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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:
New long-distance Dreamliner 787 and A350 nullify need for larger Heathrow hub, says Zac Goldsmith
Conservative MP for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith, has said a massive increase in smaller, more fuel efficient planes during the next decade blows apart Heathrow’s argument for the need for a single hub airport. The 9-fold increase in the new generation of planes - the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350, which can fly non-stop from London to the northern edge of Australia [eg. Darwin - but not as far as the main cities in southern Australia] will have a massive impact on the way airports are run. The new planes, nicknamed "hub busters", can fly more than 1,000 miles further non-stop than older planes, and will reduce the scale of passenger demand needed to make long-haul routes viable as they are smaller and need fewer passengers to transfer in from other planes, to fill them up. This will encourage airlines to bypass hub airports to serve direct connections - and is an important factor for the Airports Commission to consider. It means better use could be made of existing airports for point to point direct flights. “This ....moves us away from the traditional hub and spoke transfer model, and towards a model where air travel, even over very long distances, is primarily non-stop."
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An NGO message for the ICAO Assembly: Introduce a global market-based measure now
The Assembly of ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organisation) takes place in Montreal between 24th September and 4th October. A decision on how to deal with global aviation emissions needs to be taken - if aviation globally was a country, it would rank 7th highest, after Germany. It is widely acknowledged that a market based measure (MBM) would be the most effective mechanism through which to do this. James Lees, from the Aviation Environment Federation, and Bill Hemmings, from Transport & Environment, writing in GreenAir online, say the solution to aviation’s runaway emissions is a "global MBM decided on now and to be introduced by 2016. It is no longer an option for continued disagreement in ICAO to prevent action on aviation’s contribution to climate change. At a time when President Obama has said so much about leading the way [on climate], the White House must finally ensure that the US becomes the global leader for action at the ICAO Assembly. It is time for everybody to take responsibility, stop shielding such a high emitting industry and act...now."
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Ryanair added 138 jobs per extra million passengers 2011 – 2013, but claim 1,000 jobs are created per additional million passengers
Ryanair is putting out statements that in its deal with MAG at Stansted, to increase the number of Ryanair passengers by 50% over 10 years, that it will - allegedly - create 7,000 new jobs. This claim is based on an outdated, and very frequently trotted out, assumption that some 1,000 new jobs are created for each additional 1 million passengers flying on an airline. The full service airlines, flying a lot of first class passengers on long haul flights, have a high ratio of staff to passengers. The cheapest low cost flights, offered to European destinations by the no-frills airlines, do not. Recent figures from Ryanair's annual reports, show that between 2011 and 2013, Ryanair had an extra 7.2 million passengers, but only 996 more staff. That works out as about 138 new Ryanair jobs per extra million passengers. Recent figures from EasyJet's own data show that in 2012, for each additional million EasyJet passengers, there were 41 new EasyJet jobs. There will be some extra airport jobs, to support more flights - but the level is nowhere remotely near 1,000 per million. That figure is exaggerated at least 5-fold, or more. In reality Ryanair creates as few extra jobs as possible, because it shaves costs to the bone
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MAG / Ryanair 10 year growth agreement at Stansted to increase Ryanair passengers by 50% in 10 years
Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and Ryanair have announced a new long-term growth agreement which will see Ryanair increase its number of passengers at Stansted from just over 13 million a year, to more than 18 million by 2018 and then to almost 21 million passengers a year by 2023. In return it wants lower costs and better facilities. MAG bought Stansted from BAA in February 2013. Ryanair is Stansted’s largest airline - with 140 + destinations during the past year; it has now announced 4 new Stansted routes for summer 2014. The new destinations - not currently served from Stansted - are Lisbon, Bordeaux, Dortmund and Rabat. MAG said they are confident Stansted can grow, though it has had consistently declining numbers of passengers for several years. MAG believes it can compete more effectively "to make the most of the airport’s untapped potential and spare capacity." MAG says "Stansted has a really bright future in providing international connectivity for the UK" - (which broadly means more holiday destinations for cheap flights, taking more Brits to spend their money abroad.)
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TUI Travel group calls for greater airline industry transparency in carbon reporting
TUI Travel, which owns six European leisure airlines including Thomson Airways and TUIfly, has called for an industry standard on reporting fuel and carbon efficiency for UK airlines. TUI says a set of common metrics to report airline carbon emissions would ensure greater transparency so customers can make informed decisions about which airlines to choose. TUI Travel currently reports its airlines’ carbon emissions on a per revenue passenger kilometre (gCO2/RPK) basis, a common standard but, it points out, not yet the standard unit of measurement used by all airlines to communicate their efficiency, and it accuses some airlines of failing to measure or report their carbon emissions. New carbon reporting legislation has been announced by the UK government for the largest companies and the UK Civil Aviation Authority has been tasked with communicating the environmental impact of aviation.
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CBI and KPMG say creaking UK transport is major threat to recovery – and we need a new runway
Between May and July, the CBI and KPMG conducted their third Infrastructure Survey, with 526 companies interviewed. The CBI and KPMG say, as they have often said before, that they believe Britain's economic recovery is being put at risk by continued Government inaction over energy and transport infrastructure. They claim there is growing dissatisfaction with the Coalition’s failure to take big decisions on airport capacity, nuclear power or new roads – despite ministerial rhetoric on the importance of such investment. The CBI wants to see a commitment in party manifestos to implement the findings of the Airports Commission on new runways - so far none of the parties have agreed to be tied to the Commission's findings. They say that in the short term, improved road access to all the UK's airports is essential, "boosting demand for existing capacity and making new routes more viable." The CBI has repeatedly called for Heathrow to be allowed another runway, claiming this is needed for links with new markets, and saying the UK needs a hub with space to grow.
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Citizens’ Initiatives across the EU invited to sign the “Taming Aviation” petition to European Parliament
Some airport campaigners in Austria, who have worked with local citizen initiatives, have put together a website called "Taming Aviation". It is a Europe-wide movement of citizens and citizen initiatives. It has emerged from concern about aircraft noise, its impacts on health, its impacts on local communities - including the value of homes that are seriously over-flown - and the privileged position of the aviation industry in relation to regulation and tax. Taming Aviation has a petition to the European Parliament, which it welcomes citiizens' initiatives (not merely individuals) across the EU to sign. The petition asks the EU to ban night flights for an 8 hour period at airports across Europe, to allow an uninterrupted 8 hour period for quiet sleep, for good health. It also asks for an end to zero-rating for VAT of airline tickets, and for an energy tax to be charged on aviation fuel (which is not currently taxed). It also asks for the EU ETS to be reinstated as soon as possible, [that will be decided shortly, depending on the outcome of ICAO negotiations] and for an end to state subsidies of various sorts to European airports.
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Blog: Heathrow lost the 3rd runway battle last time – will its new approach succeed?
In a blog, Chair of Hacan, John Stewart, writes about the announcement that Heathrow is prepared to fund residents groups which support a third Heathrow runway, in a campaign called "Back Heathrow". MPs and councillors from the wider Heathrow area have had letters and half a million newsletters will be sent to homes in West London, by Back Heathrow. In his blog, John looks at how successful this campaign could be, bearing in mind just how fierce the opposition is due to aircraft noise. Heathrow knows it has an uphill struggle to persuade politicians that a third runway in west London would not be political suicide. Presumably this is why it has launched "Back Heathrow" so early – at least two years before any decision is taken. It needs time to try to change the political climate. Nobody seriously believes that with 50% more planes over London, it is going to get quieter. This time round, it is Heathrow, not the campaign groups, that has the mountain to climb in terms of persuading the people and the politicians. It is now Heathrow that is trying to achieve victory against all the odds.
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Murad Qureshi: Boris has failed to get to grips with aircraft noise and needs to re-establish the GLA Noise Team
London Assembly Member, Murad Qureshi, writing in Left Foot Forward, says that in the aviation debate, the concerns of Londoners about aircraft noise are too frequently dismissed or regarded as secondary to other issues. "The Mayor of London has comprehensively failed to get to grips with aviation noise." Aabout 28% of all people in Europe affected by aircraft noise live under the Heathrow flight paths, and in the last decade the problem has spread across London with disturbance now being felt up to 20 km away from the airport. Heathrow’s noise mitigation scheme for affected residents is much less than that offered by London City Airport. "The first step to mitigate the issue of noise pollution must be for the Mayor to re-establish the GLA Noise Team which was shut down when the Mayor came to office. The team would be able to undertake a comprehensive update of the Mayor’s noise strategy which has not been revised in nine years."
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Packed public meeting in Stanwell Moor hears of threat of 850 house demolitions, noise and blight from Heathrow runway plans
Over 200 people attended a meeting in Stanwell Moor Village Hall, organised through the residents' association, on 3rd September, with standing room only. The people of Stanwell Moor face eviction and the demolition of their houses, and those in Stanwell face blight and an uncertain future - the possibility of intense aircraft noise and air pollution if another runway is allowed. There were people queuing outside trying to get in, such was the demand to hear what the Heathrow airport operators had in mind for their area. Nigel Milton, Heathrow's director of policy, said 850 homes in Stamwell Moor village would be demolished to make way for a 3,500 metre runway - if it was ever allowed. Kathy Croft, chairman of the Stanwell Moor Residents’ Association, said: “It will then be for the next government to act. Kwasi Kwarteng was invited but he gave his apologies ... ". The problem of large areas of blight that will inevitably be caused if the Airports Commission put Heathrow on their short list in December is a very real one. There will be another meeting on 18th September, organised by Spelthorne Borough Council.
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Concern that DEFRA consultation on air quality will close hundreds of air quality monitoring stations
Defra has a consultation (ending on 13th September) on local air quality management. Currently, when a local authority finds an area in its jurisdiction in breach of national legal air quality objectives it can declare an AQMA (Air Quality Management Area), which enables the authority to apply for special funding to monitor and tackle the problem. After an AQMA is declared, a council is then obliged to produce an Air Quality Action Plan for submission to Defra. However, the new consultation document states that meeting EU limit values is a ‘significant challenge’ and it local authorities should focus more on reducing the public health impacts of poor air quality rather than to continue their current focus on monitoring. If the government succeed in pushing this through it would remove the responsibility for local authorities to assess air pollution it will no longer be possible for people to find out what air quality is like in their local area. It also would no longer be possible to hold local authorities to account if air pollution is at unsafe levels. Environmental lawyers, ClientEarth, think a big display of public opposition could make all the difference to how the government responds.
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“Back Heathrow” campaign formed, by the airport, to demonstrate – and boost – local support for a 3rd runway
"Back Heathrow" is a lobby group that has recently been formed, by supporters of a third Heathrow runway. Its aim is to get people who favour Heathrow expansion to declare their support, and "give a voice to the hundreds of thousands of residents who support Heathrow." It has been set up with funding from the airport, and 400,000 local tabloid-style propaganda newspapers have been delivered to local communities surrounding the airport. The text of the paper is shown below. It pushes the scaremongering idea that there is a risk of Heathrow shutting down, causing the loss of "114,000 jobs" and that "200 of the UK's biggest companies may move from Heathrow." In reality, there is little prospect of Heathrow closing - and this is just a tactic to get publicity and worry people. Back Heathrow have written to local councillors, giving them the misleading impressing that it is a "new community campaign". It isn't. It is organised by the industry, not by the community. Hacan said the formation of "Back Heathrow" was “the actions of a desperate organisation, not confident of the arguments it is making.”
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Stansted campaigners urge Airports Commission to provide safeguards for communities against blight
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) is one of seven airport campaign groups who have joined forces in writing to Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of the Airports Commission, calling upon him to safeguard local residents against airport-related blight. The Commission is due to produce an interim report at the end of this year and, if it concludes that the UK needs more airport capacity, it will publish a short-list of options. The Commission's final report won't be published until mid-2015, after the next general election and it will then be for the Government of the day to take any final decisions. During that time, and perhaps for longer, the areas selected will suffer blight, and great uncertainty. The last time that Stansted was short-listed for major expansion, in 2002, £570 million was wiped off local house prices in the first 18 months of the threat, affecting an area of about 150 square miles. There is now the prospect of history repeating itself. Those who are promoting airport expansion projects must take some responsibility for the consequences. They cannot simply be allowed to dine out for free on their airport expansion dreams, leaving local residents to pick up the tab.
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AirportWatch calls on Airports Commission to safeguard communities under threat of blight from airport proposals
AirportWatch - which includes campaign groups at a number of airports facing the threat of expansion - have joined forces in writing to Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of the Airports Commission, calling upon him to safeguard all the threatened communities against blight. The Commission is due to produce an interim report at the end of this year and, if it concludes that the UK needs more airport capacity, it will publish a shortlist of options. The Commission's final report and recommendations won't be published until mid-2015, after the next general election, and it will then be for the Government of the day to take any final decisions. As soon as such a list is published, every single one of the areas under threat will be hit by generalised blight and people will immediately experience not only stress and uncertainty, but difficulties in selling their homes. The campaigners' letter asks Sir Howard "to make it a pre-condition for being shortlisted for the promoter of an airport development proposal to undertake to introduce fair and reasonable arrangements to address the problem of generalised blight arising from their proposal within three months of being shortlisted and to operate such arrangements for a minimum period of two years."
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RSPB email action to write to Sir Howard Davies, to remind him not to forget biodiversity, habitat and climate
The RSPB had an email action, to ask people to write to Sir Howard Davies, the Chairman of the Airports Commission, to remind him of the biodiversity, habitat and climate change implications of his committee's decisions on airports. Proposals to build new airports or expand existing ones could have devastating impacts on some of our most vulnerable wildlife and habitats, and our ability to tackle climate change. The Thames estuary is under threat from airport development, and is a globally recognised and protected area as it is a vital home for wildlife, including hundreds of thousands of wintering wildfowl and wading birds. Climate change is the greatest threat to wildlife and biodiversity, and carbon emissions from aviation are increasing rapidly. The RSPB believes there should be no further aviation expansion unless the Government can demonstrate how such expansion can take place within the UK’s legally binding climate change limits. The email action closed at the end of September, at the closing date for submissions.
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Row as Belfast City Airport rejects EU directive to produce Noise Management Area
Belfast City Council is on a collision course with George Best City Airport after the airport declined to take measures recommended to protect residents affected worst by aircraft noise. Councillors have accused the airport of trying to wriggle out of its responsibilities after it refused to set up a Noise Management Area (NMA) in the residential area most affected by noise. Councillors say the airport must be held to their responsibilities. An EU Noise Directive recommended that a NMA where control measures would be in play should be set up for the 1% of residents most affected by aircraft. However, the airport has said this was merely a recommendation and it was only obliged to declare a NMA if the noise was louder. However, the airport's own draft noise action plan, published in June, found that over 8,000 people living near the airport suffer from a level of aircraft noise deemed by the UK Government to cause "significant community annoyance".
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Severnside airport, proposed by John Borkowski, would require closure of Bristol and Cardiff airports
One of the proposals for a huge new airport for the UK was for a Severnside Airport near Newport put forward by John Borkowski of MSP Solutions. There have been comments that his scheme is "far-fetched" and the plans would depend on the sale of the Welsh government-owned Cardiff airport and the privately-owned Bristol Airport - along with the transfer of their passengers and airlines to Severnside. Bristol called the plan unrealistic. But John Borkowski said there are too many regional airports and a larger hub would boost the economy. Previous proposals for a "Severnside" airport were rejected in 2003 by the UK government. Mr Borkowski's plan would include a 4,000m main runway with road links to the M4, sea links and rail links to the main London-Wales mainline. He says 1,000 people would be employed, while there is also potential for 10,000 support jobs, and the airport could handle 14 million passengers a year initially to around 40 million by 2050. Mr Borkowski said that with the potential closure of Heathrow in the future, (!?) it was important to consider developing a larger airport for the south west.
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Anti-APD campaign wastes no time in lobbying new shadow minister, Lilian Greenwood
After the resignation of Jim FitzPatrick as a Labour opposition transport spokesman on 29th August over Syria, his shadow aviation responsibilities have been taken over by Lilian Greenwood (MP for Nottingham South). The aviation industry has lost no time in lobbying her on Air Passenger Duty. British Air Transport Association (BATA) say her new role "offers an ideal opportunity for the opposition to put pressure on the government between now and the next election to review the impact of APD on the UK economy." While APD does no harm the UK economy, it has a very slight impact on demand for air tickets (it is only £13 for a return flight to anywhere in Europe), so the aviation industry is deeply opposed. All the lobbying ignores the fact that the Treasury charges APD because air travel pays no VAT and aviation does not pay fuel duty. People on internal return flights within the UK pay £26 in APD as each part of the trip is charged. Scotland has long lobbied to get APD devolved to the Scottish Government, with businesses campaigning to get APD removed.
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Heathrow tries to make out that a 3rd runway and thousands more flights can help cut noise from flights
Heathrow airport is attempting to make out that building a 3rd runway, and adding on another 50% more flights will make the airport quieter. In this curiously distorted logic they say that a new runway to the south west could cut Heathrow noise pollution by 20% and one to the north by 10%. Heathrow has had a special session with the Airports Commission, to put their point of view. They set out a 5-point plan to reduce noise through quieter aircraft eg. A380s, a new runway to the west of the existing two, steeper gradients of take-off and landing, changing runway use to provide respite for residents and home insulation schemes. In reality, the claims of aircraft becoming quieter are exaggerated - measurement in aircraft noise is by a logarithmic scale, so a 50% theoretical cut in sound energy only give a cut of 3 decibels in the perceived noise. The number of noise events is more important than the current noise measurement metric allows for - and the standard 57 dB contour does not properly reflect the experience of noise intrusion on the ground. The 2M group want a new noise study to measure aircraft noise nuisance from Heathrow properly.
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Airport retail now altering ad displays according to the sort of customers passing through
In the departure lounge of Heathrow's Terminal 5, passengers buy over $450 million per year of perfumes, clothing, scarves, sunglasses, jewellery, watches, bags and small leather goods from top expensive brands. A similar scene plays out each day at a plethora of major international airports across the world and the last 20 years, airside retail has undergone a radical transformation.The passengers at airports constitute a captive audience, passing “the magic hour,” between clearing security and boarding their planes. Airports have a lot of information on passengers — who they are, where they are going, on what airline, at what time, in what class. Now by digitising product displays, retailers may soon be able to more rapidly adjust their merchandising strategies, in real-time, to reflect the profiles of much larger numbers of customers currently passing through the airport. eg. if you have got the English going through in the morning and they like their Johnny Walker Black you will put it on the advertising screens, and if later there is a Chinese plane coming through, you advertise something else that they like buying.
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2M group of councils call for new study into attitudes to aircraft noise
The 2M group of Councils opposed to Heathrow expansion - which initially included some 2 million residents, but now includes many more - has called for a new study to be carried out into attitudes to aircraft noise. Without an updated study, the councils fear the Airports Commission will be limited to basing their recommendations on sites for new airport capacity on surveys carried out more than 30 years ago. The 2M Group - made up of Wandsworth, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Richmond, Windsor and Maidenhead, Southwark, Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham, and South Bucks councils, have also republished the ANASE study into attitudes to aircraft noise which was rejected by the last Government in 2007. The study showed the official method for measuring community annoyance did not take account of the rising numbers of aircraft. The councils say that, while adopting the ANASE findings would provide the commission with a more robust benchmark, the real answer is to order a brand new study that properly reflects current attitudes.
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Air China suspends Gatwick-Beijing service for the winter – not enough demand
Much of the clamour by the aviation industry is for more airport capacity for more flights to the Far East and the emerging economies. The claims are that the UK will be left behind economically if there aren't frequent direct routes to numerous Chinese etc cities. However, it now emerges that Air China is to suspend its Beijing service from Gatwick from 27th October for the winter as there is not enough take up. It will probably resume in April 2014. The route was only started in 2012. Over the summer, the airline increased the size of aircraft used on its other UK route (Heathrow - daily), which has caused it to temporarily withdraw services from Gatwick for one season. The move appears to demonstrate that - despite strong load factors - the service is not viable year-round from 2 UK airports. Gatwick has suffered the loss of several long-haul routes - Korean Airlines suspended its Gatwick-Seoul route late last year and Hong Kong Airlines all-business class service was cancelled after only a few months of operation.
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EU agrees to deal on watered-down version of ETS for emissions only in EU airspace – with more ICAO delay on any global measure
The EU has agreed to a deal to scale back its inclusion of aviation in the ETS as UN negotiators at ICAO agreed at talks in Montreal to only include emissions from flights over European airspace. This is a substantial scaling down of the initial plan to include all flights to and from Europe. The ICAO deal, which still needs to be signed off by a full meeting ending October 4th and by EU lawmakers, was immediately criticised by green groups. ICAO will delay implementing any more effective mechanism for another 7 years. The deal falls short of the worldwide pact the EU had hoped for in November 2012 when it exempted foreign flights for one year ("stopping the clock") to give ICAO more time to develop a global deal. At present airlines need only surrender carbon permits for flights within the EU, so requiring permits for the miles in European airspace is a slight improvement. However, it means that for a long haul flight to or from the EU, most of the carbon is not included in the ETS. Peter Liese, a senior member of the EU Parliament, said "It is far from an ideal solution... (but) I'm really concerned that if we just oppose what is on the table then we may see a total collapse of our effort." .
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In Toronto uncertainty continues over a possible new Pickering airport, with citizen opposition
There has been a long fight against the building of a new Pickering airport for Toronto. In their 40-plus years of struggle against a development - in a growing suburb to the east of the city - many citizens feel priority is given to business interests over prime agricultural farmland. Until a firm and unequivocal commitment is made by Ottawa to abandon the project completely the citizen activists central to the struggle to halt the development can never be sure the project won’t find new life, at some distant moment, under yet another government. Most frustrating for those who oppose the project is that in their view there has never been an adequate explanation for why Pickering needs its own Mirabel, a Greater Toronto Hamilton Area equivalent of Montreal's white elephant airport that has become synonymous with poor air transport planning in Canada. "Land Over Landings" is the community group that leads opposition to the airport plan. It is continuing the public engagement their predecessors began in 1972.They say that clean water and local food will always be more vital than easy access to yet another area airport.
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Easyjet launches new fare for business travellers to attract more – already around 10 million per year
Easyjet wants to make further inroads into the corporate market with the launch of a new “inclusive fare”, which will not be available directly from its website. The new fare is designed for corporate passengers and travel bookers, and will only be accessible through the aviation industry booking systems. The new fare will include a 20 kg hold bag and seat selection, with Easyjet insisting the overall price will be cheaper than booking the different elements separately. EasyJet says this fare "will help us to compete even more effectively with the legacy carriers as well as providing further choice and value for the 10 million-plus corporate travellers (about 10 million in 2012, and 9 million in 2011) who choose to fly Easyjet every year.” Easyjet has been targeting business travellers for several years and has stepped up its efforts in the last 12 months by signing a series of deals with TMCs and corporates around the UK and Europe.
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Friends of the Earth say the business case for airport capacity expansion does not stack up
As the debate continues over how to improve capacity at airports in London, or more relevantly, whether increased capacity is actually needed, Friends of the Earth says the concept is “nothing more than a political football” and the business case for expansion is not robust enough,” says Jane Thomas, senior campaigner for Friends of the Earth. "A lot of this is political posturing, [which] costs communities and the environment a huge amount, so we urge politicians to be very mindful of that.” FoE stress that there is decreasing demand for air travel for business reasons, and this is not being taken into account in the debate by the aviation industry and its backers. More companies are able to use video conferences, and realise that executives can be more productive if not spending so much time travelling abroad - when contact can often be made electronically. In the UK, the majority of business is done with European countries, where increasingly high speed rail is replacing air. Recently RSPB, WWF and HACAN commissioned a report by CE Delft which showed that once a city reaches a certain level of “connectedness”, further expansion is unlikely to significantly affect the economy.
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Business lobby group, “London First” calling for airport action – including better rail/road links to Gatwick and Stansted
Chief executives of 25 of London’s leading businesses will tomorrow confront Sir Howard Davies to demand immediate action to fix Britain’s (alleged) "airports capacity crisis." Members of lobby group London First say that British business will fall behind without three fixes for its airports: an immediate rise in the number of flights operating at Heathrow, an independent “noise regulator” to protect residents, and investment to improve road and rail links to Stansted and Gatwick. Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, said: “Debating the pros and cons of new airports and runways is all very well. But the more pressing concern is what we are going to do right now to increase our connectivity with emerging markets and grow our economy.” Among those attending the meeting will be bosses of CitiGroup, CLS Group, Nomura, Linklaters, Ernst & Young and 3i Group. “London First” is an aggressively pro-growth lobby organisation, whose stated mission is to “make London the best city in the world in which to do business.” It has consistently pushed for Heathrow growth, with more aircraft noise for London residents, over recent years.
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Heathrow ranked 3rd busiest airport worldwide by passenger numbers – still largest for international passengers
Figures for air transport movements and numbers of air passengers at airports worldwide, from ACI (Airports Council International) show that by number of passengers, Heathrow was the 3rd largest airport in 2012. The busiest was Atlanta, with Beijing second. However, both Atlanta and Beijing have a large proportion of domestic passengers. Heathrow remains the world's largest airport for international passengers, with Dubai in second place. In 2012, airports in Europe had 1.7% more passengers than in 2011, while there were 4% more air passengers, worldwide. However, ACI figures show there was a fall of 0.2% in the number of aircraft movements worldwide, indicating use of larger planes and higher load factors, due to financial pressures. In terms of the number of aircraft movements, in 2012 Paris and Frankfurt had slightly more than Heathrow (ranked 10th, 11th and 12th worldwide). In terms of number of passengers, Heathrow was 3rd, Paris 7th, Frankfurt 11th and Amsterdam 15th.
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Study finds a 2nd Gatwick runway could require 40,000 new houses – a town the size of Crawley
A study by independent consultants jointly commissioned by the West Sussex County Council and the Gatwick Diamond business association has found that the total number of houses in Crawley at present is around 40,000, and some 30,000 - 45,000 new houses would be needed if a new runway is built at Gatwick. The study predicts that the number of jobs created by a new runway plus the number of jobs created in firms attracted to the area by doubling the size of Gatwick would be far in excess of any available labour. That would require a substantial influx of workers from other parts of the UK or from the EU. Local councils, which are already struggling to find sites for the current demand for housing - without Gatwick expansion. Councils would need to decide whether to build a whole new town or whether to add hundreds of new houses to every town and village - perhaps a thousand houses added to forty villages! A new runway would lead to widespread urbanisation of parts of rural Sussex and Surrey, and the "dream" could turn into a nightmare.
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Daily Mail claim of sharp rise in birdstrikes not borne out by the facts from CAA
The Daily Mail, it being the "silly season" with no news, had done an article on an alleged increase in the number air birdstrikes by aircraft between 2009 and 2012. However, the data published by the CAA up to March 2013 do not bear out the Mail's claims of a doubling in three years. The CAA produces data on reported birdstrikes, and on confirmed strikes - the latter being a much lower number than the former. For instance, in 2012 there were 2215 reported birdstrikes, and 1404 confirmed strikes. Some of the increase in reporting may be due to changed reporting requirements of incidents to the CAA. The species hit most often in recent years have been various species of gulls (together the largest group), then swallows, skylarks, swifts and woodpigeons, then pigeons and kestrels. The number of birdstrikes rose significantly after 2008, when the CAA introduced a new system through which all strikes can easily be reported online. It has been mandatory for all strikes to be reported since 2004.
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Aviation industry unlikely to agree emissions reduction deal through ICAO until 2016
A global deal to reduce emissions from the aviation industry is looking increasingly unlikely to be agreed at the ICAO international negotiations taking place next week in Montreal. The text is still in its draft stage, and will be debated by the ICAO Council on the 4 September before being presented to the General Assembly on the 24th. It proposes that states should work towards the development of a market based mechanism (MBM) to reduce emissions. But in a move branded by NGOs as “disappointing” and promising little except more talk and delay, it states that no decision will be taken until the 39th General Assembly in 2016 – one year after countries are set to cement a binding UN climate agreement in Paris. The document requests the ICAO Council to “make a recommendation on a global MBM scheme that addresses key design elements … and the mechanisms for the implementation of the scheme from 2020.” There has been little action to reduce the aviation sector’s growing greenhouse gas emissions since ICAO was assigned the task under the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. This additional delay is likely to be seen as another victory for the airline industry.
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Report by CATE shows immediate global action needed to reduce aviation climate impact
A new scientific report produced by CATE (Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Air Transport and Environment) called “Mitigating future aviation CO2 emissions – timing is everything” shows that the real climate benefit of any action to cut aviation's carbon emissions depends on the cumulative emission reductions between now and a future date, and not just on achieving a certain amount of emission reductions by a specific year (as ICAO has focused on). This is because CO2 has a long lifetime so concentration levels are determined by cumulative emissions over time. Early reductions result in a lower emissions trajectory than equivalent annual savings made at a later date. This highlights the critical importance of ICAO taking early action to cut emissions quickly, and increases the pressure on ICAO not to defer a decision on the adoption of a market-based measure (MBM). The report finds that biofuels are not effective as a solution to the aviation emissions problem, but that improvements in technology and operational improvements offered the second best mitigation potential as a single measure.
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Birmingham Airport ‘ignored’ views of residents, say campaigners
Birmingham Airport has been accused of ‘totally ignoring’ the views of local residents over proposed flightpath changes to pave the way for the £65 million runway extension. The long-running Battle of Balsall Common looks set for further skirmishes, There is a Balsall Common Airport Action Group, and their campaigners have voiced their dismay at the airport’s preferred option for aircraft taking off to the south. The airport says this route avoids the most populated areas, Barston, Hampton-in-Arden and Balsall Common and is positioned further away from Catherine-de-Barnes and Knowle. The Action Group say the airport has ignored their comments in the consultation, and that the new flightpaths will see planes flying over their area at between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, increasing noise nuisance and pollution. The airport's public affairs director said “We believe the best option has been put forward that impacts the fewest number of people in areas closest to the airport.”
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SSE has served formal notice on the Secretary of State for Transport requiring the removal of Geoff Muirhead from Airports Commission
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has served formal notice on the Secretary of State for Transport requiring the removal of Mr Geoff Muirhead from the Airports Commission on the grounds of apparent bias. This is the first formal legal step towards judicial review proceedings which will commence with an application to the High Court in early September if Mr Muirhead continues to serve on the Commission. Mr Muirhead is the former Chief Executive of the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) the company which now owns Stansted Airport, from which he retired in October 2010, after 22 years with the Group. After retiring, and even when he had been appointed to the Airports Commission, Mr Muirhead continued to work for MAG in a highly paid role until January 2013. He was paid £82,000 by MAG during the six months from October 2010 to March 2011 inclusive for acting as an 'ambassador' to the Group. As he has not voluntarily stood down, SSE is now seeking legal redress. SSE believes there is far too much at stake to allow Mr Muirhead's role as a Commissioner to go unchallenged.
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Berlin Brandenburg airport may be able to open for 10 flights per day by April 2014
A board overseeing the completion of Berlin’s new Brandenburg airport - subject to a string of delays - has backed a plan for its opening early next year. However, initial operations would be limited to just 10 flights, and some 1,500 passengers, per day. Airlines Air Germania and Condor set to be the first to operate there, and even that needs work on the northern wing of the airport to be completed. This might happen by March or April 2014. An exact timetable would need to be confirmed in the next few months.The new airport has been a costly embarrassment, subject to a series of cost overruns and delays to its opening, chiefly because of a faulty fire safety system. It was originally due to open October 2011. That date was changed to June 2012, and subsequently to March 2013 and later to October 2013. It was planned to replace Berlin's 3 smaller airports, Tegel, Schönfeld and the already-closed Tempelhof. The airport's cost has risen from €2.4 billion to €4.3 billion. In July there was further controversy as flight paths were found not to have been checked for their environmental impact, and will endanger wildlife and even Berlin's water supply
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Low flying Boeing 737 taking off full of fuel for Jeddah terrifies household in Southend
A family near Southend airport were left terrified after a plane loaded with enough aviation fuel to fly to the Middle East took off from the airport and narrowly missed roof tops. The white Boeing 737 jet took off for Jeddah at 3.20pm on Thursday 8th, and passed very close to two homes in Prince Avenue, Westcliff. Rresidents were very alarmed, and one reported that the plane appeared to be at an altitude of only some 250 feet, rather than the usual 450 feet. The plane had been at the airport for maintenance and was not carrying passengers. An elderly lady with heart problems was left very scared and alarmed, and continues to be anxious whenever planes come overhead (which easyJet planes do many times every day now). The airport said: “There were no safety concerns raised by air traffic regarding this flight and its routing complied with the airport's noise requirements."
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Full list of airport schemes to increase airport capacity, including some weird & wonderful – eg. 7 runways at Heathrow
The full list of airport proposals for consideration by the Airports Commission, to solve the alleged shortage of airport capacity, has been published. As well as those for the expected airports, (Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, the Thames Estuary, Birmingham etc) there are some weird and wonderful suggestions. Some are for sites such as rural Oxfordshire, or for RAF bases; there are plans for Fairoaks airport, Manston airport, Cardiff airport, Luton airport, the Severn estuary and the Goodwin sands. There are also proposals for surface transport improvements, and several from enthusiastic private individuals. One of the more bizarre is for no less than 7 runways at Heathrow. Anyone wishing to make specific comments on the detail contained within any of the proposals published is welcome to do so, to the Commission, before 27th September 2013 at the latest to airport.proposals@airports.gsi.gov.uk.
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Plan for huge airport in the Severn Estuary, “Severnside Airport”, submitted to Airports Commission
Plans for a new £5 billion Severnside airport which would serve 40 million passengers every year have been put submitted to the Airports Commission. The plan by MSP Solutions, is for a new airport constructed on a reclaimed island in the Severn Estuary, between Chepstow and Newport in South Wales, which would replace Bristol and Cardiff airports (which would have to close), and would be the biggest regional airport in the country – (in the perhaps unlikely event it is ever built). The aim is to build the new airport alongside the M4 and the First Great Western rail link to London. Not surprisingly Bristol Airport believes that efforts at dealing with expected growth in air travel should be concentrated on the existing airports. The CEO of Bristol airport says “The idea of a new Severnside Airport was dismissed by the Aviation White Paper in 2003 on the basis that it would ‘struggle to attract sufficient traffic to be financially viable and would not generate sufficient economic or regeneration benefits to merit support’. The Commission will continue to consider the submissions received and decide in December which merit further detailed study, for final decision after the summer 2015 election.
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Airports Commission publishes full list of long term proposals to increase UK airport capacity
The Airports Commission has put together the long list of airport proposals, and other proposals including many on surface access, that have been submitted. The majority are for the main contender airports, (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Thames estuary options, Birmingham etc) but with several from small airports or airfields and some in areas not currently airports, such as rural Oxfordshire and the Severn Estuary. The Commission will now consider all of these, and publish "a shortlist of the most credible long term options, taking into account the Commission’s assessment of the need for additional capacity" in December 2013. It is possible for anyone to send in further comments on any of the schemes submitted, until 27th September. The Commission has also published an information note, considering its work programme for Phase 2 - which is after December 2013. It says: "If the Commission reaches a view in its interim report that a significant increase in aviation capacity is needed, the second phase of our work will develop the list of credible long term options into detailed schemes, and subject them to a thorough appraisal process."
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Airports Commission publishes proposals for short and medium term options for making the best use of existing airport capacity
The Airports Commission has published a paper summarising the range of options received from external submitters for making best use of existing capacity in the short and medium term (meaning measures that do not require new runways or terminals, and could be introduced within under 5 years, or over 5 years). In February 2013 the Commission asked for submissions on this, with a deadline of 17th May, and some 75 responses were received from organisations and individuals. They are now inviting anyone who did not comment then to do so now, with a deadline of 27th September. (There is also a deadline of 27th September for comments on the airport capacity proposals). The Airports Commission will make recommendations to government on short and medium term options in its interim report at the end of 2013. The Commission says it is "now working on analysing the evidence and ideas put forward. This will include detailed consideration of each measure’s impact (both positive and negative) on areas such as the environment, capacity, resilience and connectivity."
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Airports Commission publishes a discussion paper on its Phase 2 work, January 2014 to summer 2015
The Airports Commission has published a note on how it sees its work over the year and a half after December 2013, which it calls Phase 2. The Commission will make its interim report in December, both on short and medium term measures to boost UK airport capacity, and also on which long term airport expansion schemes merit further, detailed consideration. "If the Commission reaches a view in its interim report that a significant increase in aviation capacity is needed, the second phase of our work will develop the list of credible long term options into detailed schemes, and subject them to a thorough appraisal process. This is likely to include looking not only at individual proposals in isolation, but also at how they might be combined." They also say: "To support the development of its sustainability assessments framework, the Commission has established a Sustainability Reference Group. This is an advisory group comprising experts from relevant Government Departments and statutory bodies (the Environment Agency, Natural England and English Heritage)."
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Report finds net cost to the aviation sector of achieving carbon-neutral growth from 2020 will be trivial
A new report has found that meeting the aviation industry’s "carbon-neutral growth" target from 2020 could add as little as $1.50 to $2 to the price of a transatlantic one-way ticket in 2030. Aviation intends to make its growth "carbon neutral" buy buying carbon offsets from other sectors, rather than making actual cuts in the sector's own CO2 emissions. The report is by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF - Guy Turner, Chief Economist) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF - Annie Petsonk, International Counsel). Their analysis shows that surplus offset credits already available in the world’s carbon trading systems could, in principle, meet just under 50% of the industry’s potential need for the 2020 to 2050 period. The cost of carbon credits to the aviation industry would represent less than 0.5% of international aviation revenue, or roughly 25% to 33% of what airlines bring in from ancillary revenues such as checked bags and selling snacks. Under a moderate scenario for aviation growth, the amount of carbon credits needed range is 8 to 14 billion tonnes, over the period 2020 - 2050.
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Notre-Dame-des-Landes: 1,000 kites “occupy” the sky – symbolic of opponents’ determination to keep it free of planes
On Sunday 4th August, as many as 8,000 people gathered at Notre Dame des Landes as part of a weekend of protest against the planned new airport for Nantes. People have again come from all over France to show their support for the airport opposition. In the morning, they flew some 1,000 or so kites, many that had been made in preceding weeks and many with slogans on them. The aim of the kite flying was symbolically to occupy the skies and show that the skies above the Notre Dame des Landes bocage countryside (the site chosen for the kite flying is due to be an airport terminal) are free; the campaigners intend these skies to remain free from planes. Some of the kites read, in French, "Pour que nos libertés occupent le ciel" and "Le ciel libre aux hommes libres" ("For our freedom occupy the sky", "Free sky to free men" ). The two day gathering had a festival atmosphere, with music (musicians playing under a sign that read "Un aéroport à NDDL, jamais !") and also lectures and speeches. ACIPA has been organized a summer gathering for 13 years on the same site, but this was the largest yet.
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Durham Tees Valley Airport bid for Regional Growth Fund money rejected again
Durham Tees Valley airport has been wanting £4.6m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to help create an overall investment of £46.5m for the airport. But now for the second time, their bid has been refused by government. If approved, it would have meant a new access road on the south side of the airport and might - the airport claims - have led to the creation of "1,400 new jobs over the next ten years." Hartlepool councillors are not happy, and it was agreed at a meeting of the full council to write to Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Innovation and Skills, to express their “disgust” over the decision. Labour councillor Robbie Payne, chairman of the council’s regeneration committee, said: “The decision has not only put our region at a disadvantage but makes Durham Tees Valley more unsustainable." The RGFofficials did not include the bid among their 102 successful projects, including 6 in the Tees Valley. In October 2012 their bid for funding for a freight terminal was rejected by the RGF.
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Proposals to Airports Commission of airport or runway plans – that have been publicised (+ maps)
The 19th July was the deadline for submissions to the Airports Commission of proposals for plans for new airport capacity. The Commission has said these will all be published on its website in August or September. So far only those publicised by their proponents are publicly available. We have put together a list of those of which we are aware. The main sites for planned new airport capacity are Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Thames Estuary and Birmingham - though there will be others, perhaps in the west country? The Commission asked for no more than 40 pages, and for a specific list of criteria to be taken into account in submissions, including noise, air quality, and climate including "overall compatibility of growth in air travel with the national and global climate change targets" and "the relative climate change impacts of different options for providing additional capacity." Proposals did not need to be made by the airport owner, but could be made by other interested parties. In December the Commission will publish their list "of the most plausible options for delivering any additional capacity required in the longer term." We give indicative maps showing possible locations of new runways.
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Charity working to enhance outdoor learning and play for children urges responses to Airports Commission noise consultation
An organisation called "Learning through Landscapes", which works to help children benefit from good, stimulating outdoor learning and play in their education, has raised concerns about aircraft noise along flight paths. The Airports Commission currently has a public consultation on noise, and in its discussion document it raises the issues of children, schooling and aircraft noise. Learning through Landscapes encourages all those with an interest or concern about aircraft noise and childrens' education - inside the classroom, or learning outdoors, to submit their views by the 6th September deadline. The discussion document states: "Over 20 studies, both epidemiological and experimental, have shown negative effects of noise on reading ability and memory development in children. Several links between chronic noise exposure and children's cognition have been suggested, including teacher and pupil frustration, learned helplessness, impaired attention, increased arousal, indiscriminate filtering out of noise during cognitive activities resulting in loss of attention, noise annoyance, and sleep disturbance. "
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Responses to the Airports Commission’s discussion documents – including links to those from AirportWatch members
The Airports Commission has now published on its website all the responses it has received to its various discussion documents. The discussion documents have been on: aviation demand forecasting; on air connectivity and the economy; on aviation and climate change; and on airport operational models. Due to the huge volume of text, the Commission has put the responses in zip files, with links to each response as a pdf document. However, some older computers may have difficulty in opening the zip files. AirportWatch has listed below all the organisations that have responded to each of the discussions. AirportWatch has also given links to submissions from our member organisations, and those not from the aviation industry or the advocates of airport expansion. To see all the submissions, visit the Airports Commission website. It is anticipated that the Commission will shortly - in August - put up all the airport or runway proposals that were submitted by the 19th July deadline.
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Greater Manchester town halls share in £48m bonanza from MAG’s extra large dividend
The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) owns Manchester Airport, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports, and now Stansted. MAG is owned by the 10 councils of Greater Manchester. Manchester City Council owns 35.5%, and 9 authorities, the Metropolitan Boroughs of Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, together with Salford City Council, collectively own 29%. Australian investment fund Industry Funds Management owns 35.5%. MAG has made a greatly enlarged dividend to its shareholders, through buying Stansted and the large investment from IFM. MAG has agreed to increase its dividend from £20m in 2012 to £72m, which includes an additional one-off dividend of £30m. From this £48m will be shared between Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities, with Manchester getting some £26 million of it and the remaining 9 sharing some £22 million, in proportion to their shares. In contrast the dividend has been £20m for the past 4 years. Manchester Airport has been in public ownership since 1938, and public money has been invested in it. The councils benefiting say they do not spend the money on specific projects, but subtract it from the total amount they must save after government cuts. It may be used partly to invest in the local economy, to raise skills and create jobs.
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Two great articles, by John Harris and by Geoffrey Lean, on growing rebellion about infrastructure projects being imposed on countryside
John Harris: "All over the country, an old story is back with a vengeance: the power of corporations and government colliding with much more human imperatives, and sparking trouble. It's there in an increasingly widespread juxtaposition of hi-vis jackets, drilling kit and security guards, and serene British countryside. " "In a country as deindustrialised as the UK, ministers will always go weak-kneed about grand projects and new technologies. But the lingering effects of the crash have pushed their thinking into the realms of the neurotic, as government has been seized by a mixture of fear, profiteering zeal and metropolitan arrogance. All of these extend beyond energy policy into such issues as road-building, the dazzlingly stupid plan for high-speed rail, the current mania for airport expansion". "... people rattled by what's happening to their communities may cite such functional concerns as traffic congestion and noise pollution, but their take on things runs a bit deeper than that, into the profound stuff of place, history and collective identity." "... as events in Balcombe prove, plenty of people are now standing in the way of an economic system that has never been more rapacious and corrupt, and demanding something surprisingly radical: peace and quiet."
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Swiss petition to stop expansion of Geneva airport, for yet more low cost passengers
Opponents of expansion at Geneva airport have a petition to Le Grand Conseil in Geneva, asking for an end to expansion of the airport. They point out that CO2 emissions from the airport totally cancel out all Geneva's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from other sectors, and that sale of jet fuel by Geneva airport increased by 78% between 2000 and 2011. The phenomenal rise in passenger traffic in recent years is mainly due to the development of "low cost" flights, with a lot of growth by EasyJet, stimulating previously non-existent demand for leisure travel. People who do not have any real need or necessity to fly are doing so, and have no regard to the environmental impacts of their flights. There have been many months of local opposition to plans to build a new terminal - “l’Aile est” which is due to be finished by 2016, to accommodate large planes. Environmental groups including WWF, the Geneva Green party and associations for neighbourhoods next to the airport are deeply opposed to the proposal, saying it will boost air traffic, carbon emissions and air pollution. Other opponents believe that low-cost airlines are flourishing at the expense of passenger rail and that higher airport taxes should be levied to offset the increased CO2 emissions.
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Report shows EU governments miss out on up to €39bn a year due to aviation’s tax breaks (no VAT or fuel duty)
IA report has been produced, by consultants CE Delft, for the sustainable transport group, Transport & Environment (T&E). It shows that debt-ridden EU countries miss out on up to €39bn every year from airlines not paying taxes. CE Delft found that this revenue shortfall is due to out-dated EU laws exempting international flights from fuel taxes, and from VAT, which is levied on almost all consumer goods. While every European consumer, small business and haulier has to pay on average a tax of €0.48 / litre of fuel for petrol or diesel, big commercial airlines - both those based in the EU and overseas - don’t pay any tax on their fuel. This revenue shortfall totals up to €32bn a year. In addition to this EU governments miss out on €7.1bn every year on VAT which is exempt on international flight tickets. T&E’s aviation policy officer Aoife O’Leary said: “International airlines are like flying tax havens inexplicably exempted from paying the basic EU taxes every EU citizen and company is obliged to pay." However the airline industry says that without such tax holidays it would be hard pressed to turn a profit. (So much fuel used. So much CO2 generated. So little profit.) The EU consultation on state aid to airports & airlines closes 25th September.
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Former Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell to head Frontier Economics, which is pushing for Heathrow growth
Lord Gus O’Donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary, has been announced as the new chair of the economics consultancy, Frontier Economics. He will work on day a week, starting towards the end of this year. His role will involve seeking to change government policies on the behalf of Frontier's corporate clients, which include Heathrow airport. Frontier has been advising Heathrow on its plans for a 3rd runway and expansion. Frontier Economics produced a report for Heathrow, backing its case as the key hub airport for the UK and its expansion, in September 2011. The Frontier report claimed that London would become only Europe’s 3rd busiest airport (behind Paris and Frankfurt) unless the Government freed up more capacity and enabled more direct flights to emerging markets. The Times comments on how Sir Gus is not the first senior civil servant who has been able to get a very well paid and influential job in consultancy because of their experience in Government, and their contacts there.
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Transcripts of the Airports Commission’s 2 public evidence sessions and links to presentations
The Airports Commission have now published their verbatim transcripts of their two (and only) public evidence sessions, on 9th and 10th July. The first session on 9th July (held in Manchester) was on climate, at which AEF (Tim Johnson and Cait Hewitt) and WWF (Jean Leston and Tom Vita) gave presentations, followed by the industry group, Sustainable Aviation (Matt Gorman and Jonathan Counsell). The second session on 9th July was on demand and connectivity. SSE (Brian Ross) gave a presentation, followed by the CBI (Nicola Walker). The 10th July session (held in London) was on Airport Operational Models 1. The morning session for BA (Willie Walsh), Heathrow (Colin Matthews), Mayor of London's office (Daniel Moylan and Richard de Cani, TfL). The second session on 10th July was also on Airport Operational Models 2, with evidence from EasyJet (Carolyn McCall), Birmingham Airport (Paul Kehoe), Gatwick Airport (Sir Roy McNulty) and MAG (Tim Hawkins). Not all 13 organisations giving evidence at the two sessions submitted a visual presentation. There are links to the presentations that were given. The verbatim transcript cover what was said by others, including questions from the floor, and responses given.
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Heathrow to track customers through airport to avoid delays and improve efficiency
People who fail to turn up for flights cost airlines dearly, especially if their luggage has to be removed from the plane. So Heathrow is rolling out a new system of smart boarding cards that it believes will improve the punctuality of nearly half of flights. And so enable the airport to deal with more flights, with no new runway. Boarding passes already include a bar code in which the passenger’s flight details are embedded, including the gate and terminal. Instead of being read by airport staff, the pass is scanned by an automatic gate and can be used to tell airlines if, for example, a passenger has entered the departure lounge. In a week of trials at Terminals 1 and 3, Virgin Atlantic and Little Red found that 44% of the 35,000 departing passengers were in danger of arriving at the gate late. Offloading luggage because owners have failed to turn up can lead to planes losing their take-off slots, leading to delays which, according to industry estimates, cost £67 for each minute the plane is on the Tarmac or stuck on the stand. "Should the information show passengers are in danger of not reaching the gate in time, a message on a screen warns them to hurry up and not dawdle at the duty-free shops."
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Gatwick 2nd runway could bring ‘mega-city the size of Brighton’ to north Sussex
During a recent West Sussex County Council debate on a motion to support ‘in principle’ a second runway at Gatwick it was pointed out that the plans would lead to a huge amount of housing built across swathes of the Horsham district, creating a ‘mega-city’. Councillor Bill Acraman (Con, Worth Forest) predicted a mega city in the north of Sussex equal to the size of Brighton, stretching across the north of the Horsham district, sprawling from Broadfield in Crawley to Forest Row. He said that the A264 and A272 would probably need to be brought up to motorway standard, and asked whether the infrastructure improvements needed would ‘magically appear’. “You can tear up the Neighbourhood Plans,” Mr Acraman said. The county council approved the motion by 42 votes to 10 with 12 abstaining last Friday, days before Gatwick made its submission to the Airports Commission public. Another councillor said if Heathrow got a new runway "and we do not have one at Gatwick I think the economy of this county will be seriously threatened.” The Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), which is campaigning against the environmental impact of a second runway, remains firmly opposed to Gatwick’s plans.
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Stop Stansted Expansion calls for resignation of Geoff Muirhead from Airports Commission due to bias
Campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion SSE have highlighted the problem of a conflict of interest concerning Geoff Muirhead, who is a member of the government-appointed Airports Commission. Mr Muirhead retired as chief executive of MAG in 2010, and he represented MAG in an “ambassadorial role” until January 2013, several months after he was appointed to the Airports Commission. MAG bought Stansted from BAA in February 2013. Earlier this month MAG published options on where to build a second runway at Stansted and potentially even expand it into a four-runway hub. SSE are calling for Mr Muirhead's resignation. SSE has written to Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Commission and Patrick McLoughlin, the Secretary of State for Transport, warning it will mount a legal challenge if Mr Muirhead refuses to step down. The group claims in the letter, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, that there is an issue of “apparent bias”. The letter (26th July) says: “In the circumstances we consider it unacceptable for Mr Muirhead to continue to serve on the Airports Commission and the longer he continues to serve, the more the process risks being tainted.” SSE will start taking legal advice within 14 days if they receive no satisfactory commitment on the matter.
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Residents seek caste-iron guarantee that new planes will be quieter as City Airport seeks to expand
HACAN East, the organisation which represents residents under the London City and Heathrow flight paths, is concerned that that City Airport’s expansion plans, to be announced soon, will result in more noise across East and South-East London. The airport is proposing to undertake a lot of work on its runway and taxiways to allow bigger planes to use the airport. It is also proposing to expand the terminal, build a hotel and create more parking. HACAN East chair, John Stewart, said, “City Airport claims that the new planes will be quieter than the large aircraft currently using the airport. But residents need a caste-iron guarantee that the planes will actually be quieter. People need assurances after 25 years of broken promises by the airport. It opened by telling residents that the airport would only use ‘whispering’ jets.” London City’s expansion plans now go to Newham Council, the planning authority for the airport, for approval.
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Newcastle airport produces new draft master plan for increasing number of leisure passengers
Newcastle Airport published a master plan in 1994, and another in 2003. That predicted by 2030 it might have 9 million passengers. There is now another draft master plan, out for consultation until 31st October, which anticipates perhaps 8.5 million passengers by 2030 (DfT anticipates around 6.3 million). They want to grow passenger numbers from the 4.4 million by 2030 and increase aircraft movements from 62,200 to up to 87,500 - making it one of the top 10 biggest airports in the UK. There are the usual predictions of more jobs (they say the airport now "supports" (vague term) 7,800 jobs across the region and by 2030 this will rise to 10,000. The airport hopes to develop 2 business parks on land south of the runway - one to extend existing aviation-related activities such as freight, and a new site for offices. They say these have the potential to deliver "thousands more" jobs. The airport says it contributed £646m to the regional economy in 2012, and by 2030 it is estimated that this figure will "more than double." In 2005 some 22% of passengers were on business; by the 2009 CAA air passenger survey, it was only 20% on business. ie. 80% of passengers are leisure, contributing to taking their holiday money out of the UK.
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Birmingham Airport publishes proposals for its future growth to the Airports Commission
Birmingham Airport has made a submission to the Airports Commission on its future growth plans. It hopes to grow from 9m passengers a year now to 70m, (the size of Heathrow currently) while allegedly reducing the number of people affected by night noise. They are aware that the Commission is looking at the number affected by noise in the proposals submitted. Birmingham airport says its current runway extension will allow it to handle 27m passengers a year and it has the potential for a 2nd runway to be built some time after 2030 - if the demand required it - costing under £7 billion. The airport estimates that by using the new runway for night flights, it would remove over 13,000 people from the 57dB night noise contour. Birmingham airport say they have support from a large number of businesses in the area, and are well placed for business travellers who are keen to avoid Heathrow and get direct flights to Birmingham. “We have recommended to the commission a network of great long-haul airports to serve Britain’s great cities. Our proposals show that Birmingham Airport is in a position to sit at the heart of this network, serving a valuable catchment area and relieving pressure on congested airports in the South East.”
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Emirates considers direct flights to the USA from UK northern airports, not Heathrow
Dubai’s Emirates Airline is interested in getting into the competitive transatlantic market, and offer flights from Dubai to the US via the UK. This market is currently dominated by BA, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Emirates will need to get regulatory approval first. Emirates believes there is strong unmet demand for flights from the north of England to the USA and last year carried 800,000 passengers on its routes in and out of its hubs in the north of England: Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham. There are growing numbers of Emirates passengers and services from these northern UK airports. In October, Emirates will launch flights from Dubai to New York via Milan. Their UK vice president said they are asking the Airports Commission to look at making all the regional airports completely open skies, so anyone can fly anywhere. If they use the northern airports, there is less pressure on the south east airports, and less rationale for building another runway. "Heathrow sits in the south of England, but Manchester has a bigger catchment area in terms of a two-hour drive.” If Emirates goes through with the plan BA and Virgin will be the big losers.
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British Airways A380 with two training flights per day from Manston exciting the plane spotters
Manston airport has finally got some traffic, even if it is only the BA Airbus A380 doing several training flights per day. Plane spotters are getting very excited about the fact that several times per day they can see the A380 take off and land. It leaves Manston each morning at around 7am,goes to a mall airfield east of Paris, before taking off and landing again at Chateauroux airport some 80 miles south of Paris, and then coming back to Kent between 11.15 am and noon. And then the whole thing again starting at 2pm and getting back between 6.15m and 7pm. The training is due to last till September, when the first BA A380s enter service. Pilots are being trained, and also cabin crew. Anyone interested in tracking the A380 at Manston can do so via a number of apps, including flightradar 24. The flight number is BA380. Some activity at Manston at last.
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Heathrow says its investment plans are at risk if CAA limits its charges to airlines
Heathrow wants to put up its charges to airlines significantly. The CAA controls how much the airport can charge, and it has indicated that it will limit the rise in the amount Heathrow can charge to the rate of inflation plus 4.6% per year. However, Heathrow says its shareholders would not be willing to proceed with plans to invest £3bn in the airport over the next 5 years if the CAA imposes stricter controls on price rises. Colin Matthews, chief executive of Heathrow. said they would not proceed with capital spending of no more than £2bn if the CAA does not let them charge the amount they consider acceptable as a return for investors. There is a long term battle between Heathrow and the airlines, and Heathrow has some of the highest charges of any global airport. Heathrow has just reported a pre-tax profit of £186 million for the half year up to June 2013, though they made a loss of £51 million in the same period in 2012. This is largely due to the sale of Stansted. Heathrow's passenger traffic rose 2.4% in the 6 months to June 2013, compared to 2012, to 34.4 million. Most of the growth was European traffic, which rose 4.9% to 14.3 million passengers.
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Munich campaign hands in 80,000 signature petition against 3rd runway to state parliament
On 17th July, the BUND Naturschutz (the largest environmental organisation in Germany) and the "AufgeMUCkt" Action Alliance handed in a petition to the state parliament against the construction of a third runway at Munich Airport. Nearly 80,000 people have signed the petition from all over Bavaria. The petition was handed to the Chairman of the Economic Committee (CSU) and someone from the Environment Committee at the parliament. The campaigners asked the politicians to please take note of the will of the people and decide against allowing a new runway. One campaign leader, Helga Stiegl Meier explained that, among other things, the number of aircraft movements at Munich Airport has been stagnant for years, which she said proves that there is no need for a 3rd runway. Another spokesman said the region has no need of furher aviation expansion, and sustainable transport in Bavaria is facing very different challenges, such as future supplies of cheap oil. The new parliament will have to decide after the state elections in the autumn on a third runway.
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Tonbridge and Malling MP Sir John Stanley shoots down Gatwick airport expansion bid
The MP for Tonbridge & Malling, Sir John Stanley, has said plans by Gatwick airport for a 2nd runway would blight homes in west Kent and lead to intolerable noise and disruption. He has been a long standing opponent of expansion at Gatwick, due to noise suffered by those under flight paths, especially where these are concentrated over narrow areas. He said: "I am totally opposed to any expansion at Gatwick. My constituents living nearby would face intolerable noise and disruption." He added that there were "technical issues", which meant the option of a second runway would make it less commercially attractive, even if they could be overcome. He believes there are better solutions to the problems of the south east, and a new Gatwick runway "would not produce significant job prospects in my constituency, most of whom either work locally or commute to London."
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Are planes going to get significantly less noisy? Not any time soon.
In a BBC article, their technology reporter looks at work being done to try and make aircraft engines less noisy. He describes the sound deadening liner casings of engines - but which increase the mass and the drag of the aircraft and that increases fuel burn. Another approach is making the engines bigger, as a bigger, slower engine and fans makes a lower and less offensive noise - but that is squeezing the room left for the liners, which paradoxically need to be thicker to cope with the lower sound levels. "We have reached the point of no return without redesigning the airframes" said to Prof Jeremy Astley, director of Southampton University's Institute for Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR). Unless they go back to open rotor engines. Airlines have some concern about the amount of noise their planes generate, because the noise level of an aircraft can be a major factor in securing commercially vital slots at major airports. "At the London airports noisier aircraft get fewer slots" according to Prof Astley. In reality now, without profound changes to engines and airframes, for the foreseeable future, only marginal reductions in noise will be obtained.
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Heathrow proposes cutting airline landing charge rise to 4.6% above RPI for 5 years
In February Heathrow announced it was intending to increase its airline landing charges, from the current level of £17 per passenger to perhaps up to £25. This caused very negative responses from airlines that use the airport. Now Heathrow has moved to appease airlines by offering to reduce the rise it is seeking to charge between 2014 and 2019. Heathrow has submitted a plan to the CAA seeking approval to raise tariffs by 4.6% above inflation, as measured by the retail prices index (RPI), for the 5 years from April 2014. That is 1.3% lower than their earlier offer of a rise of 5.9%. It means a rise of £1 per year, so a £5 rise by 2019.Gatwick has also agreed to scale back their planned fee increases. Earlier this year Willie Walsh called the airport "over-priced, over-rewarded and inefficient". However, the investors, including Ferrovial and the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, China and Singapore, who have spent more than £10 billion on the airport over the last decade, expect to see a good return on their investment ie. they want high fees to airlines.
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American company, ADC & HAS Airports Worldwide, has bought Belfast International airport from Abertis
Belfast International Airport is to be sold to the US-based firm, ADC & HAS Airports Worldwide, which has interests in airports in Costa Rica and Ecuador. Belfast International has been owned by the Spanish company Abertis since 2005. Abertis is also selling Stockholm Skavsta airport and other assets to ADC & HAS for a total of £244m. The deal with Abertis is pending approval of minority shareholders and US regulators. Belfast International is the second largest airport in Ireland and handles around 4.3m passengers a year, well down from its peak of around 5.5 million in 2007.
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GACC opposes Gatwick 2nd runway plans – to increase airport to larger than Heathrow is now
GACC, the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, are deeply opposed to the plans for a new Gatwick runway because they wish to protect the towns, villages and countryside of Surrey, Sussex and west Kent from the impact of an airport which would be bigger than Heathrow today. The plans show Gatwick growing from 34 million passengers today to around 90 million. According to Brendon Sewill, chairman of GACC: “When people begin to realise what is likely to hit them, there will be a tidal wave of public resistance.” The plans make it clear that GAL’s preferred option is the wide-spaced runway - only a few hundred yards (or less?) from the residential area of Crawley. But amazingly little detail is given. No airport boundary is shown. No indication of where a new terminal (which would need to be bigger than T5) would located. The GAL submission rules out a close parallel runway because ‘the capacity benefit is relatively small’. And rules out a middle width option because there would be no room for a new terminal. There are huge environmental costs of trying to build a full-scale new runway as shown in the plans, with double the air pollution, double or more the CO2 emissions and double the road traffic.
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Gatwick publishes its 3 options for a southern 2nd runway enabling up to 87 mppa
Gatwick Airport has announced its preferred location for a 2nd runway and submitted its plans to the Airports Commission. There are 3 slightly different plans, all for a runway to the south of the existing runway - close, medium or wide spaced. The close runway could not work independently of the existing runway, while the others (at least 750 metres south) could. With the wide spaced runway, over 1,035 metres south, Gatwick could have 95 movements per hour, enabling it to have some 87 million passengers per year (compared to 66 mppa for the close option, and 82 mppa for the medium). Gatwick has managed to get support from the local business lobbies in the area for its plans, and some local council support. Gatwick's CEO, Stewart Wingate said a 2nd Gatwick runway would cost between £5bn and £9bn and could be open by 2025. Gatwick is selling its plans to the Airports Commission on how many fewer people would be affected by noise than at Heathrow, and that it would be cheaper than some other options. Gatwick wants London to have a "constellation" system, with 3 airports each with two runways, at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
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George Monbiot on the risk of airport growth lobbying dragging us back into the past
George Monbiot, in an piece entitled "Ghost Plane" argues that the current flurry and enthusiastic press coverage of plans for more runways never questions the underlying assumption that building more airports is good for business. The reality is that rather than being the promise of progress and modernity, the impact of yet more air travel is to retard technological change - much of the perceived need to travel has been superceded by new technologies. Internet conferencing is cheaper, quicker and less taxing for workers. "But, at vast public and private expense, at the cost of homes and green spaces, peaceful skies and a benign climate, governments are trying to build more runways, to encourage people to stick with the old technology." The future demand for air travel has not risen as fast as the DfT predicts, and their forecasts "were wrong in 2009 and wrong in 2011, and will doubtless be proved wrong in 2013. Its forecasts are treated as gospel, and the planners demand only that we build, build, build." Monbiot: "There is a real possibility that if the commission approves any of the extravagant schemes put before it, Britain will be building ghost airports for ghost planes."
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Head of CBI backs Heathrow 3rd runway while CBI wants all parties to sign up to Commission’s recommendations in advance
Sir Mike Rake, the new president of the CBI, thinks building a 3rd runway at Heathrow is a “no-brainer” and that the Government should get on with increasing aviation capacity immediately. The CBI has always backed massive aviation expansion, rather predictably. He said: “Despite the fact I live near there, I think we should have started a third runway several years ago and I think other projects should follow from that.” He admitted that Heathrow is not the only option and also called for a 2nd runway to be built at Gatwick. “We need to decide quickly and get on with it,” he said. His personal views appear to be slightly at odds with the CBI itself. On Thursday, the CBI released its response to the Airports Commission into airport capacity, stressing that it was open to whatever solution could gain cross-party support and lead to speedy growth. They said all three major parties must sign up to Commission's recommendations in advance, to avoid going back to square one in 2015. The CBI remains the only business group that does not unequivocally back an enlarged Heathrow as the way to deliver the alleged economic growth.
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Foster & Partners submit their Isle of Grain airport scheme and Boris courts Chinese and South Korean backers
Sky News says advisers to Boris have held initial talks with wealthy foreign institutions including China Investment Corporation (CIC) and officials in South Korea about the Isle of Grain, Thames Estuary hub airport project. Boris now prefers the Isle of Grain as the location site for an airport, rather than "Boris island". Other institutional investors including City-based pension funds and infrastructure firms are also understood to have told the Mayor's advisers that they would consider putting long-term capital into the Isle of Grain scheme, which has been called the Thames Hub Airport. Boris is understood to be determined to identify as much private sector funding as possible for a new airport, whereas his principal aviation adviser, Daniel Moylan, is said to be keener on the idea of government financing. On 19th Foster & Partners submitted the Isle of Grain airport scheme to the Airports Commission. Chinese backers are being courted for a number of new UK projects, including a new 'super-sewer' under London.
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Southend Airport boss, Alistair Welch, quits – reason not disclosed
In a surprise announcement, managing director Alastair Welch, who has led Southend airport since before the Stobart Group bought it for £21 million in 2008, said he would leave at the end of July. Paying tribute to Mr Welch Stobart Group boss, Andrew Tinkler, said a team had been put in place to ensure the smooth running of the airport and its continued success. Roger Clements, who has been working for Stobart Air for some time, will take over as managing director in August, with David Lister as airport operations director and Graham Moorhouse as chief financial officer. Andrew Tinkler said: “The transformation of the airport has been led by Alastair Welch, who has been supported by a dedicated, hard-working team. Alastair has decided that, with the redevelopment of the airport all-but complete, the time is now right for him to move on to new challenges." Mr Welch has overseen installation of a new control tower, railway station, runway extension and terminal, attracted EasyJet to use the airport, got a massive increase in passengers and flights, and the one millionth passenger. Mr Welch was "unavailable for comment." Reason for his leaving not publicised nor information on his next move.
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West Sussex County Council gives its backing to 2nd runway plan for Gatwick
The leader of of West Sussex County Council, Mrs Louise Goldman, has welcomed the principle of creating a 2nd Gatwick runway and full airport expansion. This is nearly 35 years after the local authority signed a legal agreement restricting the airport to one runway. She said the county could not be preserved in aspic; and if it was to continue to provide quality jobs for its young people as well as take seriously its responsibilities to an ageing population, it had to make economic growth a priority. Somehow she manages to square that with saying she does did not mean abandoning the environment. "Quite the reverse. I have always considered myself to be an environmentalist, and protecting everything that makes West Sussex a unique place of beauty in which to live, work, and visit, remains enormously important.” And she has the naive hope that "ensuring that we mitigate environmental concerns as much as we possibly can,” will get over environmental problems. Gatwick Airport will submit its planning proposals for expansion on 23rd July.
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“Here we go again” – SSE slams opportunistic, irresponsible and pointless expansion proposals for Stansted
Proposals from the Manchester Airport Group (MAG) to develop Stansted into a 2-runway, or even a 4-runway, airport have been described by Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) as "opportunistic, irresponsible and pointless". SSE Chairman Peter Sanders said: "It is of little consolation that MAG has framed its proposals in an unenthusiastic, half-hearted way which grudgingly admits that it would be 'willing' to add an extra runway or runways at Stansted, about 15 years from now, if that's what the Airports Commission and the Government decide is best. This will be seen by many as an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for any decision to expand the airport." The MAG proposals resurrect the expansion options for Stansted put forward by the Government in July 2002. These all came to nothing but it took an 8-year battle before BAA conceded defeat and withdrew its plans for a 2nd runway. Between 2002 to 2010 needless stress and anxiety was caused to those whose homes were threatened by the bulldozer and over a £1billion was wiped off local house prices - all for nothing. Now, just 3 years later, there is the prospect of another prolonged battle over the same issue.
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Owners of Stansted, MAG, submit their plans for a 2nd runway – or to become a 4-runway hub
MAG, the owner of Stansted, are submitting their proposals for a 2nd runway to the Airports Commission. They also believe it has the potential to become a UK future 4 runway hub airport. MAG argues that the airport offers the cheapest and least environmentally damaging location (quite how it could do that, on a countryside location is unclear) for a 4-runway airport and estimate that it would cost £10 billion, although no detailed plans have been drawn up. Local campaign group, Stop Stansted Expansion, said that the MAG proposals were reheating plans put forward back in 2002 that were withdrawn by BAA, the former owners, in 2010. SSE's chairman said: "We really shouldn't have to go through this whole argument again just three years after the last threat was lifted. We are profoundly disappointed that MAG has behaved in this opportunistic and irresponsible way. With the airport currently operating at only half its permitted capacity a 2nd runway – never mind a 4-runway hub double the size of Heathrow today – is completely unnecessary on business grounds and it would be completely unacceptable on environmental grounds." MAG has to admit that it could serve almost double the current number of passengers, without any more infrastructure for some years.
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Barack Obama urged to help advance stalled ICAO negotiations on aviation CO2 agreement
Peter Liese, a key member of the European Parliament from Germany, who has led Europe's efforts to curb aviation CO2 emissions, has urged Barack Obama to live up to his sweeping promises to act on climate change, and help advance stalled negotiations for a global aviation deal. He said Obama must act fast to avoid a trade war over the battle caused by the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) . Liese, speaking after meetings with administration officials in Washington this week, said he feared efforts to reach a global deal on aviation carbon had stalled. He thought there was a 50% chance that the ICAO talks would fail to produce a deal by its early September meetings, triggering a transatlantic trade and diplomatic crisis. "For me and I think for the European parliament this is a test case: how serious is Obama on climate change? Is it only a speech, or is it serious? " Liese said. He said he was disappointed with the state department's position in the aviation talks, saying it lagged behind Obama's sweeping climate change speech last month.
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“Heathrow may have shot itself in the foot” – Blog by John Stewart on airport’s runway plans
John Stewart has written a blog about the announcement by Heathrow yesterday on its new runway proposals. The perception is that huge expansion is on the cards; that Heathrow has become a city state on the edge of London which is threatening to blight large swathes of the capital and beyond. There is considerable scepticism about Heathrow’s claims that the overall noise climate could improve with a 3rd, and even a 4th runway, given that a 3rd runway would increase flight numbers by 250,000 a year, resulting in a total of 740,000 flights using Heathrow, rising to almost a million with a 4th. Communities finding themselves under a noisy flight path for the first time, in Ham or Tooting Bec, will not just accept this. The overall impression of the proposals is for concrete and destruction. John Stewart suspects that the sheer scale of Heathrow's proposals have hardened and widened opposition to expansion: from local residents, the public at large, local authorities and climate activists. "The climate movement will now be limbering up for another battle of Heathrow."
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Damian Carrington’s environment blog: “Aviation is a rogue industry on a runway to nowhere”
Damian writes that the turbo-charge to the lobbying for more airport capacity comes from the prospect of short-term economic growth, sought at any cost by the government. In contrast, the issue of the heavy and fast growing impact of aviation emissions on climate change has faded like a vapour trail in the hurricane force PR campaign. The fundamental problem is that aviation is a rogue industry, darting across international borders to escape climate justice. While paying lip service to environmental concerns, its masters use the complexity of attempting to curb the carbon emissions of a global business to avoid any curbs at all. With many UK airports, particularly Stansted, very underused, the argument for new runways is shaky at best. But it is the global problem of climate change that is fundamental to UK aviation growth. So far the industry has cleverly used the global nature of the problem to avoid action. When the permissible CO2 emissions come to be divided up between flights, farming, factories and fuelling the UK, it's quite possible that soaring emissions from aviation are not seen as the top priority. At that point, any new runways will stand only as multi-billion-dollar monuments to the hubris of an industry accustomed to operating without constraints.
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Tyndall Centre blog on the Airports Commission’s task reconciling aviation’s demands with UK climate responsibilities
A PhD student at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research recently attended the public evidence session by the Airports Commission, on aviation and climate change. He writes in a blog that aviation's climate impact is a strategic question that the Airports Commission will have to try to answer – but that ultimately we as a society will have to answer. In deciding on future runway capacity the Commission will need to make a very stark decision on climate change mitigation: rely on a highly optimistic outlook on energy efficiency development, put forward by the aviation industry, to materialise; or fail the UK target under the Climate Change Act. (Or else build airport infrastructure that we will have no use for in the future - stranded assets). The Tyndall Centre says flying is one of the most carbon intensive activities you could possibly engage in (the most efficient aircraft, when fully seated, burn about one million kcal per person, per hour – try that for a workout – equating to about 100kg of CO2 added into the atmosphere). It is about the highest carbon activity known to man, on a per hour basis.
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