weak to deliver it. So he kicked it into the long grass. That led to Boris Johnson’s fantasy island airport .... The one that would have closed Heathrow, destroyed jobs and put London at risk of flooding. £5 million of public money wasted on his vanity project, but it was never about the country’s future. .... The next Labour Government will make a swift decision on airport expansion in the national interest." In his speech, Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor said there should be no more “dither and delay” on airport capacity, amid signals that Labour is no longer ruling out expansion at Heathrow. He said there must be a rapid and final decision on this after the next election. “Whatever the outcome of the Howard Davies review into airport capacity, we must resolve to finally make a decision on airport capacity in London and the South-East — expanding capacity while taking into account the environmental impact ....No more kicking into the long-grass, but taking the right decisions for Britain’s long-term future.”
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Mary Dejevsky: “Momentum is gathering behind Heathrow’s 3rd runway. We need to stop it in its tracks”
Writing in the Independent, Mary Dejevsky writes persuasively about the real issue of noise from Heathrow airport, affecting perhaps half a million Londoners. She says it is only near the airport that noise is monitored, regulations apply and residents qualify for insulation. "Noise elsewhere on the flight-path is not regarded by the aviation authorities as any real nuisance." And complaining is unrewarding and ineffective. "The Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, told the Labour Party conference yesterday that all options for a new runway were on the table, including Heathrow." Mary pours scorn on the distasteful full-page ad by Heathrow recently, a small child and implying (unconvincingly) that her future welfare is dependent on a 3rd Heathrow. Mary says what is not mentioned in the advert is "the noise and the pollution not just around the existing airport, but the noise, pollution and safety considerations that somehow don’t count because they are not absolutely on the airport perimeter." And "what about other little girls, and the parents who hold down demanding jobs and collect them from school, despite losing a couple of hours sleep a night, are they not “stakeholders” in the country and its transport system, too?"
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Big protest in Queens, New York, against unacceptable level of aircraft noise from La Guardian & JFK airports
People living near La Guardia airport, and JFK airport in New York have been protesting against the aircraft noise to which they are being subjected. On 14th September, the local community group, "QUEENS QUIET SKIES" organized a rally of 250 - 300 people against the plane noise, saying the residents are fed up with the noise. Residents say changes over the past few years have made backyards (=gardens) unusable and had a very negative effect on their neighbourhoods. They want less noise, with the acceptable noise level reduced to 55 decibels from the current 65-decibel day-night average sound level. This could be done by more dispersed flights. They also want better noise abatement programs. People in Queens want the issue of aircraft noise tacked on a national level, and say the current noise standard, which has been in place since the 1970s, "is no longer a reliable measure of the true impact of aircraft noise." As it England and elsewhere the impact is that people can no longer enjoy sitting in the garden, a barbeque with friends - or even just the basic "luxury" of opening the windows on a hot day. One commented: “No one should be subjected to planes flying at low altitudes at one-minute intervals for 18 hours a day every day. Enough is enough.”
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Does Heathrow advert implying a small girl needs a 3rd runway, for her future, meet Advertising Standards?
Earlier this week, Heathrow put out full page advertisements for their 3rd runway. This is part of an on-going, and expensive media campaign. However, they may have mis-judged the tone of this one. It features a small girl, aged about 5, with her hand up - and the text makes out that her future well being will depend upon ..... guess what?? .... a new Heathrow runway. The advert says the 3rd runway will deliver "... at least £100 billion of economic benefits [no timescale given] the length and breadth of the country. .... So, even if our little girl never leaves home, she'll still feel the benefit." People may have been inspired to write to the Advertising Standards Authority, to complain about this rather dubious text, with unsubstantiated claims, making use of a small child, to try to make a PR point. One such letter to the ASA has been copied to AirportWatch, in which the writer clearly puts the case that what this child needs is a stable climate for her future, not accelerating carbon emissions. The writer believes the advert to be misleading, and asks the ASA to have it withdrawn.
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New paper on future UK aviation shows how fiscal measures will be needed to limit CO2 emissions
In a recent article in "World Transport Policy and Practice", 4 authors (Harry William Vallack, Gary Haq, John Whitelegg and Howard Cambridge) write on the prospects of UK transport being zero carbon by 2050 - or how far it will fall short of this target. Compared to the carbon emissions target that the Committee on Climate Change recommends, of 37.5 MtCO2 per year, by 2050, the paper estimates UK aviation carbon emissions as considerably higher, unless a range of measures are taken to ensure they do not grow. In their "Maximum Impact (MI) scenario, in which UK aviation emissions might possibly be prevented from rising, some 27% of the cut would need to be from fiscal measures (ie. tax and pricing); some 14% of the cut could come from aircraft technology (with perhaps a small amount of biofuel); 13% cut in the CO2 emissions might be from better air traffic control; and 10% could come from constrained demand (ie. not building runways on a predict-and-provide basis). Even with all the Maximum Impact measures, UK aviation emissions could only - at the most optimistic - be reduced by 56% of their "business as usual" level, by 2050. UK surface transport has to be zero carbon, to enable growth in aviation and shipping.
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Protesters line route of Tour of Britain to campaign against Gatwick flight paths
Local campaign group, Communities Against Noise and Emissions (CAGNE), which is helping residents oppose increased aircraft noise from Gatwick, lined part of the route of the Tour of Britain last week. They watched cyclists as they passed through Horsham, with banners and placards about their campaign. CAGNE chairman Sally Pavey said: “We took the opportunity of the tour to raise awareness of our campaign. We had lots of interest from people, some of which have found themselves suddenly under a trial flight path." Though the ADNID flight path trial, which concentrated flights over areas south west of Gatwick, has now ended, the problem is still there. Having experienced the deeply unpleasant and intrusive noise nuisance of the flight path trial, people are now very concerned about the prospect of a 2nd Gatwick runway, realising the noise implications. CAGNE started in Warnham, when the trial began in April, and it has quickly attracted hundreds of members Warnham, Rusper, Kingsfold, Rowhook, Broadbridge Heath, Slinfold parishes and north Horsham. Other groups have now formed to the east of Gatwick, to oppose the new noise they are also suffering.
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Heathrow seeks 20-year landing charge deal with CAA so investors will fund 3rd runway
For many years, Heathrow has been in dispute with the CAA about the level of charges to airlines using the airport. It is now reported to be demanding a 20-year deal on landing charges in return for building a 3rd runway. Heathrow says it needs a fundamental review of the regulatory regime, where prices are reviewed every five years, if it is to bear the risk of the £15 billion capital outlay that a new runway would require. The request, part of its 400-page submission to the Airports Commission, is likely to infuriate airline customers, who have been complaining bitterly about its high passenger charges. Assessment of the financial viability, and possibility, of the runway proposals is part of the task of the Airports Commission. Heathrow said a deal on regulation needs to cover a period “from the point of committing the first significant investment, for at least 15 years” and it wants the government to guarantee that all “efficiently incurred” expenditure is included in the company’s regulated asset base (means a proxy for an airport’s value – which rises in line with investment in new facilities, such as terminals and runways) in future — with safeguards to prevent write-downs.
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Prices of long-haul flights from Scottish airports slashed as Middle East airlines compete – cheaper than going via Heathrow
Air passengers from Scotland, travelling to the Middle East and Australia are benefitting from a price war between the major airlines. Emirates and Qatar Airways are bitter rivals, founded less than 10 years apart in 1985 and 1993 respectively, and then the arrival of Etihad in 2003 put both under pressure. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad now compete for long haul passengers from Scottish airports, to Dubai, Thailand and Australia. The price of a ticked on Etihad from Edinburgh to Sydney for next summer is about £790, cheaper than the cost of an Etihad flight from Heathrow. Emirates has slashed its return fare from Glasgow to a low of £771 for the same dates. The same flight with Qatar Airways comes in at £995 return. Industry experts predict fierce competition between the 3 carriers, undercutting each other. Due to the 3 Middle East airlines competing, fares to Australia are cheaper from Scotland than from Heathrow or Amsterdam. So one less reason to need to expand Heathrow, or worry about losing traffic to Schiphol.
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Heathrow flight path trials branded an “omnishambles” by councillors, given no prior warning (and then asked to back 3rd runway)
During a full Bracknell Forest Council meeting on 17th a motion put forward by Councillor Marc Brunel-Walker to ensure the borough’s residents views are considered by the airport was unanimously carried. The motion came after councillors received complaints from people in Winkfield, Warfield, Binfield and Ascot who noticed a large amount of planes flying over their homes in July. Local MP Adam Afriye, who himself lives in Old Windsor, knows the problem. He has said he will continue his 10-year campaign to fight any changes in flights which expose residents to higher levels of aircraft noise. He has received extensive correspondence from distressed residents who feel the aircraft noise pattern has changed and is now unbearable. Bracknell councillors are very angry they were not consulted by Heathrow in advance of the trials. One councillor said he was disgusted to receive no information about the trial, but at the same time get a letter asking him to back Heathrow’s campaign for a 3rd runway. He said: “This has been an own goal in PR terms, the only way to describe it is an omnishambles....The irony of neighbours receiving this letter should not escape any of us."
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Anger as Heathrow’s latest flight path trials subject thousands to unacceptable noise levels
Heathrow is conducting trials of new flight paths, both to the west and to the east of the airport. Since the easterly trial started (28th July) and the westerly trial started (25th August) the airport has been swamped with complaints. The complaints line can no longer cope. For many people, there has been a sudden and unacceptable increase in noise. The changed, concentrated, routes have been blamed for the "unacceptable and intolerable" noise above a number of Surrey villages. Some of the worse affected areas to the west are Englefield Green, Egham, Thorpe, Virginia Water, Windlesham, Bagshot, Lightwater, Sunninghill and Ascot. Petitions to the airport have been set up in Ascot, Lightwater and now in Englefield Green, asking that the trials be stopped. People feel that even after the end of the trials that ended in June, the increased noise from them has continued. People living under the new, concentrated, routes are now subjected to more, louder, aircraft noise as late as 11.50pm and as early as 6am. The purpose of all this is to get more flights off Heathrow's runways, so the airport can be more profitable for its foreign owners.
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Dubai to expand Al Maktoum airport to overtake Dubai International and handle 240 million passengers per year
Dubai already has a huge airport, Dubai International, which overtook Heathrow as the busiest airport in the world for international passenger traffic. Now Dubai is to build an every larger airport, expanding Al Maktoum International, which might cost some £19.8 billion and would be the largest airport in the world. It will cover an area of over 200 square kilometres (not a problem with lots of spare desert). It would be built in the desert, not affecting many people. Dubai wants the airport to handle 240 million passengers per year, compared to around 70 million at Heathrow now, and about 230 million for all UK airports. The plan is to build it is two phases. The first would take 6 - 8 years,up to 120 million passengers per year. The British government, and people like Boris, have a macho horror of some other country having an airport larger than we have. There is a dread of confronting reality, that Heathrow will need to decline, comparatively, against the Middle East. The UK is no longer in the right geographical location to remain the world's largest hub. The world is moving on. Trying to out-do Dubai, where everything is entirely different, and to the great detriment of people living in the crowded south east of England, is a mug's game.
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Gatwick gets 3 YouGov polls done, which it interprets as rising support for its runway
Gatwick airport has commissioned 3 surveys, by YouGov. One was of 1009 people living near Gatwick, another of 1008 people living near Heathrow, and then 1037 people living in Greater London, the "Omnibus" survey. As with all these surveys, we are not told the exact structure of the questions, or if there was leading text. There are also, of course, no options for anyone to say No to any new runway, so the surveys are of limited value. The main question was: "If there was a straight choice between expanding Gatwick or Heathrow, with whichever airport didn't expand staying the same size as it is today, which would you chose?" [It is an oddly worded question, as both Heathrow and Gatwick can expand, and are expanding, their number of passengers.]. The response from the Gatwick area was that 25% preferred Gatwick, 36% preferred Heathrow and 11% did not know. The response from the Heathrow area was 51% in favour of Gatwick getting a runway, 40% in favour of a Heathrow runway, and 9% did not know. For for the Omnibus London survey, 46% preferred Gatwick runway, 35% Heathrow, and 18% did not know. Gatwick is interpreting these as huge support for its runway. Heathrow says its figures are entirely different. The reality indicates that polls, with an intended outcome, can prove almost anything.
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Plymouth airport is dead, says Sutton Harbour Holdings boss – Arup report says site should be safeguarded
Jason Schofield, chief executive of Sutton Harbour Holdings, has said that Plymouth airport is “dead” and mothballing the site will prevent regeneration of a strategic city asset for at least 20 years. He said there is no prospect of the airport, which closed in December 2011, ever reopening. The last commercial flight left more than 3 years ago. His comments are in response to a report from independent consultants Arup, which was released last week and concluded the land should remain protected for possible aviation uses. Council leader Tudor Evans said the report, commissioned as part of work being carried out on the Plymouth Plan, backs the local authority’s position that the land should be preserved for possible aviation uses. Sutton Harbour Holdings is now looking to sell the long-lease on the 113-acre site, said: “In calling for the former airport site to be safeguarded for aviation, the council is, therefore, proposing that one of the most important strategic development sites in the region, let alone the city, be mothballed for at least two decades, stymieing investment and job creation. ....The former airport site simply can’t work as a commercial airport."
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Concerns raised at Stanwell meeting on Heathrow expansion plans for incinerator, flood pit and car park
Proposals for a new flood pit, car park and incinerator in Stanwell as part of Heathrow's expansion plans were lambasted by over 60 residents at a public meeting on 15th September. The meeting focused on issues surrounding a car park dominating the biodiversity area north of the village hall and west of Oaks Road, an incinerator in the Bedfont Road area and a flood pit in Stanwell Moor. The feeling was that residents are not against progress, not against air travel, but they do not want unsuitable developments in the borough. Spelthorne already has one of the highest rates of deaths attributable to air pollution in the South East. Residents fear the effects of the polluted water from Heathrow being stored in the flood pit, especially after the problems with flooding this spring. Jonathan Deegan, chief planner at Heathrow, said: "All this has to go somewhere." A resident asked why past promises were allowed to be broken, including an inspector who had said in a consultation meeting that Terminal 4 would be the last terminal. Nigel Milton, director of policy and political relations for Heathrow, said: "The people who made those promises weren't in a position to make these promises." So any promises could be broken again then?
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UK/China agreement to raise number of return flights each is allowed from 31 to 40 per week, and from 6 up to 9 airports
Flights between the UK and China are set to increase following an agreement allowing more passenger flights between the two countries. These are controlled, as for all countries, by bilateral agreements to ensure the number is balanced and neither side has too much advantage. Talks were initiated by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin who launched negotiations on improved air links during a visit to China in October last year. The previous agreement, last updated in 2011, limited the passenger airlines of both countries to a maximum of 31 return services per week in each direction, serving up to six destinations in each country. The new deal will increase the weekly maximum available to both countries to 40 direct flights in each direction, and allow UK airlines to serve up to three more Chinese cities than previously. ie. nine. The new deal also allows UK airlines greater freedom to codeshare with Chinese carriers on routes within mainland China. The lack of air links to China is due to the limit on weekly flights, and by the level of demand. It is not limited by the number of flights permitted. The numbers of flights to Hong Kong are under a separate agreement from those to China.
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Teddington petition to Heathrow to stop the easterly departures trial and not allow it to become permanent
Finding themselves now affected by a newly concentrated flight path for Heathrow easterly departures, people in Teddington are now up in arms about the intensified noise. The trial started on 28th July and is due to last till 15th January 2015. They have set up a petition, to Heathrow, to ask that the current noise level does not continue. The flight path trials are part of the Future Airspace Strategy (FAS) with the aim of getting ever more planes using Heathrow, more efficiently. People in Teddington are angry that Heathrow have stated that: "Before the trials started in December last year we briefed local authorities; residents groups; campaign groups and MPs around Heathrow" yet Heathrow will not provide any details on who was contacted and when. In reality most people were not informed or warned. They would have liked to have been informed (so much for airports stating how much better they are getting at communication with communities ....). The affected residents are calling on Heathrow to halt these trials as soon as possible due to the negative impact on the quality of life they are causing for many people. They also call on Heathrow to recommend that the flight path changes are not made permanent.
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BackHeathrow postal survey described as of the “do you support expansion of Heathrow or the boiling of puppies” variety
There is a good blog post by Matt Ballantine, a resident of Twickenham, on the latest survey which is being circulated by the campaign lobby, "BackHeathrow". The organisation was set up with money from Heathrow, to lobby on its behalf. How much funding comes from other sources is not clear. Twickenham is an area now suffering from altered, concentrated Heathrow flight paths. The BackHeathrow survey came through the post, and Matt describes it as of the “do you support the expansion of Heathrow or the boiling of puppies” variety, that he says seem to be so popular amongst political lobby groups. The survey is worded in such a way as to give highly leading questions, and give the impression that Heathrow is likely to close if it does not build a 3rd runway. That was never a realistic threat, and especially as the chance of a Thames estuary airport has significantly receded. The BackHeathrow survey aims to instil fear of losing their jobs into people who work at the airport, or in connected jobs. Matt comments that "This is no way to have an important debate .... In an age when information is so easily disseminated (and checked), organisations that think that it’s enough to gather false data to present their case are on very thin ice."
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Planning system ‘too democratic’ says City Airport chief Declan Collier
The CEO of London City Airport, Declan Collier, has said that because so many groups are consulted during the planning process in the UK, it takes twice as long to get a decision than it does in Europe. He said: "We are all frustrated by the delays. In the UK, the problem is that the planning system is too democratic, it takes too long to consult and to make a decision." Mr Collier is paid to make the most profit he can for his airport, and so he promotes the usual opinions about allegedly huge costs to the UK if it delays building more runways etc. The aviation industry has never been shy about making extravagant claims about the supposed benefits it brings the country, while being coy about the difference between profits for the industry, and benefits to the UK as a whole. On the democracy issue, in December 2013 David Cameron said: "It is frustrating sometimes that we can't do things faster in Britain but we have a planning system, we have democratic accountability for that planning system, we have a need for everyone to have their say and make their point. That's very important in the British system." In a country as crowded as the south of England, planning decisions need to be democratic, and to be seen to be so.
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Gatwick’s runway plans would mean labour shortage, considerable local house building and traffic congestion
If Heathrow or Gatwick got permission to build a new runway, both would struggle to find enough workers locally. Both are in areas of high employment. Workers would have to either be drawn in from elsewhere, commuting in each day - or a lot of extra housing would have to be built to house them. Both areas already have substantial problems in providing sufficient housing, even at present. More jobs are needed outside the south east. Gatwick claims 122,000 new jobs would be created by a new runway, with 22,000 in the immediate vicinity of the airport. The airport's labour shortage was underlined this summer when delays at baggage reclaim forced Gatwick to bus in extra staff from Southampton. Crispin Blunt, MP for Reigate, said the shortage was a “deal breaker” and “Gatwick are proposing an airport busier than Heathrow....which has 43,100 more people on-site today. Therefore the on-site job forecast is probably an underestimate by a factor of two. Gatwick can’t man this airport without a massive increase in local house building.” A study by independent consultants jointly commissioned by the West Sussex County Council and the Gatwick Diamond, in early 2013, found that 30,000 - 45,000 new houses would be needed if Gatwick got a 2nd runway.
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Mexico’s plans for 6-runway airport revive resistance from neighbouring farmers
Mexico’s President recently unveiled details for a new Mexico City airport that will quadruple existing capacity, from about 30 million to 120 million annual passengers, and potentially become Latin America’s biggest transit airport. But a group of farmers living near the planned site is fiercely opposed to the project – and they have already taken down one airport project before. There have been plans for this huge airport - with 6 runways - for some 15 years. There are the usual claims, that we are so used to in the UK, of huge economic benefits, thousands of jobs, and a fear that not building it will cost vast sums of money ..... familiar? In 2001 farmers around the nearby town of Atenco protested fiercely, as they were threatened with land expropriation for very small financial sums. They had armed with machetes and Molotov cocktails, blocked roads and clashed with police, and eventually the project was cancelled.The President says this time the airport will only be built on federal owned land, with no expropriations. However, there are doubts about the legality of land sales, when people thought the land would be used for an environmental project, not an airport. Intense opposition remains, and farmers say they "will defend our land with our lives.”
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Boris gives evidence to Env Audit Committee – Heathrow 3rd runway would make meeting air quality targets impossible
Boris Johnson has appeared before the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) to answer questions on air quality issues, which have resulted in the UK facing legal action from Brussels. Boris has been accused of trying to mislead MPs over the success of his efforts to reduce air pollution, as he again urged the government to adopt his proposals for a diesel scrappage scheme to help drivers move towards cleaner vehicles. The UK has have failed to meet legal NO2 limits and now faces legal action and potential fines from the European Commission for failing to comply. Johnson argued that a scrappage scheme was only fair to the "punters" that had been "seduced" into buying a diesel car. On Heathrow, he said a 3rd runway would be a "nightmare" for meeting the EU air quality directive, and make it impossible to meet the air quality targets for London. He said expanding Heathrow would increase vehicular pollution, despite earlier claiming building new roads elsewhere would reduce it. There have been suggestions that Heathrow air pollution, with a new runway, could only be reduced by a local congestion charge near the airport.
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Airport Operators Association hopes small cuts in CO2 emissions by airport buildings etc will permit a new runway
The AOA have produced a report, the purpose of which is to persuade government etc that aviation is a responsible industry and a new runway should be allowed for the south east. They make various claims, which need to be analysed with some care. Realising that aircraft noise, and the industry's CO2 emissions are key to any decision to allow a new runway, they say airports are reducing the CO2 emissions of their own operations. Airports tend to be huge structures, inherently poorly designed for optimum energy use. However, AOA says that the largest 18 airports have cut their CO2 by "almost 3% in two years" 2010 - 2012 while their number of passengers rose by about 5.4%. Taking into account the 8 airports for which there is data of aircraft emissions below 2,000 feet, the AOA say the CO2 emissions were down 1.9% with a 2.4% rise in flights. This all sounds great, but completely ignores the issue of the carbon emitted by the flights themselves - which is a far larger amount. Aviation carbon emissions - and controls on them - are based on emissions from aircraft, not emissions from airports. So the AOA's efforts, though welcome, are somewhat peripheral to the main issue. Airport carbon savings should not be a justification for building a new runway, enabling a large number of extra annual aircraft kilometres.
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Airport Operators Assn wants restrictions on building of new homes near airports, to limit noise complaints
The Telegraph reports on a study by the Airport Operators Association (AOA) that almost 6,000 new homes have been approved around airports in the past 3 years despite a government policy to reduce the number of people exposed to aviation noise. Since April 2011 some 5,761 homes have either been granted planning permission, started or completed construction close enough to an airport that significant annoyance from noise is deemed likely (they say this is within the 57 dB contour). There are more than 1,000 homes around Heathrow and London City airports, at least 300 around Manchester and more than 100 around Aberdeen, Birmingham, Glasgow and Luton. Many more housing developments are planned in areas afflicted by loud aircraft noise. The AOA does not want more complaints, or demands for reductions in noise, from all these extra people being over-flown. They do not want planners to allow more developments which will restrict aircraft noise. Some 2,000 homes are now being built in north Crawley, in an area now at risk of serious noise if a 2nd runway is built, as planners wrongly believed Sir David Rowland's assurance, in Feb 2010 that Gatwick had “not a shred of interest” in a 2nd runway. A deeply unsatisfactory situation.
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Heathrow claim 60% of MPs back 3rd runway. Survey actually reveals it was only 55 MPs out of 95 interviewed. Not 650.
Heathrow airport has commissioned a survey by highly respected polling company, Ipsos Mori. They wanted to see how many MPs back a 3rd Heathrow runway. There are 650 MPs in the House of Commons. Heathrow is proudly claiming that "58% of MPs back a third runway at Heathrow". So that means the survey found that 390 MPs thought that ? Really? Amazing! But that is NOT the case at all. The Ipsos Mori survey only in fact interviewed 95 MPs. They say they interviewed 143, but then cut the number back to 95. These were, in theory, "interviewed to closely represent the profile of the House of Commons" - quite how is not explained. What the survey actually found was that just 55 MPs (58% of 95 MPs) said they backed a 3rd Heathrow runway. And when only these 55 MPs - not the whole 95 - were asked if they thought a 3rd Heathrow runway would get parliamentary approval, only 44 thought it was likely (of these only 18 thought it was very likely). This really is taking liberties with polling. Heathrow's rather extravagantly claim that the poll "explodes the myth that Heathrow is politically undeliverable" looks frankly threadbare ... and a bit desperate?
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Lib Dem Pre-Manifesto 2014 – definite opposition to any new south east runway, taking account of climate impact
The Liberal Democrats have launched their Pre-Manifesto 2014, and it contains an emphatic statement against any new runway at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted - and no estuary airport. Their policy: "Ensure our airport infrastructure meets the needs of a modern and open economy, without allowing emissions from aviation to undermine our goal of a zero-carbon Britain by 2050. We will carefully consider the conclusions of the Davies Review into runway capacity and develop a strategic airports policy for the whole of the UK in the light of those recommendations and advice from the Committee on Climate Change. We remain opposed to any expansion of Heathrow, Stansted or Gatwick and any new airport in the Thames Estuary, because of local issues of air and noise pollution. We will ensure no net increase in runways across the UK as a whole by prohibiting the opening of any new runways unless others are closed elsewhere." It is thought that this position will not be popular with big business, which wants expanded airport, and ever increasing aviation - with little consideration for the climate impacts.
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Formula 1 boss’s fury over new Heathrow aircraft noise – at least with Formula 1 people know where the noise is
A significant Formula One car racing engineer, who lives in Sunninghill under a Heathrow flight path test route, has joined an increasing band of residents complaining about the new flight paths over Bracknell and Ascot. He describes them as “intolerable”. The chief technical officer at Formula One team Red Bull Racing has hit out at Heathrow after its new trial flight paths started last Thursday, for 5 months. The aims of the trials are to try to reduce 'stacking’, speeding up departure times to cut departure intervals, so increasing airport profits. He said though having lived in Sunninghill since 1997 and the noise has never been an issue before. "It is pretty intolerable because currently we have planes flying over our heads at 11pm at night .... it’s very antisocial really. ....I can’t even sit in my garden and socialise with my friends because it is just too noisy. There has been no proper consultation..." Realising he himself works in a very noisy industry, he said "... with Formula One is that there are no new race tracks being built anywhere, so people who buy houses next to race tracks know what they are getting.” There is an active petition in the Ascot area against the flight path trials, with around 2,400 signatures today.
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Campaigners call on CAA to suspend consultation on City Airport flight paths
Campaign group HACAN East has written to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ask it to suspend the current consultation being carried out by London City Airport into flight path changes in East London. HACAN East argues that the tens of thousands of residents who are in line to get more planes over-head if the flight path changes go ahead are not being told about them. London City is proposing to concentrate the flights taking off from the airport in a narrow corridor, but its location is not being made clear enough. Areas directly under the favoured flight path will be Bow, Hackney Wick, Leyton Midland Road, Leytonstone, Barkingside and Colliers Row - but the airport is not leafleting these areas. People will just not realise the full impact till it is too late. New computer technology can now guide aircraft much more accurately [like satnav for planes, enabling an aircraft to fly a very exact route] when landing and taking off. It gives airports the option of varying the routes the planes use in order to give all residents some respite from the noise or of concentrating all the planes on one route. London City has chosen to concentrate the aircraft.
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London City Airport accused of creating a “noise ghetto” with proposed concentrated flight paths
London City Airport have started a consultation on airspace changes (4th September to 27th November) as it wishes to alter flight paths. The change will be because instead of less accurate navigation by aircraft, they now can fly using a very accurate form of satnav for planes. This is referred to as RNAV, meaning precision navigation, by which aircraft can all fly a course accurate to within a few hundred metres. The effect is concentration of flight paths, so most fly the exact same route, and anyone living under that route gets all the planes, and all the noise. Campaign group HACAN East has accused London City Airport of failing to spell out to tens of thousands of residents in East London that they are in line to get many more planes overhead if proposed flight path changes go ahead. The consultation does not make this clear. Areas directly under the favored flight path - and the concentration -will be Bow, Hackney Wick, Leyton Midland Road, Leytonstone, Barkingside and Colliers Row. The effect will be to create a noise ghetto. Air traffic controllers like concentration of flight paths. However, it is often better - less unfair - to share out the noise burden, so many people get some flights, rather than a few getting them all.
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HACAN to distribute 50,000 copies of newspaper “Third Runway News” setting out reasons against it
HACAN has proudly launched a new local newspaper, called "Third Runway News," a new publication which provides residents of west London, east Berkshire and north Surrey with the facts about what an expanded Heathrow Airport would mean for them. It is 4 pages in full colour, illustrated - link at Third Runway News. HACAN is a residents-led campaign, and by contrast with the millions of ££s that Heathrow airport has for its publicity, benefits from the work of local volunteers. The new newspaper has been designed by a local HACAN member, not by a hugely expensive professional design company. The paper asks people to get in touch to say which of the many impacts of a 3rd runway they are most concerned about. These include noise pollution, air pollution, increased car traffic, loss of their home - or loss of the value of their home, or impacts on children and schools from aircraft noise. Meanwhile Heathrow airport have massive adverts, containing extravagant claims for "benefits" of a 3rd runway, (with no supporting evidence), such as "120,000 more jobs" and "£100 billion of economic benefits (not time-scale indicated)" and "loss of £125 billion per month in last trade" for every month without the new runway. Really??
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Woodland Trust asking Gatwick respondents to send a photo of themselves, to prove to Gatwick they are real people
Gatwick carried out a consultation, that ended on 16th May) about its 2nd runway plans. There were some 7,700 responses (the vast majority against a new runway) and of those, 4,092 came through a campaign by the Woodland Trust. However, in its analysis of the consultation responses, Ipsos Mori decided to discount these responses, as they had been generated by a campaign and were sent in electronically. It is too convenient for the airport to discount over half the responses in this way. The Woodland Trust is now asking everyone who backs their campaign against Gatwick destroying areas of ancient woodland for its runway, to send in photos and details of themselves, in order to prove to the powers-that-be that they are real people, their opinions are real, and there is no reason for their consultation responses to be invalidated.You can add your photo, and a brief comment, on the Woodland Trust website here. The Trust is rightly appalled at suggestions by Gatwick that they can justify destroying ancient woodland by just offsetting it, through planting 3 new saplings to replace each ancient tree - or translocating woodland soil to new locations for new saplings. Neither even partly replace the richness, quality and diversity of true ancient woods.
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Prime Economics: “Out of thin air – the economic case for a 3rd Heathrow runway”
Prime Economics, a group of independent economic thinkers, has taken a look at Heathrow's claims about the economic case for a 3rd runway. They are not impressed. While Heathrow (see its latest advert) says: "If we want Britain's economy to keep growing, we need to grow Heathrow", the reality is very different. Among Heathrow's dodgy 3rd runway economic claims, they say: "• It will bring economic benefits of £100bn • It will bring 120,000 new jobs • Every month the problem goes unresolved is costing the British economy £1.25bn through lost trade". Prime Economics says "the evidence for each of these is very thin and hypothetical .... The link between trade and airport capacity is at best indirect, and certainly opaque. At a macroeconomic level, the impact is simply invisible." They say "Economies depend on many factors, and hub capacity is one of the least significant, at least once you reach a decent threshold of scale." They pick to pieces the £1.25 billion figure; the idea that the UK needs flights to every destination in every country; and the hub competition between EU countries. "The current debate assumes exponential growth both of our economies and of our travel into the indefinite future. This will not happen ... Airports ...are not the main drivers of economic success nor of national well-being." Well worth reading.
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Call for all affected by Gatwick noise to ask their councillors if they back a 2nd runway. If “Yes” – don’t vote for them
In a letter published in the West Sussex County Times, Sally Pavey - who is the chair of the local residents' group CAGNE writes about the need for elected representatives to do more for people suffering from Gatwick flight paths. People who have now found themselves at risk of being under a concentrated PR NAV flight path need their elected representatives to work on their behalf. CAGNE was formed due to the flight path trial, called in the jargon, "ADNID" that took place for 6 months, ending in early August. Sally questions the democratic process that permits this insult to the quality of life of thousands of inoffensive citizens, in order that the foreign big-business owners of Gatwick can make more profit. She asks how democratic the airport is, when the only consultation done on flight path trials is through the GATCOM and NATMAG committees, at neither of which the public can speak. Sally urges local residents to "ask those that seek to represent you, ie parish councils, district councillors, West Sussex county councillors and your MP, a simple question. Do you support a second runway at Gatwick Airport? Yes or No. And if the answer is Yes, do not vote for them."
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Heathrow flight path changes / trial inflict more noise misery on Ascot area and 3 villages area
Heathrow airport and NATS are experimenting with flight path changes and new technology systems for Heathrow flights. The aim is to reduce ‘stacking’ of aircraft waiting to land, and to speed up departure times, getting more planes in the air per hour - in order make the airport more efficient (or more profitable). There is a series of trials, over a period of years from 2012 to 2017, advertised on Heathrow's website. They are to inform the London Airspace Management Programme (LAMP) consultation. One trial, for departures to the west, started on 28th August and will last till January 2015. It will test how sharply aircraft are able to turn on take-off and how fast they can climb. The results will be factored into Heathrow’s revision of flight paths that are required under the European ‘SESAR’ programme. The reality for people being over-flown is that there are now more aircraft passing over Ascot, Sunningdale and Sunninghill, and these planes are low (around 3,000 feet) and climbing. The gaps between planes are also shorter than before. A petition has been set up by people in the Ascot area, to get the trial ended immediately. The new noise barrage has created new fears in those areas of the impact of a 3rd runway.
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Carbon constraints relating to a new runway have been lost amongst the debate, not on “if” but only on “where”
In a blog, the Carbon Brief has a look at the climate and environmental impacts of the expansion plans by London's airports. Leaving aside the noise and other impacts, and looking here just at carbon, it is clear that there is an issue. While UK aviation makes up some 6% of just CO2 emissions, under the current system by which aviation is not required to cut its emissions by 2050, UK aviation will then make up about 25% of UK carbon emitted. The UK is required to cut its overall carbon emissions by 80% of their 1990 level, by 2050. Aviation just needs to keep its emissions to 37.5 megatonnes - which was about the level in 2005. As long as the rest of the economy decarbonises very intensively, aviation could keep its very generous allocation. But that means not going above 37.5 Mt. A report in July, by AEF, showed that it would be likely that an additional new runway would contribute some 8.2Mt of CO2 per year, making meeting the 37.5 Mt target "effectively impossible". It would require air travel at regional airports to be reduced, which apart from contradicting regional development policies would be"politically very difficult to implement and have significant economic consequences."
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Guardian Editorial on UK aviation addiction & need to limit air travel demand by capacity restriction
The Guardian, in an editorial, says Boris is insisting his estuary airport scheme is “not dead” at all, because in the end it will not be for the Airports Commission to decide, but the next government. In which, of course, he intends to play a major part . The Guardian remembers that the main issue is the deeper environmental damage done by the CO2 belched out by jet engines, which regrettably seems to have been dropped from the political equation. While the UK should be discussing the sort of economic growth we want, instead policy appears to boil down to “planning for rising demand” so anyone who wants to fly can. And cheaply. Allowing airport expansion in the south east will require restrictions on the growth of northern airports, which does not fit with regional policy, or by making reductions of unrealistic depth in other economic sectors. And of course, most air travel is holidaying. "The economics do not dictate that fast projected growth in air travel must be taken as a given: it ought to be possible to manage demand instead. .... there is no easy way to [manage demand] without keeping a lid on capacity. Instead, however, Westminster indulges passengers and airlines with the old lie: the sky’s the limit."
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Open letter to Stewart Wingate, asking for explanation of the increased aircraft noise being experienced
An open letter to Stewart Wingate, the CEO of Gatwick airport, has been written by a member of one of the new opposition groups that has mushroomed in the past two months. These have emerged, as the noise from Gatwick arrivals over parts of Kent (especially around Tunbridge Wells, Hever, Penshurst and nearby areas) has increased. Due to subtle changes in concentration of flight paths, and apparently lower approaches, the lives of thousands of people have been badly affected by the noise. And these people are absolutely not prepared to lie down and accept this unwelcome, unpleasant intrusion into their lives. There is a steely determination, and unflinching resolve shared by thousands. A letter to Mr Wingate is copied below. AirportWatch does not endorse the sentiments in the letter, (at times expressed bluntly) nor do we make any claim that all the points made are accurate. It is copied here, to indicate the problems of many people in Kent and West Sussex, as they perceive them. It shows eloquently their anger, and their refusal to believe they are not being fobbed off with half truths by the airport, which insists nothing has changed.
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Stansted publishes consultation on draft plan for future development, staying a one runway airport
Stansted Airport has published its draft Sustainable Development Plan (SDP), for consultation until 7th November. The plan sets out the airport's ambition to grow (it is always thus in this industry - perpetual growth....) But at least the airport is not planning on a second runway. It anticipates getting up to 45 million passengers per year on one runway, while it had about 17.8 million passengers in 2013, and has planning permission for up to 35 million. The timing of the consultation is apt, being the same day as the Airports Commission rejected an estuary airport. Stansted says its "important role has already been recognised by the Airports Commission, and the plan will help inform its final recommendations to Government on the vital contribution that Stansted’s existing capacity will make to meeting demand over the next 10-15 years." Local group, SSE (Stop Stansted Expansion) commented on the SDP that they welcomed the plan being only for a single runway airport; they want a gradual phasing out of night flights; and they want the approximately 270 properties near the airport, bought by BAA, to be returned to private ownership.
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“Let Britain Fly” start petition to get the public to lobby their MPs to back runway building
Jumping on the back of the Thames Estuary airport media bandwagon, Let Britain Fly have launched their public pledge campaign to give the "silent majority" they claim are apparently in support of airport expansion a voice in the run up to the 2015 election. They have put out a public pledge that they want "thousands of people" to sign, asking for more runways and more airport capacity, so everyone can continue to go on lots of holidays, by plane. They are asking that all the political parties commit to build more runway capacity in their 2015 election manifestos. They are also asking that there is a Parliamentary vote on airport expansion in 2016, at the latest. Let Britain Fly has obtained statements in support of its claims from various business people, such as the MD of Harrods (which naturally gets a lot of high spending tourists), and Mace (a construction company - no vested interest there). Lots on the mantra of "jobs and growth." Let Britain Fly and their backers appear oblivious to the fact that the Airports Commission is only considering one runway at most, not runways. They also ignore the inconvenient fact that most air travel is for leisure, and only a small proportion could be deemed to be boosting business links.
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Open letter from a resident of Bidborough to Stewart Wingate, on the increased Gatwick noise nuisance
Below is a letter from a resident in Bidborough, which has recently experienced a much greater degree of aircraft noise - from Gatwick arrivals - than it has ever done in the past. Along with thousands of others in the areas of Tunbridge Wells, Bidborough, Hever, Penshurst, Chiddingstone and many others, the writer of the letter is justifiably angry and upset about what Gatwick and NATS have changed - and particularly at being fobbed off by responses from Gatwick which deny there has been any change. The residents very genuinely believe there have been changes, that flight paths are being concentrated, and many planes are lower. AirportWatch does not endorse the letter, nor can we confirm its factual accuracy. But it is copied here, to illustrate the extent - and the determination - of the new opposition that has recently sprung up in areas to the east of Gatwick.
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Airports Commission gives comprehensive & unambiguous decision not to short-list a Thames estuary airport
As widely leaked, the Airports Commission has decided against short listing an inner Thames estuary airport scheme, for further consideration. The Commission had intended not to short list the scheme back in December 2013, but were persuaded to give the concept further thought. The report's wording is unambiguous. They say, to take a few direct quotes: " we are not persuaded that a very large airport in the Thames Estuary is the right answer to London's and the UK's connectivity needs." "To roll the dice on a very risky project, where delays and overruns are highly likely, would be reckless." "...Commission has concluded that the proposal for a new ITE airport has substantial disadvantages that collectively outweigh its potential benefits. Cumulative obstacles to delivery, high costs and uncertainties in relation to its economic and strategic benefits contribute to an assessment that an ITE airport proposal does not represent a credible option for short-listing." And "...if UK carbon emissions are to be kept within the overall cap, concentrating a very high number of flights in one location could limit the scope for growth elsewhere and hence reduce the overall diversity of the UK airports system." So a very definite NO.
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A380 poses challenges for Heathrow due to required separation times and distances
With Heathrow already having about 15 Airbus A380 planes using the airport each day,there has now been time to see how they fit in. An article in Aviation Week & Space Technology sets out some of the problems caused by the A380 on account of its size, and the consequent limitations on proximity of planes following it, due to increased turbulence. Aviation Week says senior NATS air traffic controllers say the biggest impact comes from the spacing requirement for the aircraft, which is in the “super” wake vortex category. As an A380 departs, it requires up to 3 minutes of spacing between it and the next aircraft if it is a smaller narrow-body type, such as an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737. Greater distances between traffic are also required on approach, with minimum separation for a “heavy” category aircraft such as a Boeing 747 behind an A380 of 6 nautical miles, while medium-size aircraft up to the Boeing 757 have to keep a 7 nm. separation and smaller aircraft 8 nm. There are also problems as the A380 has a relatively high runway occupancy time, and while a Boeing 747 can take 45 seconds, A380s are taking around 65 seconds on the runway. And so on.
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CBI report hopes to get Airports Commission to back a huge hub – for ever increasing aviation
The CBI has produced a report, putting pressure on the Airports Commission (don't they all...) to "deliver recommendations to solve the UK’s shortage of runway capacity and spark new connections with the export markets of tomorrow." They want a huge hub airport with plenty of spare capacity to grow further, which allegedly is needed for economic growth. Part of the report's title is "The Hub is the Nub." They want a new runway soon, with spades in the ground by 2020. They then want a second new runway well before 2050. The report looks entirely, from a very narrow perspective, on growth of the economy. It looks only at business. The words tourism, leisure travel, holiday, carbon emissions, and climate change do not feature at all. Nor noise. It is written with heavy blinkers to realities outside business and continuous growth perspectives. Heathrow has interpreted it as backing their runway. The report does not in fact specify which airport they want; they just want two more runways, and what the hell with any other impacts or consequences. Perhaps they are not aware that the vast majority of UK flights are low cost, for holidays, leisure of visiting friends and family. By airlines that make little profit.
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Anger at Gatwick flight path changes causes blossoming of protest across the area
New flight paths introduced by Gatwick Airport Ltd (GAL) are causing a wave of protest across large parts of East and West Sussex, Kent and Surrey. MPs including Nick Herbert, Francis Maude, Paul Beresford, Crispin Blunt, John Stanley, Greg Clark, and Charles Hendry all report that they are overwhelmed with correspondence from upset constituents. New anti-noise groups, all welcomed and supported by GACC (the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign - the long established community group), have sprung up in Crowborough, Sevenoaks Weald, Tunbridge Wells, Penshurst, Chiddingstone, Beare Green, and Warnham. GAL called an emergency meeting of the airport noise committee (NATMAG) on 29th August to try to calm the situation – before it takes the shine off their extravaganza campaign for a 2nd runway. The public annoyance and anger have been caused not only by the ADNID flight path trial, but also new concentrated departure flight paths over Holmwood, Brockham and Reigate, and also over Penshurst and Tunbridge Wells. There have also been more, and lower, arrivals over parts of Kent and East Sussex - and fears there of a concentrated merge point in future.
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Boris Johnson: 3rd runway at Heathrow would be a ‘disaster’ – adamant on “need” for new estuary airport
Boris Johnson has rebuffed calls to back a 3rd runway at Heathrow, saying it would be a "disaster". He said Heathrow's plans were "desperately short-sighted" and "barbarically contemptuous of the rights of the population", whose health he said would be put at risk. The Airports Commission is expected to announce this week if it will drop plans for a massive airport in the Thames estuary. A few days earlier, Heathrow's new chief executive John Holland-Kaye wrote an open letter to Boris asking him to back a 3rd Heathrow runway, if the Commission rejected the estuary - quite an "ask" bearing in mind Boris' forceful opposition to it in the past. Writing today in the Daily Telegraph Boris said: "We need scale and ambition to compete, and Heathrow is no answer." He said a Heathrow 3rd runway would be "a disaster for hundreds of thousands of people living under new flight paths, who currently have no idea of the peril.....Heathrow is already by far the noisiest airport in Europe, about a hundred times worse than Paris. A 3rd runway will mean there are more than a million people in the city affected by noise pollution of more than 55db."
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Blackpool airport (losing about £1.5 million per year) put up for sale by Balfour Beatty
Blackpool Airport has been put up for sale by Balfour Beatty, which bought it in 2008. The airport is saying the sale will not affect flights, and it hopes to get new routes. Balfour Beatty paid £14m for the airport, and has now has decided to sell its operating interests in the site as part of a wider decision to sell all its interests in regional airports. But it will continue to own the land on which the terminal stands. Alan Cavill, assistant chief executive at Blackpool Council, which sold the airport in 2004 for £13 million, welcomed the news. A London-based restructuring specialist is handling handle the sale and inviting expressions of interest from would-be buyers before September 10th, but no price has been put on the airport. Balfour Beatty has invested almost £30m in the site since 2008. But passenger numbers have dropped over the years from a peak of around 500,000 in 2007. It gets passengers from the North West of England, Southern Scotland, Cumbria and Cheshire. The airport makes an annual loss of about £1.5m per year. Three airlines are based at Blackpool including Jet2 with 13 destinations.
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Feedback from Farnborough Airport consultation released – 98% said change unjustified
TAG Farnborough Airport has released a feedback report following its 3 month consultation (ended 12th May) on controversial plans to chance its airspace. Farnborough wants the changes to be approved by the CAA, so it can have a "more predictable flow of traffic around the airport" which it claims could mean fewer flights at low altitude and aircraft flying fewer miles. TAG has now published a feedback document on the responses. This shows there were 13,000 comments, including around 2,500 from stakeholders. They are overwhelmingly negative, with 99% of responses from general aviation negative; 98% of responses to the justification of the changes negative; and 99% negative on the alleged environmental benefits. There was a high level of concern about the proposals, and the results they would have on non-Farnborough air traffic, having to re-route. There were also concerns about the environmental impact and safety. Many also fear the plans will facilitate an increase in number of flights. A 2nd feedback report is due to be published in early 2015, before an application is submitted to the CAA, after TAG has considered whether the objections and suggested alternatives can be incorporated into a refined airspace design.
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Holland-Kaye open letter to Boris asking him to back Heathrow runway if estuary plan rejected by Airports Commission
Heathrow's chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, has appealed to the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to back its campaign for a 3rd runway, ahead of the possible dismissal of his own Thames estuary scheme from consideration by the Airports Commission. In an open letter to Boris, Holland-Kaye says he and Boris share the same belief that only a large, hub airport can (allegedly) provide the scale and range of global flights that - they claim - the economy needs. Neither of them believe a new runway at Gatwick would give what they claim the UK "needs." Holland-Kaye's letter says: "We have nothing against Gatwick but you have rightly identified that its claim that it can deliver the same benefits as a hub airport is 'a sham, a snare and a delusion'." Boris said, of Heathrow's 3rd runway plans, last year: "Anyone who believes there would be the space to do that at Heathrow, which already blights the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners, is quite simply crackers." The situation has been complicated by Boris' decision to apply to become MP for Uxbridge. He said in May: “I will respect the findings of the Davies Commission but I will not abide by them.”
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New grouping called “Gatwick Obviously NOT” pulling together 12 local groups in Kent and West Sussex against Gatwick plans
On 27th August, under the auspices of Gatwickobviouslynot.org, twelve groups from all over Kent and Sussex got together in Penshurst to discuss the next steps in dealing with problems relating to Gatwick. Main concerns were the recent Gatwick airspace consultation, that has been dubbed "not fit for purpose " by Greg Clark MP, the situation with new and altered flight paths, and the threat of aircraft noise becoming substantially worse if Gatwick was able to build a second runway. The meeting noted that the CEO of Gatwick, Stewart Wingate, had that same day said 'Expansion at Gatwick is the obvious choice" and can be delivered to our country "at an environmental cost it can afford" - a statement which those attending the meeting found most perplexing and very disturbing. The meeting demonstrated very clearly the determination of people in previously quiet areas of Kent and Sussex not to allow Gatwick to destroy their peace, and their quality of life. The new groups are articulate, determined and organised - and by working together, and with the older established campaign, they are a force to be reckoned with.
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Nick Herbert, MP for Arundel & South Downs, joins others in speaking out against noise nuisance from ADNID trial
Nick Herber, the MP for Arundel and South Downs, has received numerous complaints from constituents in Kirdford, Wisborough Green, West Grinstead and other villages about noise from low flying aircraft from Gatwick. This has been due to the ADNID flight path trial, that lasted 6 months and ended on 8th August. He did not get aircraft noise complaints before ADNID. Though it has now ended, Mr Herbert says some constituents say the aircraft noise still continues. He has taken up the issue with Stewart Wingate, and has also been working with Francis Maude, the MP for Horsham, whose constituents are also affected. They have raised the matter with the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin. The MPs are challenging the assertion that there needs to be any new Noise Preferential Route (NPR) in order for Gatwick to achieve a modest potential increase in hourly movements as a single runway airport. They have also complained about the consultation, which was badly done. Mr Herbert is aware of the extent of local concern not only about the new flight paths becoming permanent, but the even worse prospect of the increased traffic from a 2nd runway.
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Former boss of Cardiff airport says its expansion plans are massively unrealistic, without public subsidy
Keith Brooks, the former chief executive of airports group TBI, said Cardiff Airport's passenger forecast is "massively unrealistic" and that it needs to be more realistic in its expectations. Last week, in an unexpected move, it was announced that the airport’s chief executive Jon Horne will stand down next week after only 18 months in the role. The airport’s director of operations will be interim managing director. While Cardiff airport has not published any specific short to long-term passenger growth targets, since being taken over by the Welsh Government for £52m last year it has arrested year-on-year decline. Annual passenger numbers now stand marginally up at just over one million. Keith Brooks said: “They have had massively unrealistic expectations of what they can do in this period [since acquisition].....Aviation is a very slow moving industry and negotiations with airlines take a long time.” Getting a significant low-cost carrier, like Ryanair, to expand routes from very low levels would require “significant subsidy” inducements. That means government subsidy, and tax payers' money. The Welsh government "will not just be able to turn things around in a short period of time."
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NATS retains air traffic control with MAG for 10 years. Also 2 more years at Luton. Lost Gatwick in July
NATS has signed a 10-year deal with Manchester Airports Group (MAG) to provide air traffic control and engineering services at Manchester and Stansted airports, both owned by MAG. By number of passengers, they are the 3rd and 4th largest in the UK. The contract starts on April 1, 2015. MAG hopes both Manchester & Stansted will be growing rapidly. Earlier in August it was announced that NATS had signed an agreement with Luton Airport (the 5th largest in the UK) to extend the current contract for air traffic provision by two years, so it now ends in November 2017. This was agreed after a competitive tendering process. "NATS will also continue to provide approach services as part of its management of the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area, one of the most complex and busiest areas of airspace in the world." NATS also hopes to make money out of its growth in air traffic, which is plans to increase to 18 million passengers per year by 2031. NATS makes more money the larger the number of planes using the airports it works for, and en route using any UK airspace. NATS lost the contact for Gatwick to German rival, DFS in July
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Legal battle over Redhill Aerodrome hard runway continues, with appeal against High Court Judgement
In 18th July a judge at London's High Court, Mrs Justice Patterson, allowed Redhill Aerodrome Ltd's appeal against refusal by Tandridge District Council and Reigate and Banstead Council, as well as a Government planning inspector, of permission for a new hard runway. As a result, Eric Pickles would have the proposal reconsidered. The judge said the Government inspector who turned down the plan had taken an "impermissible approach" to planning policy relating to sustainable development in the green belt and that this had "tainted" her ultimate conclusion. Then a few days later the Chief Planning Officer, and Brandon Lewis MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning at DCLG said: “We disagree with this ruling which is based on a very narrow interpretation of national planning policy. The Secretary of State is seeking permission to appeal the decision to ensure the high level of protection afforded to the Green Belt is maintained.” On 25th August is was revealed that the Treasury Solicitors and 2 local authorities have been granted leave to appeal The High Court judgement. This is likely to be in September 2014, on a date to be fixed. Opponents of the hard runway hope it will restore the inspector's decision to refuse RAV planning permission for it.
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Boris produces TfL report on estuary airport, saying Sir Howard & the Commission “must” short list it
Boris remains desperate to get his fanciful plans for a Thames Estuary airport short listed by the Airports Commission, which has repeatedly found it would not be a realistic option. The Commission's verdict on inclusion (or not) of the estuary scheme, in the airport plans to be taken forward for detailed consideration -and public consultation - is expected next month. In an 11th hour attempt to persuade the Commission to keep it in, Boris has got TfL to do yet another report, pushing the scheme and making out that is imperative. The report is called "Gateway to our Future", is a good example of an attitude towards encouraging and facilitating growth, and more growth, in the manner of the cancer cell - regardless of what damage that never-ending growth has on other things. The report goes big on the numbers of jobs created, the need for London to grow into an even more massive city, for it to have a vast airport (as if London did not already have the largest airport for international passengers in the world).... and so on. Says Sir Howard "must" include it. Boris' aim is to bamboozle the Commission and Sir Howard into including his scheme. .... Regardless of huge volumes of evidence recently produced, showing just how unrealistic - and damaging - an estuary airport would be. Boris the bully?
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Warren Buffett says airline shares are still risky investments – only £2.49 airline profit per passenger
Warren Buffett, an extremely rich American investor whose opinions on investment are widely well regarded. He has commented that airlines are too risky an investment for the ordinary investor. At the 2013 AGM of his company, Berkshire Hathaway he said: “Investors have poured their money into airlines for 100 years with terrible results ....It’s been a death trap for investors.” But over the past few years, shares in IAG, and easyJet have increased in value. However, things have now changed and during the past 6 months, their shares have lose value and there are uncertainties about their future profits. Making a profit in the airline industry is notoriously difficult. Sustaining profitability is even harder. IATA says the global airline industry in 2013 had a 1.8% profit margin. That means globally airlines made a profit on average of just $4.13 (£2.49) for each passenger they carry. Strange industry; so much environmental harm, so much fuel burned, for so little profit. Profits of Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are down. Airlines say there is overcapacity on trans-Atlantic routes, which cuts their profits. Some established European airlines are facing middle East competition, and legacy airlines are setting up low fares versions. Airlines continue to be risky investments.
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NATS hopes to continue improving fuel efficiency improvements, but its 3Di scheme does not take noise into account
According to UK air traffic services provider NATS, the environmental and operational efficiency of UK airspace improved during the first half of this year. However, it faces a challenge to meet a new tighter year-end target set by the CAA. In 2012, NATS was set an incentivised efficiency performance target (called 3Di -meaning 3 dimensional inefficiency) by the CAA. Its aim is to get the most direct and most fuel efficient routes, saving aircraft having to stack, and cutting fuel use and CO2 emissions. Each flight is given a score of its efficiency, with zero being best. Most flights typically score between 15 and 35. This year the CAA set NATS an overall target of 23. Their score was 23.7 in 2013 and a score of 23.9 in 2012. NATS says it it achieves its target scores over 3 years, planes will have saved around 600,000 tonnes of CO2 will have been saved. As well as CDA (continuous descent approach) landings, smoother take-offs, and flying at the optimum level. NATS is straightening flight paths. Their 3Di scores to not take account of the noise nuisance, and there are fears that some new flight path changes, helping NATS meet their target, are creating more noise from over-flying new areas..
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US conservation groups to sue EPA over delays in finding aviation emissions an endangerment to health
US conservation groups have filed a notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its perceived failure and unreasonable delay in addressing aviation’s growing emissions. The dispute goes back over 6 years to when the groups first petitioned EPA to carry out a mandatory duty under the Clean Air Act to determine whether aircraft emissions cause or contribute to air pollution “that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare”. The mandate was upheld in a court ruling in July 2011, and in 2012 EPA acknowledged its obligation to conduct an endangerment finding and indicated it would begin work. However it has not yet done anything. EPA said it would “review and respond accordingly” to the notice but that it was currently working through ICAO on an international CO2 efficiency standard for new aircraft types. But green NGOs are sceptical of this process, and its chance of making any significant cut in overall emissions. The move was supported by European group, T& E who commented that the amount of aviation emissions in the US is huge and "their effective regulation is long overdue.”
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European scheme to try to cut airport energy use for heating, ventilation and air conditioning by 20%
Airports tend to be inefficient buildings which use a lot of energy, mainly for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). Energy used for HVAC can be half of the total airport use. A European programme hopes to get European airports to cut their HVAC energy consumption by 20%, over 3 years, largely by using better fault detection and diagnostics, with an energy action plan based on the international management standard ISO 50001. They hope to detect if equipment is on when it is not needed, when the settings are wrong, poor positioning of sensors and poor maintenance. Airport buildings are vast, especially with the extra space given over to lucrative retail - the sheer scale means high energy use to keep the temperature correct. An EU study shows the 500 airports in the 28 European member states emit as much CO2 as a city of 50 million people. As the industry intends to grow at a fast rate, pressure is bound to grow on airports to improve the energy performance. Two Italian airports, Fiumicino in Rome and Malpensa in Milan, are being used as pilots to see if the scheme would work. The energy use of airports, and their CO2 emissions, are part of the total emissions of the aviation industry
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Work on Carlisle airport revamp for freight centre could start in 6 weeks, if there is no legal challenge
Work on the redevelopment of Carlisle Airport could begin in 6 weeks, unless there is another legal challenge to the planning approval granted by Carlisle City Council councillors. Their development control committee has given the scheme – which includes the creation of a huge freight distribution depot – full approval. It was the 4th time that the matter has gone to committee for decision. Work can start, if there is no application by opponents of the scheme for a judicial review of the planning approval. That application would have to be lodged within 6 weeks. The planning law has recently changed, so the council did not need to consider whether the airport would be commercially viable, nor whether Stobart would actually keep the airport open - rather than just use the land for freight storage and transfer. One key opponent, Peter Elliott, has stressed that the runway should be realigned, to take it away from Irthington village, due to safety. Supporters of the scheme hope it will create jobs, but that is uncertain. Stobart shareholders had previously been told that the huge freight distribution centre would reduce rather than create jobs. Stobart hope 40,000 people per year would fly from Carlisle to Southend Airport, plus 20,000 per year to Dublin.
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Indignation in Frankfurt at the approval of the 3rd Terminal, for yet more flights and more noise
Frankfurt airport protesters continue their huge gatherings on most Monday evenings (they have a break in the summer, and do vigils instead). There have now been 108 Monday protests and 34 vigils, with around 1,000 at the protests and around 100 at the vigils. After the news that planning had been granted for a 3rd Frankfurt airport terminal, there were far more people than usual at the vigil, with around 500, mobilised by the news. It was "the first Monday after the Tuesday," and people were deeply angry at the news, and that it had been broken in August, in the holiday period. The terminal enables the airport to grow, with more flights and more passengers. That means more noise misery for the thousands who already find the over-flights unacceptable. Opponents want the right to sleep, which they say is a fundamental right that is destroyed by aircraft noise. It is unacceptable for people to be rudely woken from their sleep at 5am and that they can no longer sit in the garden when the weather is good is described as "a monstrosity". "We do not want to live like this." Opponents hope the decision can be reversed, when there is a proper study of the surface transport infrastructure required for a new terminal.
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Global bird culls by airports, to deter bird strike. Hundreds of thousands gassed, shot and poisoned
The issue of bird strikes for planes is an emotive one. Some collisions do little damage to planes, but hitting a large bird can disable an engine, or worse. While birds and planes co-exist, some strikes are inevitable. Rose Bridger has been looking into this subject for years. She says shortly after the Hudson incident in 2009, New York's 3 main airports began culling Canada geese. This escaped public attention until June 2010, when wildlife officials rounded up nearly 400 birds and gassed with CO2 in a nearby buiding. In fact, the geese that downed the plane were not locals, but migrants from northern Canada. By autumn 2013 geese were being rounded up from municipal properties within a 160 square kilometre area. After a non-fatal (for the plane) collision with a flock of geese at Schiphol in 2010, 5,000 were gassed in 2012. The area where geese are deemed a hazard to aircraft was extended to cover a 20 kilometre radius around the airport, and a further 10,000 geese were gassed between January and July 2013. In January, the New York Port Authority announced plans to eliminate the entire population of 2,200 wild mute swans. And there are many, many other examples. Airports should not be built in or near important bird habitats and migratory flightpaths.
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Carlisle council gives go-ahead to city airport overhaul – largely to be a freight centre
Plans for the £20 million overhaul of Carlisle Airport have been given the go ahead - again. A special meeting of Carlisle City Council took place on 18th August, with councillors asked to approved Stobart Group's proposals for a massive freight distribution centre and revamped runway. One councillor expressed concerns over potential traffic congestion but no councillor voted against the motion to approve officers' recommendations. The Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler said that work could begin within "a couple of months" - provided there are no legal challenges. The decision came despite the High Court quashing a previous planning permission decision, as new case law has since emerged which means that the need to take into account the viability of the airport is no longer relevant. However, opponents of the plans are questioning the legality of the council decision. Local people are asking for this decision to be called in. This freight depot proposal is deeply opposed by a large proportion of the local community. There is concern that the proposal was permitted because Tinkler showed a film, of Stobart employees begging for consent to be granted, at the planning meeting.
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Responses to the Gatwick airspace consultation (closed 16th August)
On 23rd May Gatwick launched a consultation on airspace changes it proposes. This is part of the airspace change programme to "modernise" flight paths, in line with the UK Future Airspace Strategy published by the CAA. The consultation was widely regarded as inadequate, badly written and presented, and effectively almost impossible for ordinary people - unused to the jargon and the technicalities - to either understand or respond to. The consultation finally ended on 16th August. Many organisations, and MPs, have asked for the consultation to be considered void, due to its deficiencies, and re-done to include maps, showing all proposed flight paths at Gatwick for arrivals and departures up to 10,000 feet. These were not included before, making responses difficult. These are some of the consultation responses sent in from local councils and parishes, representing their members. They all comment negatively on the quality of the consultation. One comments: "The air travel industry appears to be in total denial of the collateral damage which would be caused by these proposals"
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Frankfurt Airport given planning permission to build Terminal 3, to increase passenger number
Frankfurt airport currently has 2 passenger terminals with a capacity of approximately 65 million passengers per year, plus 4 runways. In 2009, the German government decided there should be a new Terminal 3 in order to handle the expected passenger flow of 90 million per year by 2020. The new terminal is scheduled to be built by Fraport, south of the existing terminals. Fraport has now announced that it has been granted approval of its planning application, by the city of Frankfurt. However, it still needs a demand assessment. The building of a new terminal has been deeply controversial, and has been strongly opposed - as it is a means by which the airport can grow substantially. Fraport hopes the first phase of construction will start next year. Fraport say the airport will reach its maximum passenger capacity of about 64-68 million passengers a year by 2021 and that the new terminal when finished will allow it to serve up to 25 million more. Opponents say the airport already creates too much noise and does not need to be expanded. The CDU and the Greens said in their coalition agreement at the end of 2013 that they were in favour of looking at alternatives to building a new terminal. Opponents say they will keep fighting the expansion plans.
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Stop Stansted Expansion supports call to take part in flight path consultation, and says changes should be postponed
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) welcomes NATS' call to local residents to have their say and respond to the proposed transfer of traffic on departure routes from Stansted Airport. The proposed change involves switching daytime traffic from the existing south-east (Dover) departure route to the existing east (Clacton) route (see map). The consultation closes on 8th September. Traffic on the Clacton route would double if this proposal were implemented. NATS' own figures show 1,470 fewer people would be overflown, but 2,400 people would be overflown more intensively. NATS says that the driver for change is network performance and to avoid Heathrow traffic congestion. SSE says significant changes to Stansted's airspace are likely to come in the next airspace review phase scheduled for 2018/19. If there is a new south east runway, that will mean significant redesign of Stansted routes in future. Therefore SSE says there must be clear and compelling benefits for local residents before any changes are implemented. They recommend that NATS' proposed changes should be postponed until the airspace redesign planned for 2018/19.
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Monarch airlines plans to slash workforce by 1,000 jobs, up to 30%, to compete with Ryanair and EasyJet
Up to 1,000 jobs, about one third of its work force, will be cut at Monarch as it tries an overhaul to reposition itself as a low-cost airline competing with easyJet and Ryanair. Monarch is currently controlled by a wealthy Swiss-Italian family, and has been undertaking a strategic review of its business in order to attract new investors. It will drop its charter flights and focus on short-haul scheduled flights. It will cut its fleet of aircraft from 42 to 30. It will keep its focus on holiday destinations like Spain, the Canary Islands and Turkey but add more European cities and skiing destinations. Overall, it will fly more frequently to fewer destinations. They will no longer fly from East Midlands Airport. Monarch has its HQ at Luton airport, is made up of Monarch Airlines, tour operator Cosmos Holidays and an aircraft maintenance division. Monarch's MD said "We're on a trajectory of changing from a charter airline to a scheduled European low-cost carrier." They recently ordered new planes, at the Farnborough air show. This is a £1.75bn order for 30 new Boeing 737 aircraft to be delivered by 2020. They carried about 6.8 million passengers in 2013.
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Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford joins the battle over Gatwick aircraft noise
Sir Paul Beresford, the MP for Mole Valley, has joined the battle against aircraft noise due to Gatwick airport, over the south of the district. Documents for the recent airspace consultation by Gatwick (closed on 15th August) show that one of Gatwick's departure routes was changed in November 2013. This flight path had too tight a turn for modern aircraft (though they can climb faster than older planes) and planes were increasingly straying further north. As a result, the official route, the NPR (noise preferential route) was changed at the end of last year to allow for a wider turn, meaning 7,200 people who were previously unaffected are now under the flight path – including communities in Leigh, the Holmwoods, Brockham, Capel, Betchworth and Beare Green. Sir Paul said: “It’s quite a disaster. People who bought houses under the previous flight path knew what they were buying. People who have bought under the new flight path did not know. ..... the whole thing is totally unacceptable." He is deeply opposed to a 2nd runway, partly due to the thousands of houses that would have to be built, on green field land, to accommodate workers. “They are actually bussing people in from the South Coast to do jobs" already.
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Political taboos leave politicians unwilling to take steps to cut transport emissions
An interesting, thought provoking article in The Conversation, looks at the way in which issues to do with reducing our desire for travel could be seen as "taboo." For the EU, CO2 emissions from transport make up about 30% of the total. However, while the automotive and aviation industries try to convince us that technology will cut emissions, the growth in demand will far outweigh these small improvements. If politicians challenge our desire for ever more travel, they can be punished by powerful lobby groups, by peers, or at the ballot box. On air travel, a high proportion is done by the most wealthy. But the political classes and opinion formers are themselves in this category, of hypermobile people with a "distinct unwillingness among this section of society to fly less." Increasing the cost of flying disproportionally affects lower income groups, yet does not seriously impede the mobility patterns of frequent-flying elite, who enjoy flights "subsidised through the exemption of international air travel from VAT." The airline industry and its lobbyists work hard to instil the idea that “mobility is freedom”, and that to restrict such mobility through regulation is nothing short of an infringement of that liberty; another taboo.
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“Grow Heathrow” squatters in Sipson pledge ‘peaceful’ resistance to bailiffs, due to evict them
The remarkable "Grow Heathrow"squatter community, occupying land near Heathrow in protest at the airport's expansion, are expected to be evicted by bailiffs today - or soon. They say they will "peacefully" resist, but a range of non-violent means, including digging tunnels and locking themselves onto items. Grow Heathrow, which includes some 15 families, moved onto a derelict site near Sipson in 2010. The privately owned land had been a wasteland, and an area for anti-social activities. Grow Heathrow cleared rubbish from the site, and created a garden, as well as being as self sufficient in food as possible. They also ran creative and artistic workshops, and a positive and productive community. However, the land owner wants the land back, perhaps for sale to Heathrow airport (their 3rd runway plans would make most of Sipson impossible to live in). Many local people in Sipson have been delighted to have Grow Heathrow as neighbours, rather than a derelict site. The local MP, John McDonnell said he "wholeheartedly" supported the activists. "These are people who not only helped us fight off the third runway, they've actually occupied a site which would have been the sixth terminal for the expanded Heathrow Airport."
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Work on terminal extension at Bristol airport, to increase passenger numbers, to start in September
Bristol airport has announced its plans to increase the size of its terminal building. The airport was granted permission for its £120 million expansion plans more than 3 years ago in the face of fierce opposition from some local residents. The scheme has been put largely on hold as a result of the recession. Parts of the work have been carried out and now the airport is planning to extend its terminal building. The work will start in early September, and they hope it will be completed by summer 2015. Other improvements will eventually include a new hotel and a new public transport interchange. The airport deals with around 6 million passengers per year and the aim is to increase the total to 10 million. The airport now has as many passengers as before the recession. A new £6.5 million central walkway which is designed to ease congestion at peak travel times has just been completed. Bristol airport hopes to get the new generation of jets flying direct to long-haul destinations in Latin America and the Far East.
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Heatwave blamed for record number of complaints about Heathrow noise
Heathrow anti-noise group, HACAN, says nearly 300 people contacted it during July to complain about aircraft noise, more than three times the monthly average. The weather was warm in the south east in July, with a good summer. That means people spent more time outside, and they slept with windows open. That led to even more awareness of aircraft noise than there is in cooler weather. The record number of noise complaints was due to a combination of warm temperatures and a record 6.97 million passengers using Heathrow during July. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN said: "It puts into perspective Heathrow's current consultation on compensation if a 3rd runway is ever built. You simply can't compensate people for the disturbance of planes thundering over as they sit in their gardens trying to enjoy the summer sunshine..... Just imagine how much worse the noise could be with a third runway and at least 250,000 more flights each year using Heathrow." Heathrow itself received 603 complaints about noise in July, only a slight rise on the 578 made during July 2013. They acknowledge that: ..."an airport of the size and importance of Heathrow can have downsides for people living nearby."
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Campaigners in Tunbridge Wells area gear up for legal action over flawed Gatwick consultation
Campaigners against the noise from Gatwick flight paths say that legal action will be taken against the airport's inadequate airspace consultation. Fundraising has already begun to raise some £70,000 estimated to be needed to challenge the case in court, and residents of the areas beneath a proposed narrow corridor, including the High Weald Area of Natural Beauty, Edenbridge and Tunbridge Wells, are preparing to take the airport to task. The proposal affects Gatwick flight paths below 4,000ft and suggests a narrow flight path rather than the current one, which is spread out, although the exact location has not been revealed. There will be one corridor for daytime flights and another for night flights. Adding to a growing list of concerns raised by the consultation, which Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark described as “flawed,” critics are also criticising the decision to remove information about the ownership of Gatwick from the airport’s website. People have been greatly angered by the way Gatwick has conducted its consultation, and communities are working together. The airport is not succeeding in "divide and rule" between communities, to pass the buck of noise misery elsewhere.
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“Scrap new flight paths,” says GACC in their response to Gatwick’s airspace consultation
Gatwick Airport’s consultation on new flight paths ends on Thursday, 14th August. GACC (the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, the well regarded main environmental body concerned with Gatwick, with nearly 100 Borough, District and Parish Councils and environmental groups in the area as members) has submitted a powerful response (GACC AIRSPACE RESPONSE). The consultation has been highly inadequate, giving no flight path detail, and GACC is therefore asking the CAA to declare it void. GACC is demanding that all the new routes should be scrapped. They are asking that Gatwick and NATS should issue a new joint consultation, with detailed maps, showing all proposed flight paths at Gatwick for arrivals and departures up to 10,000 feet. GACC is also asking that the CAA should refuse permission for any new route outside existing NPRs until Gatwick agree to a scheme for compensation. Where flight paths are now concentrated on a single narrow line GACC is calling for compensation to be given to people whose houses are devalued. According to Brendon Sewill: "The law says that, when a new motorway is built, people with houses nearby must receive fair compensation. The same should apply to new motorways in the sky."
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Gatwick PR campaign strategy document, on influencing the key people, accidentally left on train
The plan by Gatwick to lobby “gold, silver and bronze” opinion formers against expansion at Heathrow rival has embarrassingly backfired after a dossier setting out the airport's campaign strategy was left on a train. It was passed to the Sunday Times, which has revealed details of the plans. Gatwick has a “target” lists of opinion formers - politicians, civil servants, business leaders (and allegedly ?? environmentalists) - whom it hopes will put pressure on the Airports Commission and its members. There is a list of around 100 “gold tier” individuals, best able to exercise influence. Gatwick not only wants their target subjects to promote their runway, but also “neutralise the prevailing default bias that we perceive exists in favour of Heathrow”. Gatwick has commissioned a noise study by the CAA undermining Heathrow's implausible claim that fewer people would suffer aircraft noise if it got a 3rd runway and increased flights by some 50%. Unsurprisingly the Gatwick study indicates far more people would be affected by Heathrow noise, with a 3rd runway at full capacity. Heathrow criticised Gatwick for not publishing all the technical documents related to its expansion plans, saying: “It is a shame that the only way anyone can scrutinise Gatwick’s plans is when their executives leave documents on a train.”
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Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark urges Gatwick CEO to “go back to the drawing board” on flight paths
Greg Clark, MP for Tunbridge Wells, has written to Gatwick asking them to reconsider the “flawed” consultation on aircraft flight paths and noise, and urging them to “go back to the drawing board.” He recently (14th July) met Gatwick and NATS staff about the problem. He tells Gatwick that the consultation has not only caused outrage among his constituents for what it proposes but also for how the consultation has been managed. There are serious concerns among local in the area about the "superhighway" overhead, though Gatwick says the increase in noise is just that more Brits are flying abroad this summer, (on cheap flights for holidays). Greg says that the noise disturbance has considerably worsened recently and many have been "disturbed and dismayed by much higher levels of aircraft noise this summer.” He adds: "... the consultation has been unfit for its purpose.....(its) ..purpose was to have been to gauge reaction to particular precise routes. Yet the exact route has not been disclosed to the public. Instead, a wide swathe has been marked on maps which make it exceedingly difficult to work out what is the exact route proposed.....the proposals being put forward (are) too ill defined to comment properly.” He believes the misguided proposal to increase flights over Langton Green, Speldhurst, Rusthall and Bidborough should be rethought.
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Crispin Blunt MP investigates recent increase in aircraft noise in Redhill area due to changes to Gatwick flight paths
Following a recent increase in complaints of increased aircraft noise over Redhill and Earlswood, MP for Reigate, Crispin Blunt has visited Gatwick Airport for an explanation. He has also met Heathrow and the MP for Mole Valley, Sir Paul Beresford, to identify the cause of the increase in over-flight noise, and investigate potential remedies and future trends in aircraft noise patterns. Crispin has set out a clear explanation of what has been happening, and why people in his constituency are now being affected. Gatwick is trying out new routing patterns, that might come into effect in 18 months time, by which flights take off in a similar pattern as before, but follow a much narrower air corridor over Redhill and Earlswood. This has reduced the area in which people are overflown, but concentrated the amount of noise that a smaller number of residents on the narrower flight path have to suffer. Some Gatwick departure aircraft are being held low by NATS over Redhill, to avoid aircraft stacking prior to landing at Heathrow. These are tracking north closer to Redhill than before. This is part of the FAS (Future Airspace Strategy) which is being worked on, and which will not be completed till 2019. By then, the conflict with the Heathrow routes may be resolved.
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Southampton University study shows air traffic growth would outpace CO2 reduction efforts unless demand is cut by higher air fares
Experts warn that cheap air travel needs to end if the air industry is to honour its pledges to reduce its carbon footprint. Airfares will need to increase by a third over the next 30 years if airlines are to cut their passenger numbers,in order to hit their 'carbon neutral' targets. A study (by John Preston, Matt Grote and Ian Williams, at the Dept of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton) shows the airline industry will have to raise fares in order to limit demand for air travel, which otherwise rises continuously. The study says air ticket prices need to increase by at least 1.4% per year, even if the airlines invest in more efficient aircraft and manage to introduce lower-carbon fuels. Air fares have become 1.3 % cheaper every year, on average, since 1979. The researchers say the average fare paid by passengers would need to rise (at 2013 prices) from £170 in 2013, to £195 in 2023, to £225 in 2033, and to £258 by 2043. The growth in demand for flights will outpace fuel efficiency improvements if the annual increase in air passengers worldwide is around 4 - 5% per year. Though ICAO hopes to improve aircraft fuel efficiency by 2% per year up to 2050, it realises the higher growth in passenger numbers is causing a net increase in aviation carbon emissions.
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