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Summaries of, and links to, the latest aviation news stories appear below. News is archived into topics
For a daily compilation of UK articles on national and regional transport issues, see Transportinfo.org.uk | For more stories about specific airports see Aviation Environment Federation Transport & Environment Anna Aero TravelMole Press releases from CAA IATA BA Ryanair easyJet Jet2.com For climate change ECEEE news and Guardian Climate and NoAA monthly analysisCheck Hansard for reports on Parliament |
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Latest news stories:
European airlines having to fly empty flights due to continuing slot use requirement
During the height of the Covid pandemic, the EU suspended the normal slot allocation process for airlines, that had forced them to use at least 80% of their slots - or lose them. The aim is to ration space at busy airports. During Covid, most airports had below half as many flights as in 2019. Now the EU has decided to start reinstating the slot use rules, and in December the European Commission set the threshold to 50% for the winter travel season. Lufthansa Group, which includes Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss said it would have to run18,000 unnecessary flights from mid-December to mid-March to comply. That is crazy in terms of carbon (and airline costs, for zero benefit). Lufthansa said it plans to cancel 33,000 scheduled flights by the end of March because of a slump in demand caused by Omicron. In the US, slot rules are still suspended. In the UK the partial suspension (50% use) continues until the end of March 2022. Greenpeace called the empty flights “absurd” and pointed to “a new low for the sector that is kept afloat with government support”.
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Aviation sector is hoping, unrealistically, that future “carbon capture & storage” will solve its CO2 problems
There is a presumption in all future climate scenarios, aiming to get to "net zero" by 2050 (or whenever) that "negative carbon technologies" will have to be used. It will be essential to try to remove some of the CO2 from the global atmosphere. Obviously, a more effective way to keep global CO2 to a lower figure would be to stop emitting it, over the next decade or two decades. But governments and businesses, including the aviation sector, are not keen on doing that; it would be bad for business. Even the most optimistic forecasts for the amount of carbon that could be captured by DACCS (Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage) would only be a tiny % of annual emissions, let alone the millions of tonnes emitted in the past. The technology is expensive and uses a great deal of energy. So far, the only carbon capture that has been profitable has been pumping the captured CO2 into depleting oil and gas fields, in order to get out more oil and gas (totally negating the purpose of capturing the CO2 in the first place). Aviation will want people to believe in the future magical abilities of this tech - people need to be very sceptical indeed. Beware dangerous greenwash.
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Covid caused a 71% drop in international flights for UK in 2021 – in future the aviation sector may be smaller
The Covid pandemic triggered a 71% drop in international flights in and out of the UK in 2021, says a new report m by aviation analytics firm Cirium. About 406,060 international flights operated from the UK in 2021 compared with 1,399,170 in 2019 before travel was restricted. UK domestic flights also fell by nearly 60%. Ryanair remained the largest airline in the UK, with over 100,000 UK flights. easyJet had over 82,000 flights. The busiest international route was between Heathrow and New York's JFK. 80% of routes were to European destinations. The director on Newquay airport expects that “the ‘old normal’ is not going to return” for airlines and airports, and it will be at least 5 years before the industry recovers to its 2019 size, if it ever does. The pandemic has made people far less care-free about air travel. He expects there will be much less business travel now that companies have become used to Zoom and Teams. Discretionary trips abroad such as stag parties might go to UK cities instead. And people will prefer package trips, protected by cancellation insurance, over independent travel.
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The Aviation Communities Forum and the Aviation Environment Federation join forces
The Aviation Communities Forum (ACF) was set up in 2015 following a number of airspace change trials and has always worked very closely with the team at the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF), supporting each other on noise and airspace policy issues. There are mutual advantages in bringing the two organisations together under the AEF, and so that will start from 1st January 2022. This initiative will embed the ACF’s noise and airspace work in a more robust membership and governance structure and give it more access to social media capability and potentially funding. For AEF, it will increase the organisation’s capacity on noise and airspace issues, and help to ensure that policy positions are consistently well informed by people’s personal experience of these impacts. There will be benefits to the members of both organisations, which in any event overlap very substantially.
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British Airways launches its Gatwick short haul cheap flights subsidiary, BA Euroflyer
British Airways is to have a new short-haul subsidiary at Gatwick, starting in March 2022. Tickets for the subsidiary, known as BA Euroflyer, have gone on sale, with 35 destinations initially. It will have three planes initially, in creasing to 18 by May 2022. The aim of BA Euroflyer is to try to remain competitive with Gatwick's dominant low-cost airlines. In March flights will go to Amsterdam, Larnaca, Paphos, Seville, Tenerife, and Verona - all just holiday destinations, with flights starting under £50. Then other holiday destinations will be added. According to the airline, from a passenger’s perception, there should be no difference when flying on mainline British Airways or BA Euroflyer. Just what the planet does not need; instead of reducing the demand for air travel, making unnecessary flights even cheaper.
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CAA allows Heathrow to increase passenger charge from £22 to £31.19 from January – to be reviewed again
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has allowed Heathrow to charge its airline customers more in the period from 1 January 2022, as an interim measure, for six months. Heathrow's current price control expires on 31 December 2021 and the final decision and licence modifications for a new 5-year control period (H7) will not be made and take effect until the summer of 2022. At present the airport can charge up to £22 per passenger, and it wanted to increase that to £43 in January 2022. The CAA now says Heathrow can charge £30.19 per passenger. The CAA says: "Once we have set the final price control for the H7 period, any difference between it and the holding price cap will be trued up or down." The rise to £31.19 is an increase of 37%, compared to the current inflation rate of 5.1%. Shareholders have received more than £4bn in dividends since 2012. Airlines are deeply opposed.
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Local MP, Bim Afolami, and community groups ask Gove to call-in Luton expansion plans
Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, has called on the government to review plans to allow for a million more passengers per year through Luton Airport, rising from 18 million to 19 million. On 2nd December, Luton Borough Council (which owns the airport and decides its planning applications) approved the airport's expansion plans and varying the noise conditions it operates under. Now Bim Afolami has asked Communities Secretary Michael Gove, at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to "call-in" the decision. The DLUHC says it would consider requests for a call-in, taking the decision from the council, to government. This is usually when an application has wider impacts than just the local area, which Luton's extra flights definitely would. Another reason for call-in is if an application conflicts with a national policy - climate in this case. Bim said the decision to approve the expansion "completely ignores the environmental and cross-boundary impact". Local groups, including the Luton and District Association for Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN) and Harpenden Sky, have also written to the Minister asking for call-in.
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Southampton Airport runway extension decision set for judicial review
The residents group, GOESA Ltd, that has been challenging plans to extend the runway at Southampton Airport, have won the right to take the matter to judicial review (JR). The judicial review will take place in the New Year, submitting evidence to the High Court, but the date is not yet known. GOESA Ltd is crowdfunding to raise the money for the legal costs. The plans to extend the runway by 164m (538ft) were approved by Eastleigh Borough Council in April. Initially campaigners against the plans had their request for a JR refused by the High Court, but that has now been overturned. Rowan Smith, the group's solicitor, said: "They will now have another opportunity to convince the court that permission for an expanded Southampton Airport was unlawfully granted and should be reversed." The airport claims all sorts of economic benefits from the runway extension. The leader of Eastleigh Borough Council hopes the legal processes can happen quickly, so the airport can proceed quickly with its plans, which he claims are good for the regional economy....
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Preposterous claim by Leeds Bradford airport to become “net zero” by 2030 (ignoring the planes)
Airports are very fond of making grandiose claims about their efforts to cut their carbon emissions, from their buildings and ground operations, and reduce their environmental footprint. That is all very welcome. But it is merely disingenuous and frankly misleading as the claims to be "net zero" or "carbon neutral" ignore the emissions from the flights, that happen because of the airport. Generally the emissions from the airport itself are around 5% - that sort of figure - of the total emissions generated by the overall activities of the airport and its flights. Now Leeds Bradford - trying to increase number of flights - is making claims about how it will be "net zero" (excluding flights) by 2030. The term "net zero" does not mean a lot. Emissions can only be "net" if offsets are bought - there are few offsets that are effective in genuinely reducing carbon, over decades. Carbon capture and storage would reduce carbon, but it is many decades away, on any significant scale. As most passengers using the airport are people who live relatively near the airport, going on leisure trips, the airport is keen that they reduce the carbon impact of their trips to and from the airport. The airport CEO wants them to travel in electric cars ...
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Shell and its plans to produce “sustainable” jet fuels, using plant oils and animal fats
Shell is an enthusiastic proponent of so-called "Sustainable Aviation Fuels" (SAF). They claim that "SAF can be made from renewable sources such as used cooking oil, municipal waste and woody biomass. It is ... has the potential to reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80%, compared with conventional aviation fuel." But Biofuelwatch and others are seriously concerned about the use of plant oils, including palm oil, that Shell considers acceptable. Used cooking oil could be seen as a genuinely lower carbon fuel, but there are limited amounts of it. There have been frauds involving companies making money by claiming virgin oils are "used." Biofuelwatch says Shell has signed a contract to buy 2.5 billion litres of aviation biofuels over a 5 year period from a refinery sourcing soya and animal fats, currently under construction in Paraguay. Cattle ranching - the source of the animal fat - is the main cause of the destruction of the Chaco forest. Shell plans to produce biofuel in Singapore, where there is pressure from Malaysia and Indonesia to use palm oil, directly or indirectly linked to habitat loss and deforestation. With immense world demand for palm oil, for human food, this cannot be justified.
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Government £15 million funding for 8 companies, hoping to make low carbon jet fuels
The DfT has announced the spending of £15 million for 8 companies that hope to make the (dreamed of) low carbon jet fuels that the industry so desperately wants. None of the funding is, as far as can be ascertained, going into development of plant or animal lipids. Many of the contenders intend to use domestic, commercial or woody waste, to convert this using gasification and the (energy intensive) Fischer-Tropsch process, into fuel. One wants to use sewage. Another wants to use industrial flue gases. Another wants to use direct air capture CO2, combined with hydrogen from electrolysis. There are grandiose claims about how much fuel will be made, how low its lifetime carbon emissions will be. In reality, it is unlikely that using forestry waste (not tree trunks) will produce much. Domestic waste is a very variable material, that has proved difficult to reliably turn into fuel in any quantity (and it needs people to throw away enough food, plastic, paper and card). Many require large amounts of electricity that is genuinely produced from renewables, competing with other uses. And producing fuel is generally a less efficient use of electricity than using it directly for heating or movement. So a lot of pie in the sky. Watch how these develop in the next few years ...
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Kent County Council KCC strongly opposes Gatwick’s northern runway proposals
Kent County Council (KCC) has responded to Gatwick Airport’s consultation strongly opposing plans to routinely use its northern runway for departing aircraft. The plans would see the airport grow - if things go Gatwick's way - from 46.6 million passengers per annum (MPPA) in 2019 to 75.6 mppa by 2038. The council's response is in line with their existing Policy on Gatwick Airport, which was adopted by Cabinet in 2014. KCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, David Brazier said: “KCC has long argued the impacts of Gatwick’s current single runway configuration are already unacceptable, and a potential increase of these impacts on local communities and the environment would be intolerable" with the extra flights and noise. They are also concerned about the increased carbon emissions, and the pressure on public transport to and from Kent. KCC says the project would have a significant material impact on the Government’s ability to meet carbon reduction targets. Also that the full extent to which communities and the environment will be impacted will not be properly assessed or appropriately mitigated.
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Climate Change Committee stresses need to reduce demand for air travel
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), in its report following up the outcome of the COP26 talks, says that rolling out the Net Zero Strategy must lead to emissions falling in all sectors (i.e. going beyond recent progress dominated by the power sector). They say there is a gap on behaviour change (e.g. shifting diets away from meat and dairy and limiting aviation demand growth). That needs to be changed, in order to get emissions reductions. Reductions in aviation are especially important for the UK, as we have very high per person aviation emissions. The Committee has repeatedly stressed that an element of demand reduction for air travel is needed. The Government has repeatedly ignored that, knowing that anything restricting or make flying more expensive, is a vote-loser. The COP26 Glasgow Pact said there should be no "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies. The CCC has said that the absence of VAT or fuel duty on air travel are post-tax subsidies.
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Luton Council approves plans for Luton to increase from 18 to 19 mppa
In February, Luton airport submitted a planning application to Luton Borough Council (its owner) to increase the annual cap on passenger throughput from 18m to 19mppa. Also to expand the day and night noise contours by 11.3% and 15.3% respectively until 2028. Now Luton Borough Council has approved the plan to increase to 19 million - and the plans to change the noise contours, to the huge disappointment of many local groups already negatively affected by aircraft noise. The Council said this application did not affect the airport's long term proposals to increase capacity to 32 million per year, which would be determined by government, through a DCO, not the council. The airport is owned by a company that has changed its name to Luton Rising - and that is owned by Luton Council. How well the airport will do in future years is unknown, with the impact of Covid, targets for aviation to become "carbon neutral" and growing awareness of the climate impact of air travel. Luton's passenger numbers dropped almost 70% between 2019 and 2020 due to Covid.
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East Midlands airport handled more freight, due to Covid and internet shopping
East Midlands airport handled 381,954 tonnes of air freight in 2020 (14% up from 2019). The freight tonnage at Heathrow in 2020 was 1,146,310 which was down -28% compared to 2019. The total tonnage of air freight at UK airports was 2,002,187 tonnes in 2020 (21% down on 2019) - it had been 2,535,423 tonnes in 2019. East Midlands airport says it is now a major hub for dedicated express freight operators such as DHL, UPS, FedEx and the Royal Mail. There has been growth of SEGRO’s vast East Midlands Gateway distribution park to the north and the new Maritime Rail Freight Interchange linking the park to the rail network. The rise in internet shopping has also added to freight movements. During early 2020 there had been a lot of air freight, bringing in personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies. This had caused airlines to be willing to pay the added costs of flying at night and in older or more noisy aircraft. This had been unpleasant for people being noisily over-flown at night as 60% of the airport's freight cargo was flown between 11pm to 7am.
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Climate Change Committee says there needs to be a reinvigorated UK effort on climate change
The Climate Change Committee says how far Glasgow can be considered a success can only be assessed by the actions that follow over the coming year and beyond. There is now a path to expected global warming of under 2°C, but only if all the ambition in new mid-century Net Zero targets is delivered, alongside national 2030 emissions targets. Current climate policies around the world do not come close to achieving these aims. For the UK it says "The Glasgow Climate Pact makes notable reference to ‘phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’. The UK has a duty to act on this in common with other countries. The CCC recommends that the Treasury initiates a review of the role of the tax system in delivering Net Zero, including the role of tax in achieving a higher and more consistent carbon price across the economy. Low carbon prices are effectively a subsidy. No fossil fuel subsidies should be classed as ‘efficient’." The CCC did not mention it, but the absence of any fuel tax on jet fuel, and no VAT on air travel, and effectively a subsidy to air travel. The CCC has repeatedly said that air travel should not be expanded unless there is effective progress on cutting aviation carbon emissions. Demand for air travel must be reduced.
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Aviation’s climate pledges contradicted by huge growth forecasts
The aviation industry is aiming for "carbon neutrality by 2050" while continuing to expand. While it hopes to make small reductions in carbon per passenger kilometre travelled, by efficiency gains and novel energy sources, most of the "carbon neutrality" would have to be from offsets, or carbon storage. There are currently no viable means of propelling commercial airlines large distances, without causing the emission of a lot of carbon. That situation is unlikely to change for at least another 40 years. In the meantime, it is imperative that global carbon emissions reduce fast, year by year, from now onwards. Not from 2050. Transport & Environment says relying on ICAO and its CORSIA (ineffective) scheme to achieve net-zero in the long-term will be just another distraction from real measures to clean up flying in the near term. Relying on rapid deployment of yet-to-be-deployed Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and zero-emissions technology is harmful, as large-scale deployment is many years away. Assuming solutions are just around the corner would unjustifiably, and damagingly, allow high levels of air travel to continue. Flying less is the most effective way to reduce aviation emissions.
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Cardiff airport needs public money, and cannot survive without it
Cardiff Airport's CEO says it would not have kept going without an £85m bailout from the Welsh government during Covid. The Welsh government wrote off £42.6m of airport debt in March this year and also gave it a 5 year recovery grant of £42.6m. The airport's passenger numbers were down by 90% in August 2021, compared to 2019. It currently has flights to 15 destinations, while in 2019 it had 52. It loses business to its rival, Bristol airport. The value of the airport has dropped by more than two thirds. The Welsh Conservatives have said the Welsh government should sell it. The Welsh government bought the airport in 2013 for £52m and has since invested more than £130m of taxpayers' money into it. The airport was doing reasonably well before Covid. The airport claims to still support many jobs, and that in "normal times" it generated some £240m per year in revenue. The Welsh government is aware that it has climate commitments, and increasing flights from Cardiff will conflict with targets of reducing carbon emissions. Professor Calvin Jones, an economist at Cardiff University's business school, questioned how compatible owning an airport was with tackling a climate emergency.
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Gatwick expansion consultation ends 1st December – its plans would have ‘few benefits’
The Gatwick consultation on its plans to use its northern, standby, runway as a full runway, ends on 1st December. It is important that anyone who has strong views on the issue submits a response, even if a very brief one. The impact of the expansion would be to hugely increase noise, carbon emissions, local road and rail congestion, air pollution, light pollution and more. The airport is trying to talk up its plans, with extravagant and improbable claims of the number of jobs that might be created locally, and the positive economic impact. Local campaign group, GACC, has prepared extensive comments to the consultation, to help people respond. Also a short, quick version that people can use - or ideally adapt into their own words - to express their concerns. GACC says Gatwick's plans "would have few benefits but serious climate change consequences and devastating impacts on local communities and people under flight paths.” Any increase in jobs would be by displacement from other regions and would be inconsistent with the government’s ‘levelling up’ plans. And its case for growth simply doesn’t stack up and the consequences are unthinkable.
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Luton airport continuing to be a financial drain (maybe £550 million+) to owners Luton Council
In the last few days, the company (owned by Luton Borough Council) that owns Luton Airport, has changed its name from London Luton Airport Ltd, to Luton Rising. That will be its trading name. The company that operates the airport is London Luton Airport Operations. London Luton Airport Operations has obtained agreement from Luton Rising that it can retain £45 million over three years. This will support the airport's recovery from the pandemic. The money would have been paid by the operator to Luton Rising (ie. the council) if it had not been for the impact of Covid reducing passengers and flights. Luton council usually, pre-Covid, made a good profit from the airport, but that has now been reversed. The Council in 2019 receiving a £19.1m, and £15.8m servicing debt. In September 2020 there was a £60m loan by Luton Borough Council to its airport company and it was expected that another £23 million would be paid. Then in June 2021 Luton Council loaned a further £119m to the airport. Now this is another £45 million, over three years. The airport is not looking like a great investment for the council ...
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Government subsidising flights between London and Newquay, and London and Dundee, by £4.3m over 2 years
The DfT has announced that £4.3 million of public funds will be given for two regional air routes, through PSO (Public Service Obligation) agreements. Flights between Newquay and London, by Eastern Airways, will be subsidised by Cornwall Council receiving up to £1.8 million over 2 years, which the government claims will help tourism and business travel. The flights have been subsidised for many years. The other route is London to Dundee, by Loganair, for which the government has confirmed that it will provide up to £2.5 million to fund direct flights for a further 2 years. Again, tourism and business travel are cited as benefits. PSOs are for routes where there is not enough demand to even half fill a small regional aircraft and that to attract a commercial operator to fly the route, the government has to provide a financial incentive. So it is mildly curious that Robert Courts Aviation Minister talked of "the hugely popular London to Dundee" route. Over the years, there has been a lot of churn in which airline can be persuaded to fly these routes.
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Airlines will not be able to avoid higher costs if they use novel (lower carbon) fuels
The CEO of Delta, which is probably the world second biggest airline, has said that tackling climate change will make flying more expensive. [And so it should]. Ed Bastian claims that after spending $30m (£22.4m) a year on carbon-offsetting the airline has been "carbon neutral" since March 2020. It has also pledged to spend $1bn over the next decade to cancel out all the emissions it creates. It gives no details of how it is doing this, and it is well known that most carbon offsets do not work, and the carbon is NOT "cancelled out." The most effective way to cut the greenhouse gases produced by aviation is to have fewer flights and fewer passengers. But the airlines all intend to grow, perhaps by 3% per year if they can. Their only hope of reducing their emissions a little, while they expand, is novel aviation fuels (referred to as sustainable aviation fuel) - SAF. These will be difficult to produce, and probably impossible to produce in the amounts the aviation industry want. The cost of these fuels is high, which will mean more expensive flying. Delta wants to use 10% sustainable aviation fuel by the end of 2030. Ryanair wants 12.5% SAF by 2030; IAG wants 10% by 2030. The EU says SAF currently accounts for just 0.05% of jet fuel use in the EU.
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Virgin says it might return to Gatwick, especially for US routes
When the Covid pandemic began to hit air travel, the slot rules - which require an airline to use 80% of its slots at an airport - were suspended. That suspension has continued ever since, to avoid planes flying empty, just to keep a (valuable) slot. Gatwick is keen to have the slot rules suspension ended, so it can bring in more flights by Wizz, instead of slots being blocked by British Airways and IAG. Virgin decided to leave Gatwick in May 2020, as it could not make any money, but it kept its slots. Norwegian is all but defunct as an international airline, but held 10% of Gatwick’s slots before Covid. Those have been sold or leased back to easyjet. British Airways pre-pandemic was the second largest operator at Gatwick, with 17% of slots. It might, or might not, come back to Gatwick, after saying spring 2020 that it would leave. IAG could sub-let slots to its low cost airline, Vueling. Now Virgin is saying it might come back to Gatwick, as it is excited about the prospect of flights to the US returning, now Covid restrictions are eased. Things will change, if the slot waiver is ended, and both Virgin and British Airways would generally prefer to be at Heathrow, where they can make more money.
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Ammonia suggested as a possible future “low carbon” jet fuel – but problematic
A British company is hoping to use ammonia, in order to create "low carbon" flight in future decades. The hope is to produce ammonia (NH3) using the very energy intensive Haber Bosch process, which is how fertiliser is produced. Unless it used genuinely low carbon electricity for the process, a lot of carbon would be produced. The aspiration is that liquid ammonia could be stored in tanks on aircraft, and then - using the heat from the engines - "cracked" to produce hydrogen, which would fuel the plane. However NOx gases is produced in the process, and N2O is a highly potent greenhouse gas. Engines would need to have a second process, to turn the NOx into just water and nitrogen gas. The company wanting to do this hopes existing planes could be modified, though this would mean installing the cracker/heat exchanger unit next to each engine pod on an aircraft wing, and changes to fuel tanks. It is likely that an airliner with these modifications would only be able to fly short trips, of under 2,000km. Ammonia fuel would cost a great deal more than fossil kerosene - and it is a toxic and corrosive substance, that can damage many metals.
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Ireland’s subsidies for aviation fuel may be reviewed after COP26 deal
The Irish government may need to review aviation subsidies worth hundreds of millions of euros in response to the outcome of of the COP26 negotiations. This Irish support totalled €2.4 billion in 2019, according to Central Statistics Office data, and was dominated by the excise duty exemption for jet kerosene. Separately, airports received €23 million in state aid this year to compensate for pandemic-related losses, on top of a similar figure last year. The Irish environment minister, Eamon Ryan, said the European Commission wanted to resurrect plans to impose a minimum tax rate for aviation fuels as part of its 2030 climate plan. This proposal was parked when the pandemic hit. Airlines have fought against the tax. In last year’s general election, the Green Party campaigned to end “harmful subsidies that prioritise flying” and reintroduce the €10 air passenger travel tax abolished during the last recession. The issue of whether to agree globally on limiting fossil fuel subsidies was a key part of the COP negotiations, with producing countries (and others) deeply opposed to meaningful cuts.
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New research indicates that about 90% of UK domestic flights are taken by 2% of the population
Data from the DfT's National Travel Survey 2019 and data from the Civil Aviation Authority’s 2018 passenger survey show that about 90% of domestic flights in the UK were taken by just 2% of English flyers in 2019. The data was obtained by the environmental group, Possible. They also found that the typical domestic flier earns twice the national average salary. In an average year, 90% of the UK population do not take any domestic flights at all. Leo Murray, director of innovation at Possible, speaking of the cut in domestic Air Passenger Duty, from April 2023, said: “This new analysis shows that this tax cut makes even less sense than first feared. Effectively all of the benefits will go to reward the tiny number of wealthy households responsible for almost all of the environmental damage from domestic flights, incentivising them to fly even more often, mostly on routes that could easily be travelled by train.” Many people support a ban on domestic flights, on routes where the train journey is easy and less than 4 to 6 hours. In any one year (pre Covid) about 50% of the UK population do not fly at all, and about 15% of the population take 70% of all flights. 1% of English residents take 20% of all overseas flights.
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Stay Grounded network say new aviation climate declaration fails to reduce sector’s future emissions
An aviation climate declaration launched at COP26 on 10th November has failed to place any firm limits on future airport expansion, or growth in aviation demand. As part of the new "International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition" (IACAC), member states that signed up have committed to working together, they say, to reduce aviation CO2 emissions in line with the aim to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C. But sustainable transport network Stay Grounded said the declaration will not substantially contribute to aligning the aviation sector with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit. The proposed techno-fixes (electric aircraft, hydrogen, biofuels or e-fuels) will not cut emissions, if the sector expands. As well as preventing the construction of more airport infrastructure, and measures to encourage behaviour change, there need to be taxes on jet fuel and bans on short-haul flights. Mira Kapfinger, of Stay Grounded said: "Far-off targets for 2050 are not worth the paper they are written on ... Relying on CORSIA to reduce flight emissions is like waiting for flying pigs. It simply does not work.... the commitments in the declaration are neither new nor ambitious”.
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The alternative (hoax) “International Aviation Carbon Ambition Coalition” website – what the real one should say !
Persons unknown have taken the opportunity of the launch by the government at COP26, of a new grouping called the International Aviation Carbon Ambition Coalition", to provide a (sadly, spoof....) website for the organisation. The website, IACAC, has the sorts of commitments the real organisation should - and does not - propose or commit to. Some of the hoax commitments are, in summary: 1. Halve air traffic emissions departing from signatory countries by 2030, from 2005 levels. 2. Include emissions from flight departures (both domestic and international) within signatory country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). 3. Introduce a minimum jet fuel tax of €0.33 per litre. 4. Not use carbon offsetting as an emissions reduction measure. and 5. Ban crop-based aviation biofuel. This involves the commitment to strengthen CORSIA’s sustainability criteria for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). These are the sorts of changes that ICAO and global organisations responsible for the aviation industry and its climate impact, should be starting work on.
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UK-led COP aviation declaration – “International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition” (IACAC) – too weak to clean up flying
The "International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition" (IACAC) has been launched by the UK government at the COP26 climate change summit. Its declaration is too weak to reduce flying’s climate impact. It relies too much on ICAO's CORSIA scheme to try to limit some aviation emissions. The number of global air passengers and cargo is expected to increase significantly over the next few decades, but the CORSIA scheme will be ineffective, and airlines are resistant to measures that would reduce demand for flights. At least now the UK has included international aviation in its national carbon target, which means cuts (or net reductions) will have to be made - but most countries have not even done that. The text of the IACAC merely contains non-committal statements such as "supporting", "taking steps", "working together", "ensuring", "advancing", "promoting" and "convening." One commitment is: "Promoting the development and deployment, through international and national measures, of sustainable aviation fuels that reduce lifecycle emissions ...avoiding competition with food production for land use and water supply."
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HACAN calls for end to aviation greenwash and false “solutions”
Ahead of Transport Day (10th November) at COP26, community group HACAN were joined by a cross-party group of MPs and Peers outside Parliament to call for an end of greenwash from the aviation industry. Hacan said that instead of shifting responsibility to the international mechanism CORSIA, that heavily relies on greenwashed false 'solutions' such as offsets and so-called alternative fuels, Governments must take responsibility for aviation emissions in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In a climate emergency the only thing we can do right now to cut emissions from flying is to fly less. Even with some of the techno-fixes the aviation sector hopes for, by 2050 it is likely to be adding about 12% of the 205 Giga-tonnes remaining global CO2 budget. The sector must not be allowed to continue growing, based on greenwashing claims about low-carbon fuels in future, which are highly unlikely to materialise on any large scale. Parliamentarians attending were Rupa Huq, Baroness Jones, Baroness Kramer, John McDonnell, Sarah Olney, David Simmonds, Andy Slaughter and Munira Wilson.
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Stay grounded protests across many countries, on 6th November, during COP26
There were numerous protests, timed to be during the Glasgow COP talks, on Saturday 6th November. The aim was to highlight the need to reduce the demand for flying, and the number of flights being taken, globally. Also to point out the deceptive, misleading "greenwash" being peddled by the aviation industry, and enthusiastically taken up by governments, especially the UK government. The industry is placing its hopes in novel techno-fixes (electric planes, hydrogen, new fuels made from wastes or from supposedly excess renewably generated electricity, in future). None of those can be scaled up to anything even faintly the scale of demand, especially as the industry is planning continued rapid growth, for several more decades. The greenwash is dangerous, as it gives people a false, unjustifiable, sense that they can fly "without guilt" as the sector has brilliant solutions to carbon emissions, just around the corner. The greenwash is intended to permit more "business as usual" flying, with no reduction. Details here of many of the protests, organised through the Stay Grounded network.
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FLY LESS campaign from Stansted Airport Watch
To coincide with the start of the COP26 international climate change summit in Glasgow, Stansted Airport Watch (‘SAW’) is launching its “Fly Less” campaign. Aviation currently accounts for around 9.4% of UK territorial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - about 38.5 MtCO2 in 2019 out of around 410 Mt CO2. On present trends aviation could be the largest single source of UK CO2 emissions by 2050. Stansted is (or was in 2019) the largest single source of CO2 emissions in the East of England. The Government’s independent advisor, the Climate Change Committee, has called for a slowdown in the level of air travel and a freeze on UK airport expansion until the aviation sector can show a significant reduction in its CO2 emissions. But so far the Government has rejected this call, or any attempts at behaviour change, and is instead putting its faith in technological solutions. SAW’s ‘Fly Less’ campaign will be publicised on its website and social media, supported by posters, banners and car window stickers. SAW will also be writing to the chairmen of the FTSE top 100 UK companies, encouraging businesses to play their part by reducing business flights, which emit far more carbon per seat than economy flights.
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Aviation’s present-day contribution to human-induced global warming is 4% and is likely to increase over the next 30 years
It is possible that, though the global heating impact of aviation so far has been about 4%, this could make up about one-sixth (about 16%) of the remaining temperature budget required to limit global warming to 1.5˚C by 2050. A recently published article, by a number of well recognised academics, suggests that emissions produced by the aviation industry must be reduced each year if the sector's emissions are not to increase warming further. The authors show that the only way to 'freeze' the temperature increase from the sector is to cut its CO2 emissions by about 2.5% per year. The industry plans extensive growth over coming decades, but the academics say "there is little chance for the aviation industry to meet any climate target if it aims for a return to normal." There are hopes the low carbon fuels could be found, and also that the non-CO2 impacts of burning jet fuel at high altitude could be cut, by using different fuels, emitting less water.
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COP26: airport campaigners to protest at 10 UK airports, against aviation expansion and greenwash
To remind everyone, during the COP26 talks in Glasgow, that aviation is a huge climate problem, aviation campaigners are planning to protest at Bristol, Doncaster-Sheffield, Gatwick, Glasgow, Leeds-Bradford, London-City, Luton, Liverpool, Manchester and Southampton airports from 11am on Saturday 6th. The action has been organised by Stay Grounded (a global network of more than 160 member organisations promoting alternatives to aviation to address climate change) – as part of the COP26 Coalition Global Action Days. Stay Grounded and the many UK protests, are calling for the halt of airport expansion. The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK government's advisors, have recommended that there should be no further airport expansion, unless some airport capacity closes - but government has ignored this. Stay Grounded is also asking for an end to the “greenwashing” of aviation, and false hopes being placed in uncertain techno-fixes such as "sustainable" aviation fuel (SAF). The CCC has warned that SAF and other small technology changes will not be able to reduce aviation CO2 enough.
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Climate Change Committee advises government to act to reduce demand for flying
The UK government's independent advisors on climate, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), produced their assessment of the UK Net Zero Strategy, which was published on 19th October. On aviation the CCC say the government is not doing enough to reduce demand for flights. They have also not shown how to achieve their ambition of cutting the demand for road travel, or meat eating. The CCC warns a “techno-centric” approach to cutting emissions adopted by the prime minister has a high risk of failure. Boris Johnson has regularly promised that climate change can be tackled without what he calls “hairshirtery”. Nick Eyre, Professor of Energy and Climate Policy at Oxford University said: "The PM's headline about not changing the way we use energy is not just helpful - it's unrealistic. We won't reach climate goals unless there's a combination of technology and behaviour change." The CCC warns that the Treasury still lacks policies to cut emissions. They point out that the government hopes for 10% of SAF used by planes by 2030, while the CCC consider it might be 2% (at best). They hope demand for flights will reduce, if not by government policy, by increased public awareness of the severity of global heating.
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Death knell for Heathrow’s 3rd runway as Ferrovial cuts off funding – and CAA blocks high passenger charge rise
Heathrow has been told by its regulator, the CAA, that it cannot raise its passenger charges for airlines by as much as it wanted. At present the airport can charge up to £22 per passenger, and it wanted to increase that to £43 in January 2022. But the CAA has said it will be capped at £24.50 to £34.40 for five years. - with an interim figure of £30 set for 2022. The CAA also reconfirmed its decision earlier this year on Heathrow's regulated asset base, (RAB) which determines how much money the airport can recover from its customers through charges. This will now rise by £300m, rather than the £2.3bn requested by Heathrow, which wanted to recoup its pandemic losses from consumers, but the CAA had refused. A final decision will be made in January. So Heathrow's finances are not looking healthy, and now their main shareholder, Ferrovial, has said it will not invest further in the airport, and is not happy about getting low returns. The withdrawal of support by Ferrovial could be the final straw for 3rd runway plans. Heathrow passenger numbers now are about 45% of the 2019 level, and the airport does not expect numbers to return to those levels until 2026.
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Sunak halves domestic APD and introduces a band of over 5,500 miles (costing just £5 more)
Air Passenger Duty is the only tax paid on air travel, as it pays neither fuel tax nor VAT. The rate has been £13 for a return economy flight to anywhere in Europe, since April 2012. The price is £82 for trips of over 2,000 miles. Until April 2015 there were four distance bands for APD. Adults on domestic flights paid £13 for each part of the return trip, ie. £26 return. Now the Chancellor has halved the rate of domestic APD, from April 2023, so it would just be £13 for a return trip. The claim is that this helps connectivity within the UK, being useful for those in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Flights within the UK are usually cheaper than rail tickets, and cutting APD sends completely the wrong signal, in making flights even cheaper - when what would help cut CO2 would be to reduce the cost of rail travel. Riski Sunak has introduced a new distance band for APD, so instead of just the two bands - of under, or over, 2,000 miles - a new band is added - of over 5.500 miles. This is from April 2023. But the increased APD level will just be £91. The rate for trips of over 2,000 miles will be £84 from April 2022, and if it rises by £2 per year, which is usually does, would be £86 by April 2023. So the higher rate will be just £5 more. Not much of a disincentive, or help to reduce CO2. Treasury expects £35 million less per year from APD after 2023.
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Vague hopes by Manchester airport for future supplies of low carbon fuels from Fulcrum NorthPoint
There is an enthusiastic story about Manchester airport hoping to be getting "up to 10% " of the fuel used by aircraft at the airport replaced with SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) within 5 years "of the Fulcrum NorthPoint facility becoming operational." Manchester Airport had about 196,000 flights in 2019 (and in 2017). Its carbon emissions were estimated to be about 3.6 Million tonnes of CO2 in 2017. As a quick, "back of the envelope" calculation, that would mean - if the number of flights returns to the level pre-pandemic in a few years - the airport would need over 1,100 tonnes of the SAF per year. But the company to supply the fuel has not yet built its facility. It is part of Essar Oil UK, which has owned the vast industrial site in Stanlow, Cheshire, for a decade. But Essar is grappling with a funding shortfall potentially running to hundreds of millions of pounds. Not a great start to embark on this novel fuel project, but hoping for the extensive funding the UK government plans to give companies that try to make "low carbon" jet fuel. The SAF is intended to have a "70% lower carbon footprint" than conventional fuel, and be made from non-recyclable waste, which would typically go into landfill." It is actually really hard to make on a large scale.
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Campaigners remain confident after Southampton Airport legal challenge refused
Campaigners against Southampton Airport's runway extension say they remain confident after a legal challenge was refused. GOESA Ltd, a company set up by those opposed to Southampton Airport's runway extension, submitted an application to the High Court for a judicial review in July this year. This came after Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) granted planning permission for the airport extension which proved controversial during the consultation process. An online fundraising page was set up to fund the review which raised over £60,000, but now, EBC has said that the High Court has refused the review of planning permission. Despite this though, GOESA Ltd has said that this is "not the end" and say that there are still chances to appeal this. They have to decide within the next seven days, whether they apply to have the matter renewed in open court. They are taking legal advice and that will be decided in the next few days. There is another stage in the appeal process. A second application for a judicial review was also made by Bournemouth Airport Ltd, but this has also been refused.
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Rishi Sunak might bring back 3 or 4 band APD, with a higher long-haul rate, but lower domestic rate
Air Passenger Duty (APD) is currently charged in two bands, to destinations under 2,000 miles (£13 for passengers aged over 16) and above 2,000 miles (£82), with business class passengers paying more, and more for private jets. There was a consultation about rates of APD and the distance bands earlier in the year. It is thought that the Chancellor will announce, in his autumn budget, that APD will be reduce for domestic flights (passengers pay £26 for a return domestic flight, but only £13 for a return European flight). Until 2015 there were four bands for APD, with under 2,000 miles, 2,000 to 4,000, 4,000 to 6,000 and over 6,000 miles. It is thought likely that Rishi Sunak will bring back the higher distance band, for higher APD for flights of over 6,000 miles. It currently makes no sense, in terms of carbon emissions, that the APD on a flight to Cairo or Dubai is the same as one to Thailand or Australia. Scrapping the APD on domestic flights does not help encourage people to take the train, when often the journey by train is quite easy - but far more expensive. A recent trial by campaigners compared the train and plane between central London and central Edinburgh. The plane was two minutes faster. UK aviation is seriously under-taxed, paying no VAT and no fuel duty.
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Government puts up, then almost instantly withdraws, document showing need for behaviour change to cut carbon emissions
Published with the government's decarbonisation, net zero, strategy on 20th October, was a document called "Net Zero: principles for successful behaviour change initiatives". It was produced for BEIS, by the Behavioural Insights Team (aka the Nudge unit). It contained many suggestions for ways the public's behaviour could be "nudged" to help lower carbon emissions. But the document was only on the BEIS website for an hour or two, before being withdrawn. Luckily one sharp-eyed and quick-witted aviation campaigner spotted it and saved a copy. The document suggests ways in which behaviour could be changed - while the government, and Boris himself, claims behaviour change will not be needed, and we will all be able to fly, guilt free, in future. BEIS says it does not wish to suggest behaviour change. The behaviour change paper said, of business aviation, that there needs to be a change in social norms, to international in-person meetings no longer seen as a sign of importance or pride, but "being an immoral indulgence or embarrassment." It also says government should lead by example, in not backing airport expansion for financially supporting the airline industry with little demands for decarbonisation in return.
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Independent assessors for Manston expansion plans say there is no need for the extra air freight capacity
The Development Consent Order (DCO) for the re-opening and development of Manston as a freight airport was rejected by the High Court in February 2021. This was after Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, in July 2020 had decided to ignore the advice of the Planning Inspectorate (PI) in October 2019, that the DCO should be rejected. Grant Shapps said it should go ahead, but the court said there had not been enough detail for reasons to go against the advice of the PI. Grant Shapps then had to "re-determine" the DCO application, and people could submit reasons to the PI for why the airport proposal should be refused. A team was set up as "independent assessor" to investigate the justification for the airport's expansion, and report back to Mr Shapps. The team's report has now been published. It concludes that “the levels of freight that the Proposed Development could expect to handle are modest and could be catered for at existing airports ... Manston appears to offer no obvious advantages to outweigh the strong competition that such airports offer. ...the Applicant has failed to demonstrate sufficient need for the Proposed Development". Further submissions are welcomed until 19th November. Now 3rd December.
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Lord Deben – head of Climate Change Cttee – UK must drop plans for airport expansion
Lord Deben, the Chair of the Climate Change Committee, has told the Airport Operators Association that the UK must drop plans for airport expansion if it is to meet carbon reduction targets. Lord Deben said “There is not any space for airport expansion ... The idea we are going to have a whole lot of airports expanding – we are just not in that world.” Currently there are up to 10 UK airports planning physical expansion, including Heathrow and Gatwick. Lord Deben said “The government has to make it easier and simpler to be good and hard and expensive to be bad. At the moment it is often more expensive and more complicated to be good....This is not about fiddling about around the edges ... We’ve allowed climate change to get out of hand." Meanwhile a document produced by the government's "nudge" unit (the Behavioural Insights Team), about necessary UK behaviour changes, was removed from the BEIS website. It contained a few suggestions about reducing demand for air travel, including encouraging more domestic holidays and more rail travel to Europe - acknowledging that stopping British people wanting foreign holidays, by air, would be very, very hard.
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Good Law project delays its JR of the ANPS, until Government finalises its “Jet Zero” Strategy in early 2022
The Good Law Project, with Dale Vince (Ecotricity) and George Monbiot, started a legal challenge to the government legal department, asking for the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) to be suspended and reviewed. The Supreme Court had ruled in December 2020 that the ANPS was legal, and that it had taken proper account of the climate impact of airport expansion. Today the Good Law Project has said that the Government has promised to consider whether to review the ANPS once it finalises its “Jet Zero” Strategy in early 2022. So it is prudent to delay the judicial review until the Government publishes this strategy. They say: "The evidence we’ve gathered shows that the Government’s current maths around aviation emissions doesn’t add up. And if they fail to match their climate rhetoric with action by refusing to review the outdated ANPS, we expect to bring a challenge next year." This is especially the case, as this year the government has included international aviation and shipping emissions in the Sixth carbon budget (2033 - 37) and pledged to cut UK carbon emissions by 78% by 2035.
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IATA now has aspirations for aviation to be trendy “net zero by 2050” while keeping on flying
IATA is now hoping it could achieve "net zero emissions by 2050". Previously it had aspired to emitting only half as much carbon by 2050, as it did in 2005. Climate experts consider two problems with "net zero by 2050" : the net part, and the date. IATA hopes to get some technical efficiencies to cut carbon, but its real hope is finding fuels that cause the emission of far less carbon than fossil fuels, up to the moment they are burned in a jet engine. (These fuels will still produce most of the non-CO2 impacts at altitude, due to water vapour and other gas interactions). There are widely varying estimates of how much "low carbon" fuel - SAF or Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the jargon - will be available. The main hopes for producing it are forestry waste, domestic waste, or electro-fuels produced from "surplus" renewably generated electricity. No SAF can be produced and delivered to the plane, without creating some carbon emissions. So claiming any SAF is "zero carbon" is incorrect. If a plane burns 50% conventional jet fuel, and 50% of a fuel the production of which saved 65% of emissions, that plane will only produce 33% less carbon than if it burned only conventional kerosene. And being able to permanently store residual carbon, underground, for ever is highly questionable.
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Campaigners tell the Treasury that aviation taxation must be reformed
In a joint letter to the Chancellor, AEF, T&E, Tax Justice, Green Alliance, Bellona and Greenpeace have called on the UK Government to reform UK tax in order to better reflect the environmental costs of aviation. The letter has been sent in advance of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review plans which expected to be announced soon. Since 1990, UK’s aviation’s emissions have increased by 125%, and were rising steeply till the pandemic. Now that the government has decided to include international aviation and shipping in future carbon budgets, immediate taxation reforms are needed. The letter suggests a jet fuel tax, of at least the level proposed by the European Union, of €0.38/ litre. There also needs to be VAT on all air tickets, at a rate of 20%. To properly account for the climate warming effect of air travel, which is likely to be up to 3 times as much as that of the CO2 alone, there needs to be an additional charge. That would be world-leading. It the aviation sector was taxed in a more realistic manner than now, it would incentivise progress on decarbonisation initiatives. The government is not prepared to restrict air travel demand, but higher ticket prices, due to higher tax, would have this effect
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Government considering counting aviation biofuel as generating zero CO2 emissions, in the UK ETS
The UK Government has proposed an amendment to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) legislation to allow aviation biofuel (one type of sustainable aviation fuel or SAF) to be treated as having zero emissions as long as it meets the sustainability criteria in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RFTO). The UK ETS will only cover domestic flights, and those from UK airports to European countries - not long haul. Airlines are permitted a number of free ‘allocations’ in the ETS per year. Once these allocations are used, airlines must buy unused allocations from other operators or sectors. Counting aviation biofuel as having zero emissions would mean that no allocations would need to be surrendered for that fuel. It is highly misleading to claim that biofuels provide 100% CO2 savings, in life cycle analysis. Currently fuels with a 50% emissions saving or more can benefit from the RTFO policy. The way the carbon saving is calculated can be complicated, and include different factors. When burnt, SAFs emit at least as much CO2 as kerosene, and as such, should only be considered to offer a ‘net’, and not ‘actual’ emissions reduction. AEF comments: "The aviation sector has a history of being given favourable treatment in policy. This has to stop if the sector is to achieve net zero."
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UN chief, António Guterres, urges airlines and shipping firms to do more to cut GHG emissions
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, says current efforts to cut carbon emissions, from international aviation and shipping, are more consistent with global heating ‘way above 3C’ - not 1.5C. He was speaking at the Global Sustainable Transport Conference, and said airlines and shipping companies - and others - have failed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and must step up with fresh commitments on the climate crisis as COP26 approaches. Otherwise the world faces catastrophic global heating. Guterres said: “Adopting a new set of more ambitious and credible targets that are truly consistent with the goals of the Paris agreement must be an urgent priority for both [ICAO and IMO] in the months and years ahead.” ICAO has been ineffective. He wants carbon emissions per passenger to be cut by 65% by 2050. But Leo Murray, from Possible commented renewable energy would be better used by other sectors, than making allegedly "sustainable" jet fuel (SAF) - as the process is “incredibly inefficient”. Leo said that the priority should be reducing flying rather than shifting planes to SAFs.
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Greenpeace calls for end to carbon offsets – they just allow large polluters to continue as normal
Greenpeace International has said that carbon offsets are allowing the world's biggest polluters to forge ahead with business plans that are threatening global climate goals. The offsets do not have the effect of lowering global emissions, either now or in future. The practice of buying carbon offsets means polluting companies - such as airlines - can buy carbon credits from projects that reduce or avoid the release of CO2 elsewhere. Examples would be mass tree plantings or solar farms. Instead of making every effort to emit less CO2 themselves, the companies hope equivalent amounts of carbon are being removed from the atmosphere, by others. This cancels out the reduction in CO2 emissions achieved by the provider of the carbon credit. Few carbon credits are reliable, and can guarantee carbon is not emitted, or is removed from the atmosphere. One of the most popular is planting trees. When a tiny sapling is planted, if will (if all goes well and it does not die from neglect, or the impacts of worsening climate change) only become large enough to sequester much carbon in several decades. Eventually the tree will die, returning the carbon to the atmosphere. The only real offset would be permanent, for-ever, underground storage of carbon.
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Bristol Airport awaits decision on expansion as inquiry draws to a close
The 36-day public inquiry into Bristol Airport's proposal to expand from 10 to 12 mppa has ended, with a decision by the planning inspectors expected early next year. The inquiry is into the appeal by the airport of the rejection in February 2020, by North Somerset Council, of the growth plans; councillors refused the planning permission by 18 votes to seven. The authority’s barrister, Reuben Taylor, said allowing millions more passengers a year to fly from Bristol airport would affect thousands more local people with significant impacts, as well as a negative effect on climate change and the green belt. Mr Taylor said the scheme was unacceptable and unlawful and urged the inspectors to make it clear to airport operators that they do not have a licence to expand. He said the airport "is a company that puts the pursuit of profit before the wellbeing of the people its operations affect." As well as being refused by North Somerset Council, the expansion has been opposed by Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council, the West of England Combined Authority and numerous parish councils. There will be a decision letter eventually, after which there is no further right of appeal - other than a judicial review into the process.
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Campaign for Better Transport urges a ban on UK domestic flights (where the train takes under 5 hours) and subsidised rail travel
The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) says domestic flights should be banned on routes where the train journey would take under 5 hours (or to islands). They also want long-distance domestic train fares subsidised, in order to reduce the carbon emissions from travel within the UK. There should NOT be any cut in the rate of Air Passenger Duty for domestic fights, as the aviation industry is lobbying for. The CBT says there should also be mandatory emissions labels on tickets and a frequent flyer levy for those taking more than three international flights per year. There can be no justification, in terms of carbon emissions, for flights - for example - between Manchester and London, London and Edinburgh or Birmingham and Glasgow. Sadly at present, rail fares are often FAR higher than plane fares. In a staged “race” from central London to central Glasgow, the person taking the train arrived two minutes later (5 hours 17 minutes, and 19 minutes), and the train journey emitted less than one-sixth of the carbon emissions of the flight – 20kg compared with 137kg. But it cost twice as much at £109 v £52.
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Local Councils asked to reject Newcastle Airport’s request for a £5.1 million loan of taxpayers’ money
Local group, Aircraft Noise Action Group (ANAG), at Newcastle say the 7 North East Councils, which own 51% of the Airport, are being asked to prop up (by £5.1 million of taxpayers' money) for an at-risk business which mostly enables people to take holidays and visit friends and relatives. Newcastle Airport has suffered huge financial losses as a result of Covid with revenues falling by £46 million according to its 2020 Annual Report. The airport is struggling financially - so it is asking for loan facilities to support its continued functioning. As well as the councils, the airport is asking the 49% private shareholder, AMP Capital, for a similar sum £4.9 million. Newcastle Airport claims to be a key driver of business in the North East. In practice, it is primarily a holiday and leisure facility with a small proportion of business specific travellers. Most travellers are British, taking their holiday spending money out of the country. ANAG says people need holidays, but a loan for this purpose is not an investment in the economic future of the north east. They also think it is environmentally short sighted and irresponsible and that the loan request should be rejected.
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Years of exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise may raise heart failure risk
Exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise over the course of many years may be associated with an increased risk of developing heart failure, and the correlation appears to be even greater in people who are former smokers or have high blood pressure, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The lead author commented: "Air pollution was a stronger contributor to heart failure incidence compared to road traffic noise; however, the women exposed to both high levels of air pollution and road traffic noise showed the highest increase in heart failure risk." And "To minimise the impact of these exposures, broad public tactics such as emissions control measures should be implemented. Strategies like smoking cessation and blood pressure control must be encouraged to help reduce individual risk." The data was part of a prospective study of over 22,000 members of the all-female Danish Nurse Cohort The women were 44 years of age and older at study enrolment and living in Denmark. Participants were recruited in 1993 or 1999. The study looked at NO2 and particulates, and took account of when and where the women moved house, over the years.
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Bid to block expansion of Stansted, to 43mppa, hits the final buffers
Uttlesford District Council (UDC) had applied to the High Court to judicially review the decision by the planning inspectorate, to allow expansion of Stansted, citing noise and environmental concerns. A High Court judge has now dismissed UDC's challenge as “unarguable”, and awarded yet more costs against the authority. UDC has decided not to challenge this decision. UDC's Planning Committee originally refused Stansted permission to boost capacity from 35mppa to 43mppa, in January 2020. (Earlier, in November 2018, UDC had approved the plan, when the council was under Conservative leadership). Government inspectors then overturned the UDC decision in May 2021, after a process which cost Uttlesford taxpayers something approaching £2 million. The Council had fought hard to prevent the increase in Stansted flights, largely due to the increased noise problem, as well as the higher carbon emissions. Local campaign, Stansted Airport Watch, says this latest rejection marks the end of the road for moves to block the expansion. However, with the Covid pandemic and growing awareness of climate breakdown, Stansted may never actually reach 43mppa anyway.
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Departing ICCAN tell Aviation Minister that the aircraft noise issue should be dealt with by an independent body, with “clout”
The DfT decided, at the start of September, that the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN) would be closed down at the end of September. This happened even though there is no replacement for them, to give an independent voice on aircraft noise issues. The Commissioners have written to the Aviation Minster, Robert Courts. In their letter they say, on the breakdown of trust by overflown communities, the government and the aviation industry: "That breakdown was simplistically interpreted as an issue between airports and communities, although our work has revealed that there was also a disconnect between Government policy, regulation, industry and community ambitions." And "We hope you will look objectively at who is best to carry ICCAN’s work forward and we offer our views in good faith. However, for the vast majority of our work it is hard not to conclude that only a body independent of Government and aviation regulation, empowered with sufficient clout by the Government, can deliver a coherent programme for change in how aviation noise is managed."
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Aviation demand in Scotland needs to fall by one third by 2030 to hit climate aims
The SNP Transport Minister Graeme Dey has demanded “radical behavioural change” in Scots’ transport choices – amid a warning that journeys by both plane and car will need to be permanently cut to end the country’s contribution to the climate crisis. There will need to be a significant reduction in demand for air travel, and technology alone will not achieve the transformational change required. There needs to be a reduction of 33% in the number flight kilometres travelled, between the number in 2019 and 2030. Transport is Scotland’s biggest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, but there is little progress in making cuts. The SNP government has pledged to cut GHG emissions by 75% by 2030 and to become carbon "net zero" by 2045 (5 years ahead of the UK). An independent report, by consultancy Element Energy, says transformational change in individual and business behaviour, alongside shifting travel choices will be needed as well as advances in technology. The SNP Government has been told to rip up its contract with Heathrow which supports it building a 3rd runway, in light of the findings.
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Airline industry needs to at least aim for net-zero by 2050 – rather than its current even weaker targets
In 2019 the ICAO confirmed its two global aspirational goals for the international aviation sector of 2% annual fuel efficiency improvement through to 2050, and "carbon neutral growth" from 2020 onwards. The IATA has its own target of aiming for "an average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per year from 2009 to 2020; a cap on net aviation CO2 emissions from 2020 (carbon-neutral growth); and a reduction in net aviation CO2 emissions of 50% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels." Now there is greater pressure on the aviation sector do actually do something to reduce its carbon emissions. In 2020, the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) produced its Waypoint 2050 analysis, hoping aviation “should be in a position to meet net-zero emissions at a global level by 2060 or 2065”. But now ATAG's director said it would soon publish an updated version of the Waypoint 2050 report to be more ambitious. The number of airlines that have made a commitment to aim for net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 is now 61. There is huge dependence on "sustainable aviation fuels" (which only exist in tiny amounts now, and will be expensive) providing a route to net-zero. The amounts needed by aviation in coming decades might be x8,000 as much as exist now, with production facilities costing billions of $.
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Extinction Rebellion blocks entrances to Farnborough, protesting about the high CO2 from private jets
Extinction Rebellion Farnborough activists blocked three entrances to Farnborough, which is a private airport in Hampshire. They are protesting at the very high carbon emissions produced by private jet flights - which could be x20 as high carbon as a trip on a commercial plane. Farnborough airport is the largest for private jets in the UK, with no commercial flights and few military. The flights are largely used by the very rich, celebrities and business leaders. Some of the protesters locked themselves to a stretch limousine, with a driver being locked onto the steering wheel, and to fuel barrels and a 3-metre steel tripod. At one point they moved flags blocking a road, in order to allow a car leave the airport to take someone to hospital. The airport continued to operate during the protest. Farnborough boasts of “offering a 5 star service with no compromises.” It operated over 32,500 flights in 2019, with 27% at weekends. There was a reduction in flights in 2020 (Covid) but a far smaller reduction than for commercial airlines. People who could afford to preferred to continue to travel, but on private jets. These jets tend to carry, on average, about 2.3 passengers. The airport hopes to expand to 50,000 flights per year.
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CMA have launched a “green claims code” – and consulting on environmental sustainability for business
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a consultation (29th September) "to help inform its advice to government on how competition and consumer regimes can better support the UK’s Net Zero and sustainability goals." It ends on 10th November. The CMS has issued a ‘green claims code’ and says too many businesses falsely make environmental claims, to attract customers. The CMA held a consultation in May (ended 16th July 2021) on misleading environmental claims - ie. greenwashing. It has now told companies that they have until the end of 2021 to stop the practice. It has issued new guidance for companies, to support global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. In 2022, the CMA will launch a review of misleading green claims, with sectors including fashion, transport, and others. It began looking into green claims last year, finding that up to 40% could be misleading to consumers. At the same time, the Advertising Standards Authority is clamping down on companies that make misleading claims on climate impact.
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Advertising Standards Authority to launch crackdown on ads falsely claiming low-carbon credentials – including airlines
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will conduct a series of inquiries into environmental advertising claims and practices by companies in several sectors - energy, heating and transport. Airline ads that encourage people to take flights and carmakers that show SUVs too positively are set to fall foul of a crackdown on marketing that encourages environmentally irresponsible behaviour. The intention is to support global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. In early 2022 the ASA will expand its investigation to look at the accuracy of green claims made by companies around waste - and then later it will look at meat and food sustainability advertising. The ASA hopes their "work will continue to positively influence the fight against climate change.” It will also commission research into what the public understands by terms such as “carbon neutral” and “net zero” in order to inform its policing of claims. It has already clamped down on Ryanair – which got caught using outdated information to claim it was the UK’s lowest emission airline. The UK Competition and Markets Authority is also launching its own review of misleading green claims next year.
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Report finds Heathrow is world’s 2nd most polluting airport (after Dubai)
London's 6 airports make it the most polluting city by aviation emissions, according to a new interactive tool and accompanying report. The tool allows users to explore emissions data for the world’s airports. It shows Heathrow is the 2nd highest-emitting airport in the world, (after Dubai) and accounts for two thirds of the aviation carbon from the London area. It is (2019) the single biggest polluter in the UK. The authors of the report, by Transport & Environment, ODI and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), said they hoped its findings would support challenges to airport expansion and force a “focus on the infrastructure that enables air travel and leads to more CO2 emissions in future decades”. The report shows that 86 of the 100 most polluting airports are located in the Global North - and that about 1% of the global population responsible for over 50% of all aviation-related CO2 emissions. But the climate impact of air travel is not only from the fuel burned, but also the non-CO2 warming impacts, including the insulating effect of contrails. The report says the global aviation sector was responsible for 2.5% of global CO2 emissions in 2018, with total emissions increasing by 5% annually in the 5 years before that.
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BA plan for new low cost “BA Lite” at Gatwick, for short-haul flights, abandoned
At the end of August British Airways announced that it hoped to start a new low-cost airline, called "BA Lite" to operate from Gatwick, and compete with Ryanair, EasyJet and Wizz. BA would therefore move short-haul flights back to Gatwick, after deciding to move them to Heathrow because of the pandemic. BA had consultations with trades unions – telling them that change was essential if it was to return to Gatwick. But the contracts for staff were less generous than before. Now the plan to create "BA Lite" has been scrapped, as agreement could not be reached with the pilots' union, BALPA. The union says the benefits and protections its members would have under the new company are not good enough. So BA has shelved the plan and will now cut the short haul routes it already flies from Gatwick.The news may come as a blow for Gatwick Airport as well, as it looks to grow passengers numbers and bring its emergency runway into regular use to increase its capacity. The loss of BA and its routes means Gatwick has even less need for its costly, climate-wrecking, expansion plans to bring its standby runway into full use, by 2029.
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Heathrow hopes to be allowed to increase long-haul passenger charge from £38.33 to £67.86 in 2022
The Telegraph has obtained details of plans by Heathrow to increase its charges for long-haul passenger next year, by about £30 per person, up from about £38. Heathrow has massive debts, bad before Covid and far worse now. It has one of the biggest debt piles in British corporate history. Heathrow says it is not expecting more than a quarter of the number of passengers in 2022, compared to the number (81 million) in 2019 - so it has to increases prices. It has had to ask lenders for waivers on banking conditions, to avoid defaulting on its loans. Heathrow will have to get agreement from the CAA for an increase in costs, under its regulatory framework. The CAA is likely to decide on this in the next month, and it may not be favourable to Heathrow. The airlines are predictably angry. However, in order to reduce aviation carbon emissions, some demand reduction is needed - such as higher prices - though the government will not consider that. Heathrow is also planning a new levy on air cargo, to make more money. It is also planning to introduce a new lower noise level, to encourage less noisy planes.
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UK government minister claims people must keep flying to help cut aviation CO2
A government minister has angered scientists and environmentalists by claiming people need to keep flying in order to help cut carbon emissions. Junior transport minister Rachel Maclean said the aviation sector needed to have "confidence in its future" and that the government had no plans to try and reduce demand for flights. She said lower carbon planes and fuels would not be invented if they were rendered unprofitable by people abandoning air travel. So we have to have lots of people flying, causing the emission of more CO2, in order for the industry to pay for future changes to cut emissions. (Wonderful logic). She said flying was one of the things that "make life worth living" and that the government would not place restrictions on it, for business or leisure ... and "We believe that we can reach zero in aviation [by 2050], without having a demand management policy." Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said: “According to the minister... it’s like advocating donuts as the confidence boost you need to make yourself go to the gym ... the Committee on Climate Change, and the Airports Commission, insisted that demand constraint was essential for aviation to meet our carbon targets."
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West of England leaders to formally oppose expansion of Bristol Airport
Leaders of the west region (Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) and North Somerset) are expected to change their minds, and instead of backing expansion of Bristol airport, now oppose it. Metro mayor Dan Norris is tabling a motion at a special meeting on 21st September of the West of England Combined Authority’s (Weca’s) joint committee, which he leads, that would scrap its previous endorsement of the plans. The motion could be carried by a majority vote of the 5 members, so the motion will be carried if Mr Norris (Bristol) and Cllrs Guy (B&NES) and Davies (North Somerset) support it as expected. Cllr Guy said: “Airport expansion is fundamentally incompatible with local councils’ commitment to tackling the climate emergency." Mr Norris’s motion includes the statements that: There is a climate and biodiversity emergency ... The West of England has ambition net zero targets for 2030 ...The proposed expansion of Bristol Airport is one of the biggest carbon decisions in the region for the coming decade. And “The Joint Committee resolves: To oppose the latest plans to expand Bristol Airport.”
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Airport groups write to Aviation Minister, voicing concerns about ICCAN being wound up
The DfT has decided to close down the ICCAN (the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise) at the end of September. Now a large number of community groups at airports, for people negatively affected by aircraft noise, have written to the Aviation Minister, Robert Courts. They say they "were surprised and disappointed by your announcement that ICCAN will be wound up later this month and its functions transferred to the CAA next year. We were particularly surprised you saw no need to discuss this significant change with communities impacted by aircraft noise." ICCAN was supposed to "give communities a greater stake in processes which propose to make noise changes, and ensure such processes better and more transparently balance the needs of all parties" and "be instrumental in ensuring that the needs of local communities are properly taken into account when considering the noise impacts of any airport expansion." There are therefore serious concerns of overflown communities, in the absence of ICCAN. The letter suggests 4 key actions and changes that will need to accompany any transfer of roles to the CAA if it is to command the confidence of adversely impacted communities.
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Hope is not a Strategy – Aviation cannot be allowed to keep adding to the climate crisis
With just two months to go before the UK Government hosts the vitally important COP26 International Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, Stansted Airport Watch ('SAW'), and a host of other environmental campaign groups from all across the UK, are pressing the Government for immediate action to tackle aviation's growing impact on climate change. UK aviation was responsible for 38 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2019 and the Government is content to allow this to continue to increase until 2030 and still to be more than 30 million tonnes in 2040 - by letting airports expand. In response to the DfT consultation, on its "Jet Zero by 2050" strategy, SAW has submitted a highly critical evidence paper challenging the DfT's 'business as usual' strategy and its total reliance on technological solutions emerging from beyond the horizon over the next 20-30 years (new biofuels, novel fuels, electric and hydrogen fuelled planes, and carbon storage technologies). The key message from SAW is that "Hope is not a Strategy". SAW has also submitted evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry into the apparent contradiction between the Government's expansionist aviation policy and its declared commitment to tackling climate change.
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Letter from academics on Jet Zero’s failure to reduce aviation CO2 by avoiding air travel demand management
Sir, As academics and researchers with expertise in climate science, meteorology, transport, nutrition and other fields, we are writing in response to Jet Zero, the government’s proposed strategy to decarbonise flying. Jet Zero would allow UK aviation emissions to increase up to 2030 from 2019 levels. This is counter to very clear advice from the UK Climate Change Committee to the government: measures to limit demand for flying should form an integral part of meeting our emissions reduction targets, alongside exploring the longer term technological innovations set out in Jet Zero. The report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes it starkly clear that it is vital to meet our net zero targets. As António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said recently: “There is no time for delay and no room for excuses.” The management of aviation demand must be sufficiently responsive so as to keep emissions reduction targets firmly within sight through the inevitable successes and failures of new technology.
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Government will not review the Airports National Policy Statement, on any of the challenge grounds
The Government had the option of reviewing the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) after the legal challenges, which took place during 2019 and 2020. One key issue of the challenges was the impact on the UK's climate targets of allowing Heathrow to increase its carbon emissions by up to 50%. Now the DfT has decided it will not review the ANPS, so it continues to be the underlying policy through which Heathrow could expand. The airport still has to go through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process, to get approval for a 3rd runway. Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary of State, says that even though the UK now has a target of 78% cuts in CO2 emissions by 2035 and international aviation should be included in that target (compared to 1990 levels) and "considers that it is not possible to conclude properly that any of the policy set out in the ANPS would have been materially different had these circumstances been anticipated at the time of designation [June 2018]." The overall impact of Heathrow expansion, combined with expansion of other airports, will be considered by the Planning Inspectorate at the DCO stage. It appears an opportunity to reduce UK aviation CO2 emissions has been missed, and government will do as little as possible on the issue.
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Gatwick’s Big Enough – a 2nd runway at Gatwick would be ‘disaster for the climate’
Protesters, organised through the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), gathered near the airport, chanting 'Gatwick is big enough', to express their opposition to the airport's plans to convert its standby runway into a runway for routine flights. Campaigners, residents and councillors held a peaceful demonstration next to a noise monitor in Charlwood, to coincide with the midnight launch of Gatwick's public consultation into its proposed expansion. Operating as a 2-runway airport would see Gatwick increase its annual passenger capacity from 62 million to 75m by 2038 - making it almost as large as Heathrow today. GACC chairman, Peter Barclay said the expansion of the airport would have negative impacts for people over a wide area - in terms of noise and air pollution, more night noise and sleep deprivation, and impacts on local infrastructure. All that affects people's quality of life. While humanity urgently needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, if we are to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, it makes no sense d to allow Gatwick to expand, adding another 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
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After two and a half years, Government closes down the ICCAN
The Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN) was finally set up by the government in March 2019, with the aim of looking into how the extra noise from airport expansion would affect those overflown, and the impacts of changes to flight paths. Its aim was not to reduce the amount of aircraft noise suffered, but to find out more about it, consult etc. Its creation had been a recommendation of the Airports Commission in June 2015, to make Heathrow expansion seem less unpalatable. Now Robert Courts, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport, has announced that it is to be wound up at the end of September. Back in June 2015 ICCAN had said it would take them two years to: “Review existing enforcement mechanisms and consider whether enforcement powers are necessary”. It had been stated in 2019 that "ICCAN will be reviewed in two years’ time and a decision will be made about its future direction as an organisation, including whether to give it increased powers. In the meantime, ICCAN’s role is threefold: to listen, to evaluate and to advise." The government now says its role will mainly be taken on by the CAA, and part by the DfT. That will not bring reassurance to those suffering from aircraft noise problems.
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Gatwick public consultation begins on plans to convert standby runway to full use as 2nd runway
Gatwick airport has started a public consultation on its plans to bring its standby runway, just north of the main runway, into routine use for departing aircraft - alongside the main runway. It means having to reposition the centre line of the standby runway, moving it 12 metres north. That then just meets international runway safety standards. The consultation ends on 1st December 2021. Due to the size of the proposal, increasing the annual number of passengers by over 10 million, it is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. Therefore Gatwick will next have to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build and operate the altered runway. This consultation is not the DCO application itself. Gatwick hopes to get consent to start the first stages of the runway process by 2023, starting actual building work in 2024, with the runway finished by 2029. The work is expected currently to cost £500 million - there are extravagant claims about numbers of new jobs and local economic benefit. This growth is in addition to more growth by increased use of the main runway, but that does not need a DCO application. Gatwick's annual CO2 emissions could rise by a million tonnes.
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BEIS sets new much higher prices for the valuation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in policy appraisal
The government (BEIS) sets the price it uses for the valuation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in policy appraisal. This has been updated in September following a cross-government review during 2020 and 2021. Greenhouse gas emissions values (“carbon values”) are used across government for valuing impacts on emissions resulting from policy interventions. They represent a monetary value that society places on one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (£/tCO2e). They differ from carbon prices, which represent the observed price of carbon in a relevant market (such as the UK Emissions Trading Scheme). To reach net zero in 2050 and meet UK 5-yearly carbon budgets, there needs to be a realistic value on GHG, in order to reduce emissions. The price has now been set, for 2021, at £245 per tonne (central value) rising to £378 per tonne by 2050. Even that may be too low. The prices now are around £70. This will have significant implications for the forecast economic costs/benefits of future infrastructure, such as airport expansion projects. The claimed economic benefits will be lower, with the realistic carbon prices, than the current low levels. Airport expansion plans will need to be reassessed.
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Heathrow residents demand end to night flights as they’re extended to 2025
People are being disturbed by Heathrow night flight noise, as flight numbers increase again after the large reduction in flights due to the pandemic. Currently Heathrow is allowed 16 landings or take-offs per night (ie. 5,800 per year) between the times of 23.30 and 06.00, Heathrow says a night quota limit is also in place, […]
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Gatwick 2nd runway plans must – and will – be opposed and rejected
Local community group, the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), say the proposed expansion of Gatwick, which it confirmed today, is unwelcome, unnecessary; if approved, it would have devastating consequences for the environment, local communities, and people living under flight paths, even many miles away. GACC - with local community groups - is relaunching its ‘Gatwick’s Big Enough’ campaign to fight the proposals. The plan to grow the airport's capacity by between 40% and over 60% over the next 15 years involves use of new technology on the main runway, and re-aligning and widening the existing emergency (or standby) runway to form a 2nd runway. This will mean more noise, more local rail and road congestion, more air pollution and more carbon emissions. If it gets its way, Gatwick would be able to grow from 45 million passengers and 280,000 flights in 2018, to 74 million passengers and 390,000 flights over the next 15 years, nearly the size Heathrow is now. GACC says: "This proposal is unnecessary and ill conceived. It must and will be opposed and rejected.“
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Gatwick announces plans to bring its standby runway into routine use
Gatwick airport has announced that it will start a 12 week consultation, from the 9th September to the 1st December, on its plans to modify and alter the current standby runway, for use as another runway. This consultation comes before Gatwick submits an application to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the expansion. This is necessary because, under the Planning Act ? 2012, any airport application that will result in more than 10 million more annual passengers, and thus be considered to be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, has to go through the DCO process, rather than the conventional planning application to the local authority. Details of the consultation and its contents will be published on 9th September, but it is thought that materials will be entirely - or almost entirely - online. This application for a huge increase in annual air passengers, and thus inevitably an increase in carbon emissions, comes before the UK hosts the COP26 climate talks, and the IPCC has warned about just how serious the climate change situation is - including the urgency of the need to cut carbon emissions.
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Airbus and Boeing will not be fuelling planes with hydrogen for perhaps 15 – 20 years
Airbus has said that most airliners will rely on traditional jet engines until at least 2050, burning conventional fossil jet fuel. Airbus says it plans to develop the world's first "zero-emission" commercial aircraft by 2035, but not whether the technology will be ready for the replacement for the medium-haul A320, due to be produced in the 2030s. It is working on several concepts for a novel plane. Until there is ample "green" hydrogen (no CO2 emitted in its production) any plane burning "blue" (or other types) hydrogen is not zero carbon. Airbus said that it if can produce planes that burn hydrogen, they will be regional and shorter-range aircraft - from 2035. It will be harder for long haul aircraft. The technology of using hydrogen to fuel planes is still on the drawing board. The aviation industry is wanting public money from governments, to develop hydrogen or electric planes, or low carbon liquid fuels. If the industry had to pay all the costs themselves, the price of flights would go up, and thus demand would go down. Not a profitable prospect for airlines. Boeing has also said that it will not be using hydrogen as fuel on a significant scale before 2050.
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Unless hydrogen is “green” hydrogen, or all CO2 produced is genuinely stored for ever, it is not a low carbon fuel
The DfT is pushing the idea of planes fuelled partly by hydrogen, as part of its "Jet Zero" strategy - hoping to find ways in which people can continue to fly, without huge carbon emissions that make reaching the UK target of net zero impossible. However, the Government's "Jet Zero Council" said, at the end of June, that government was launching "the first round of £3 million Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure (ZEFI) competition, supporting development of infrastructure required to aid electric and hydrogen aircraft such as charge points for planes." Hydrogen can be produced in various ways, most using a fossil fuel and producing CO2 in the process. The hydrogen could only be a "low carbon" fuel if all this CO2 is captured and stored, for ever - not just reused (which is what usually happens at present.) Now a study by academics at Cornell and Stanford universities in the US, warned that blue hydrogen (produced by ‘steam reforming’, needing carbon capture and storage for the CO2 created) could be up to 20% worse for the climate than fossil gas owing to the emissions that escape during its production, multiplied by the amount of gas required to make the equivalent amount of energy from hydrogen.
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Gatwick in talks with lenders, after losing another £245 million in the first half of 2021
Gatwick says it made a loss of £245m in the first half of 2021, as passenger numbers collapsed to 569,000. It expects to have 9 million passengers by December, but that is lower than the 10 million in 2020. In 2019 it had 46.5 million. The airport is now in talks with its lenders to ease the terms of its loans, due to the losses. It lost £465.5 million in 2020. Due to its weak finances and continuing low demand for air travel, Gatwick has asked its lenders to agree to short-term waivers on its loans to avoid it defaulting. This was also done last year, and the same thing happened at Heathrow. Virgin Atlantic, one of Gatwick’s longest-standing airline customers, has ceased its operations at Gatwick for now, while British Airways has moved all of its short-haul flights to Heathrow, due to the low level of demand. However, BA said it will continue with at least long-haul operations from Gatwick. The airport said it had 779m of liquidity at the end of June, which it hopes would last it for the next 12 months, with no more staff being made redundant. It has cancelled or deferred more than £570m of capital spending that had been planned for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
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120 organisations call on Spanish government to cancel the expansions of Madrid and Barcelona airports
A total of 120 social, neighbourhood and environmental organisations are calling on the Spanish Government to halt the expansion projects for the Madrid Barajas and Barcelona El Prat airports. With this demand, the groups are responding to the intense lobbying campaign being carried out by the airport manager AENA to obtain support in different areas, without any public presentations of the projects and with a total lack of technical, social, environmental, economic, financial and budgetary justification. The expansion at Madrid airport is to increase annual passengers from 70 to 80 million; at Barcelona it would rise from 55 to 70 million. Airport expansion and the growth of aviation are entirely incompatible with climate objectives and commitments. The signatory organisations want the €3.4 billion budgeted for the expansion projects be invested instead in low carbon travel, such as rail. Apart from the carbon emissions, the expansion of Barcelona airport is planned in the area of La Ricarda, an area protected by the Natura 2000 network. The extension of the third runway would also endanger the aquifer system that provides water for the city and is vital for the natural and agricultural areas of the Llobregat Delta.
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