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Latest news stories:
Outline planning application for Manchester Airport City Enterprise Zone approved
Following on from the approval given to the £100m World Logistics Hub at Manchester Airport in November, outline plans for a 2nd major development, Airport City North, went out to public consultation that started in November and closed on 20th December. The plans went the Wythenshawe Area Planning Committee and were then approved by the Manchester City Council Planning and Highways Committee meeting on 17th January. It is intended that the 65-acre site will become a ‘Major International Business Park’, or "Airport City", containing 4182 car parking spaces, 1293 hotel rooms, manufacturing, offices and retail space. The World Logistics Hub is just part of the project. Others are MedCity with the University Hospital South Manchester Foundation Trust. There are huge claims of some 11,400 jobs to be created at Airport City which will include offices, hotels and factories. However, in reality, many of these jobs transfer from elsewhere.
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Berlin Airport CEO Rainer Schwarz “dismissed” as opening delayed indefinitely
Berlin Brandenburg Airport’s CEO Rainer Schwarz has been dismissed from his role “with immediate effect”. He has been CEO since 2006. The opening of the airport is now delayed indefinitely, with no date given. This has caused great embarrassment for Berlin's authorities. Originally due to open in June 2012, this date was first delayed until March 17, 2013, when problems with the airport’s fire safety systems were discovered. In October 2012 it was announced that the opening would be October 27, 2013. But now fire problems are still on-going and October is no longer realistic, and even setting a new date is at least several months away. At its meeting on January 16, the board and appointed as its new chairman, Matthias Platzeck, Prime Minister of the State of Brandenburg. He will succeed Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin, who held this position since 2001. The board said that in future a triumvirate would head the company.
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More random ideas for hub location. Two separate sites in Oxfordshire. Anyone else want to toss in an idea?
The Progressive Aviation Group (PAG) [ must be a joke - no mention of them on the internet anywhere, and they have no website] has suggested two possible sites to the Airports Commission, which is currently investigating how the UK should expand its aviation capacity. Their two sites are the military base, RAF Croughton, which some 14 miles or so north of central Oxford; and the Steventon area, which is a mile or so south west of Abingdon, and some 9 miles south west of central Oxford. David Cameron's constituency is Witney, which is a few miles west of Oxford, so very much in the firing line of either of these proposals. The Progressive Aviation Group, if it exists, give no details of their plans other than the location, but it is said they are submitting their ideas to the Airports Commission.
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More BA routes from Heathrow …. to key business destinations …. Palma and Ibiza
Anyone reading the statements from Heathrow about the capacity crisis and how there is a need for more flights to the emerging markets might be puzzled by recent news from British Airways. Back in February 2012 Willie Walsh said he planned to expand IAG into lucrative emerging markets, such as Latin America and he hoped to use the extra Heathrow take-off and landing-slots from BMI to accelerate growth into emerging markets. But BA has now announced that it is putting on new flights from Heathrow to Palma (Majorca) from March, and to Ibiza. These are in addition to Mexico and Alicante, as well as Bologna and Marseilles announced earlier. There are also new flights to Leeds Bradford (and a mention of links for business connnections) and a new flight to Chengdu in China, announced earlier, as well as Almaty (Kazakhstan), Dublin, and Seoul among others, where there is likely to be a business component. It is hard to believe there is much business benefit from weekend flights to Alicante or Palma or Ibiza.
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Dreamliner first commercial aircraft to use Lithium ion batteries, with their overheating risk
It’s not yet clear whether the problems in the 787s originated with the batteries themselves. Faults in the electronic controls have been implicated in other lithium-ion battery fires. According to reports, inspectors found liquid leaking from the 787’s batteries after the forced landing in Japan. The battery was also discolored, but it wasn’t clear if it had caught fire. Lithium-ion batteries have been known to cause fires in cell phones, laptops, and electric vehicles. But such problems are rare, and usually result from damage to the battery—such as piercing or overcharging—or problems with the manufacturing process that introduce flaws in the cells. According to the website of the company that supplied the Dreamliner batteries, these use lithium cobalt oxide electrodes. These are known for high-energy storage capacity, but other battery chemistries, such as lithium iron phosphate, are more resistant to overheating. Because of safety concerns, many electric vehicle makers have shifted to alternative chemistries, sacrificing some energy storage capacity. The Dreamliner is the first commercial aircraft to use lithium ion batteries.
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Is the Dreamliner becoming a nightmare? All Dreamliners grounded on battery safety concerns
After initially Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways grounded their Dreamliners on safety grounds, amid concerns that lithium ion batteries on the planes are unsafe and in danger of thermal runaway The FAA followed yesterday, meaning the Dreamliners of United Airlines were grounded. Then the authorities in China and India also grounded their Dreamliners, as have the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Now all are grounded. The risk of fire from the lithium batteries needs to be resolved. They Dreamliner has been billed as the future of air travel, offering passengers bigger windows, more space, and the ability to travel longer distances in one trip. Suggestions by Boeing that these are easy-to-fix faults clearly raises the question why were they not discovered and fixed before the plane went into commercial service in October 2011. There is growing concern of the impact of the grounding on Boeing's order book, which currently contains some 800 Dreamliners scheduled for production and delivery over the next decade. And costly compensation claims. Grounding aircraft on this scale over safety concerns is rare. The last time the FAA ordered a general grounding of an aircraft model was in 1979.
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Protests stall France airport take-off – report by Al Jazeera on the Nantes airport battle
Al Jazeera reports that for the past several months, the French forest of Rohanne has been a battlefield as riot police and protesters from all over Europe have faced each other over a plan to cut down centuries-old trees and build a massive airport. Local residents and environmentalists seeking to protect the forest have set up vinyl tents, wooden huts, camper vans, and even treehouses to impede the airport’s construction. Some have brought families and lived in commune-style conditions. In November between 13,500-40,000 people arrived at the site to protest against the planned airport. A few hundred protesters remain at the site. A court ruled in December that French police could forcibly remove squatters from camps in the Rohanne. A judge’s ruling has postponed airport construction until June 2013 to allow a review to be completed. Dialogue between the two sides to end the stand-off is necessary, but that will not happen unless riot police are ordered to stand down. There is lots more detail.
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Grow Heathrow campaigners fight eviction at High Court
A group of young people, calling themselves "Grow Heathrow", set up a market garden and informal community on squatted land in Sipson in 2010. The land had been derelict and was not being used by its owner, Mr Malik. He has been attempting to remove the squtters, who are environmental activists, for the past two years or more. The case for their eviction went to the High Court on Tuesday 15th January. Grow Heathrow say their case is an important challenge to the idea that landlords can leave land empty in the middle of a housing crisis. Mr Malik was given the judgement of possession in July. The basis of Grow Heathrow's appeal is Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is the right to have a home and family life. On the one hand, Grow Heathrow say they have added "social value" of the garden while it is wrong to keep the owner out of land for which he had paid a six-figure sum. Given the widespread importance of the issues raised by the case, Lords Justice Ward, Lloyd and Toulson are expected to reserve their decision until a later date - probably 14th February.
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London helicopter crash: Two die in Vauxhall crane accident. Thirteen injured
An Augusta 109 Helicopter has clipped a crane on top of the very tall blocks of flats, The Tower, One St George Wharf, very close to Vauxhall at 8am during the rush hour. It then crashed to the ground, killing the pilot and one person on the ground. Others on the ground were injured and cars set on fire. Several passers-by escaped though were fery close to the fire, and the parts of falling crane. Police said it was understood the helicopter was on a scheduled flight from Redhill in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire. A spokesman for London Heliport at Battersea said the pilot had requested to divert and land there due to bad weather as there was dense fog. Helicopters are required to be at 1,000 feet over London, and those with only one engine have to fly along prescribed routes. The top of the crane was of the order of 700 - 800 feet high. Questions have been asked in the past about the wisdom of flying so many helicopters over the centre of London, on safety grounds. This may now trigger public debate.
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Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airlines ground their Boeing 787 Dreamliners after fire causes another emergency
Japan's two main airlines have grounded their 24 Dreamliners after one was forced to make an emergency landing because of battery problems. Yesterday an ANA plane was forced to land shortly after take-off when smoke was detected in one of the electrical compartments, where lithium batteries are used for auxiliary power. The source of the fire is not yet known, but is likely to be the batteries, which are well known for their tendency to thermal runaway. In recent weeks, Dreamliners have suffered issues including fuel leaks, a cracked cockpit window, brake problems and an electrical fire.he source of the smoke is not yet known. Last week, the US FAA started a joint review with Boeing of the design, manufacturing and assembly of the Dreamliner. On Tuesday, Japanese authorities said they would conduct an inquiry after two successive fuel leaks on a different 787s. There are a total of 49 Dreamliners in use worldwide. The 787 is not the only aircraft to use Lithium Ion battery packs. The Airbus A380 uses a smaller number. And the upcoming Airbus A350 will use a much larger number.
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Luton Airport expansion master plan consultation ‘flawed and misleading’
London Luton Airport Operations Ltd submitted its planning application to expand the airport, to the local authority (which is also the airport's owner) Luton Borough Council, on 7th January. The deadline for comment is the 18th February. Luton Airport released its assessment of the recent Master Plan consultation, in which is gave the impression that some 65% of those consulted were in favour of the airport expansion. In reality, 612 votes were from airport employees, airlines, airport union members and businesses associated with the airport who, unsurprisingly, were 100% in favour of expansion. Only 450 responses came from the public, and those were 73% opposed. There were 94 from responses that were undecided. The fact that 29 of the 47 responses from stakeholder organisations, a group which included local councils, were 'undecided' indicated that the plans "didn't have enough information" as the master plan did not include an environmental statement or details of where the aircraft would be flying. It simply proposed they would be doubling the capacity of the airport from about 9.5 million passengers and increase the number of flights by 60%.
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ICAO Options for Allocating International Aviation CO2 Emissions between Countries – an Assessment
ICAO has the task of working out a mechanism by which international aviation carbon emissions can be allocated, so they can be subject to market based mechanisms (MBM), in order to control them. It is not a simple task to work out a fair mechanism for doing this, that will be acceptable to all countries. The three main options that have been identified by the MBM experts are to impose obligations based on (1). On all departing international flights from a State. (2). On all international flights carried out by operators registered in a given State. (3). On international flights on the basis of the nationality of airspace travelled through. There could then be sub-options. This article explores those options, and assesses them on their transparency/trust (it is important that third parties can independently verify carbon emissions); Simplicity (complex allocation systems are inefficient and threaten transparency); Fairness/equity (carbon obligations need to be placed on the entities that are emitting the CO2). The writer concludes that the first option, of allocating carbon to all flights departing from a State is best on all 3 criteria.
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Boris Johnson orders £3 million feasibility study on London mega-hub airport – Thames estuary or Stansted
Boris has ordered a feasibility study costing £3 million to be carried out, to see whether Stansted could cope if developed. A super high speed rail link cutting journey times to London to 25 minutes would also be built to support its growth - in Boris's plan. He proposed the study in December and then in January published the criteria for his submission to the Airports Commission on the matter. These criteria include economic, infrastructure, airspace , surface access, environment (it gets a mention) and deliverability. The mayor’s transport adviser, Daniel Moylan, who will lead the feasibility study, said their initial analysis would mean looking in greater detail at 3 possible locations: inner Thames estuary, outer estuary and Stansted. The consultation on the criteria will run until February 8th. In typical Boris fashion, he says such a huge hub airport would solve the UK's aviation problems for 500 years. Difficult to take any of it seriously, especially after Boris's recent climate sceptic pronouncements - he is not a believer in anthropogenic climate change, and backs Piers Corbyn.
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London Mayor’s consultation on UK airport capacity invites public comment
London mayor Boris Johnson is asking airlines, businesses and the city’s residents for their views on the alleged airport capacity shortage. The London Assembly set up its own call for evidence in December. The deadline for comment is 28th February, and there are public meetings on 15th January and 6th February at City Hall, when a range of witnesses will be questioned. On 15th January, John Stewart (Chair of Hacan and of AirportWatch) and Cait Hewitt, Deputy Director of the Aviation Environment Federation, will be questioned. Some of the issues being considered are economics, airport infrastructure, airspace, surface access, environmental impact and deliverability. The London Assembly intends this to produce their findings by May 2013, which will be submitted as their evidence to the Davies Commission.
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Birmingham Airport consultation on new flight paths from 2014 due to runway extension
Birmingham airport's runway extension was started in November, and is likely to be ready by early 2014. There is now a Birmingham airport consultation on new flight paths, that will be needed for the extended runway. The 3-month consultation has started over new departure routes which would need Civil Aviation Authority approval. The new routes have been designed using the latest technology that allows aircraft to fly more precisely (a sort of aircraft sat nav). As the runway will be extended further south, there will be a change to the routeing of aircraft after taking-off to the south. This is due to the earliest point that aircraft can turn after departure also moving further to the south, affecting the routeing of aircraft which will mean a change for some communities. There are already some very annoyed residents, who will now suffer a lot more noise. They are not reassured that planes are theoretically a bit less noisy than they used to be, as they are now larger and heavier, and more frequent. No date is given for the end of the consultation, but is is probably around the end of March 2013
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Fresh faults with Boeing Dreamliner planes – fire, brakes, electrics, fuel leaks etc
In the past week, there have been several technical problems for the 787 Dreamliner. On 7th an electrical fire caused by a battery broke out after passengers had disembarked from a Japan Airlines Dreamliner in Boston, after flying from Tokyo. Then on 8th Japan Airlines cancelled a Boston to Tokyo flight after about 40 gallons of fuel spilled. Then on 9th Japan All Nippon Airways cancelled a domestic 787 flight because of a brake problem. A spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube airport said the flight was cancelled because brake parts from the rear left undercarriage needed to be replaced. Last year, a United Airlines 787 flight was forced to make an emergency landing because of an electrical problem. In December, Qatar Airways grounded one of its 787s after several manufacturing faults caused electrical problems similar to those that affected the United plane. In December the US FAA said it had identified errors in the assembly of fuel line couplings in the Dreamliner. There have also now been a windscreen crack and another oil leak on another plane. The FAA has now ordered a review of the 787.
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Reminder from Manchester airport of just what a large % of UK air passengers are on leisure trips
Manchester airport is happy to promote itself as playing a vital role in boosting the UK economy, providing business links, attracting inward investment and promoting trade etc. However, CAA data in the Air Passenger Survey of 2011 show only around 18% of Manchester's passengers were on business. The airport enthused before Christmas about how busy it was, and "Around 620,000 passengers are set to travel through Manchester Airport over the Christmas and New Year holiday period – an increase of 4.5% or 27,000 on the same period last year (593,000)." And not a mention of any business travellers at all. So much for the claims that UK air travel is of huge benefit to the UK economy. In reality, most air travel is by leisure passengers, who are then likely to take money out of the UK on their trips, contributing to the annual tourism deficit. The top summer destination from Manchester is the Canary Islands, followed by Turkey, Greece, the Balearic Islands, and Tunisia. So much for boosting business links.
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Dubai economy bets on superjumbo air travel boom
With the opening of a huge new airport terminal in Dubai this week, Dubai's economic future became more closely intertwined with the world's biggest passenger jet, the A380 and the Dubai airline, Emirates. The massive new terminal cost over $3 billion to build and could be a risky bet on a future of high air travel growth. Dubai wants to keep its economy growing through tourism and retail, and wants as many tourists to visit as possible, arriving in large planes. Emirates' strategy is for Dubai to become an aviation hub between Europe and Asia-Pacific, and this makes sense with the largest planes. However, Dubai's neighbours, Abu Dhabi, home to Etihad Airways, and Qatar, which operates Qatar Airways, both also have ambitions to become regional air transport hubs, so 3 airlines are trying to compete in the same region (though Emirates is the largest of the three). If the current rapid growth in air passengers does not continue, or if planes are developed that can fly very long haul and by-pass the middle east, countries like Dubai may find their new airport infrastructure little used.
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Britain lost overseas visitors during Olympics; annual total largely unchanged; tourism deficit up
Figures from VisitBritain show there were 3% fewer tourists during the 3rd quarter of 2012 when London hosted the 2012 Olympic Games. However, the spend by overseas visitors was up 8%. London received 200,000 fewer overnight visits from overseas residents over summer 2012 than a year earlier. In total there are likely to have been some 31 million visits in 2012, with the amount they spent a record £17.2bn (to the end of November). People who who came to the UK for the Olympics spent an average of £1,510 which is more than double the average spend among all visitors at £720. Part of this spending was on Olympic and Paralympic tickets. ONS figures show some 685,000 foreigners attended the Games, which represented approximately 8% of the total number of visitors to the UK in the third quarter. Spending in the rest of England was 5% higher than in 2011 at £2.3 billion, in Scotland it was 8% lower at £0.6 billion and in Wales spending was unchanged at £0.1 billion. The net result is an increase in deficit to the UK associated with overseas travel and tourism of £150 million, from £11.7 billion to £11.9 billion.
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Cardiff Airport buyout by Welsh government: Conservatives’ question if it’s value for money
On 18th December the Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones announced that the Welsh government wanted to buy Cardiff Airport from its current owners, TBI. He said they would be working towards a purchase over the next few months. and hoped the airport would be run on a commercial basis by an independent commercial operator on behalf of the government. Conservatives are calling on the Welsh government to prove that buying Cardiff Airport would be good value for the taxpayer, and see it as Labour's attempt to "nationalise" the airport. Cardiff airport has had declining passenger numbers, down 13% in 2011 to a little over 1.2m, while passengers at Bristol increased by 1%. There was a further fall in the first half of 2012 to 440,000 from 558,000 - partly due to the departure of bmibaby. Despite assurances that it will not receive subsidies or burden the taxpayer, there have been questions about whether public ownership will succeed in turning around the airport's fortunes.
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In Bangalore and in Delhi there are problems with opposition by residents to aircraft noise
As the debate on aircraft noise affecting people staying close to airports gathers momentum in India, the Indian newspaper, The Hindu, prints an interview with Dr M. L. Munjal, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and head of the National Committee on Noise Pollution Control, who outlines the various issues involved. He says there are more people affected by aircraft noise near airports, as more people live close to them. It is necessary to plan better, to take account of the noise airports will create. Precautions need to be taken to see that the living communities did not get too close to airports, and the areas that will have most aircraft noise should be taken into account better by planners in a city's master-plan, eg. the Delhi Development Authority master plan. IDesigning for quietness is the most cost-effective way of finding a solution. He hopes India will learn from the mistakes made earlier by other countries that developed their airline industries before India. In March 2011, the Delhi High Court ruled that sound sleep is a fundamental right of citizens.
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Luton airport planning application submitted – to demands that it should be called in
Luton airport has submitted its planning application for expansion up to 18 million passengers, to its local authority, Luton Borough Council. However, Luton Borough Council is also the owner of the airport, and so local people are asking that the application should be called in. The application does not include a runway extension, but does include changes to taxiways, access roads, parking aprons, car parks and changes and extensions to terminal buildings. The work proposed is focused primarily on removing the bottlenecks which affect throughput of passengers and planes at peak times. By dualling the access roads and increasing the security check lanes, passengers can arrive and be processed more quickly. By extending the taxiways and adding more piers, planes can be filled up can get into position for takeoff more quickly. And by adding more customs and baggage reclaim facilities, arriving passengers can be moved more rapidly through the terminal. There are 250 documents in the application, making it difficult for local people to assess. The consultation period ends on 18th February. There is local concern about the amount of extra aircraft noise there will be, if Luton is allowed such significant expansion. There are also serious concerns about road congestion - currently about 80% of the airport’s passengers travel to it by road.
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Further fire safety problems at Berlin Brandenburg Airport mean it cannot open in October, so delayed till unknown date in 2014
Berlin's Brandenburg airport was initially due to open in June 2012. It has problems with fire safety, smoke extraction system, and fresh air supply in the event of fire. Therefore the opening was put off till October 2013. It has now been announced that the airport will now open on an unknown date in 2014. Based on the previous timetable, construction work was due to be completed by May 2013 to allow a 5-month period for trial operations before the official opening. There may be other technical problems as well, such as on baggage handling. When completed, the airport will take over from the ageing Tegel and Schoenefeld airports. It is expected to be able to eventually handle up to 27 million passengers a year, but this figure has been reduced from the initial figure of 45 million. The cost of the project has risen, from an estimated £1.6 billion to more than £3.2 billion and the latest delays are likely to increase the costs further. A growing chorus of critics is calling for the city's mayor, Klaus Wowereit, to step down over the matter.
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Luton airport claims 65% of respondents in favour of its expansion plans. But in reality 75% of the public are opposed.
Luton Airport has sent out a press release claiming, misleadingly, that it has 65% support from the recent consultation on its airport expansion proposals, to increase passenger numbers from the 9.5 million per year now up to 18 million. However, looking more closely at the data shows quite a different story. There were 1,360 responses in total and the Statement of Community Involvement” (SCI) provided with the planning application documents breaks down the responses a little further. It shows only around half were from members of the public other than Chambers of Commerce, airport staff and other stakeholders. Of the members of the public who responded, 75% oppose the expansion plans. Many of the responses in favour of the proposals actually came from the airport’s own staff. Andrew Lambourne of HALE said the spin doctors at the airport must have worked overtime to gloss the community response data. Many residents opposed the expansion because the airport says the impact of a 60% increase in flights will not increase noise and that simply does not add up.
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easyJet changes Gatwick flights to take off more steeply above East Grinstead to cut noise
easyJet has agreed to changes so flights taking off from Gatwick in an easterly direction will climb at a sharper incline than before, and climb higher much faster. This is after East Grinstead town council intervention. The change will reduce noise levels on the ground in the north east of East Grinstead. Complaints there about aircraft noise had risen by 500%, with 2,000 households in the Imberhorne suffering from early morning and late evening noise disturbance. It appears that easyJet was flying at a lower altitude over East Grinstead than other airlines.
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Intergenerational Foundation report shows the double injustice to future generations from not fully taxing air travel
The Intergenerational Foundation (IF) has been established to promote fairness between generations. They believe that each generation should pay its own way, which is not happening at present either financially or in terms of climate. A new report on aviation shows that aviation is subsidised, through not paying either VAT or fuel duty, and that this amounts to an annual subsidy of some £11 billion per year. This is money lost to the public purse, which could contribute towards funding public services. This means that there is a double injustice to future generations. Under-taxing aviation not only adds to the national debt which future taxpayers will have to fund, but also encourages more flying and greenhouse gas emissions which future generations will have to live with. Future generations will pay the price of the failure of this generation to control flying. It should be essential reading for all those involved in the debate about the future of aviation.
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Wood, Bows & Anderson paper on realities of economic benefit and GHG emissions from expanding UK aviation
F Ruth Wood, Alice Bows & Kevin Anderson have produced a useful 4 page article in the current edition of Carbon Management . Their paper looks at the economics of UK aviation, and whether there are real benefits from allowing its expansion. They say that given the difficulties of carrying out robust analysis on the economics of aviation, the presumption that further aviation growth is good for the economy is at best premature and may yet prove dangerously misleading. As it stands, the debate is ongoing as to whether investment in aviation generates returns over and above similar investment levels elsewhere in the UK economy. Any resilient decision on investment must heed the carbon intensity of the activity in generating such returns and the likely upwards trajectory of a carbon price. A new runway or hub airport, "coupled with existing regional expansion plans, would facilitate passenger growth over and above that recommended by the CCC and be incommensurate with the emission constraints imposed by the EU-ETS."
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The Times – on the questionable lobbying of MPs on Parliamentary All Party Groups, such as the one on aviation
The Times, writing about the lobbying by industry of parliament, says of the Commons all-party group on aviation that is one of a large number of such groups that are not official bodies. There is concern about the extent to which these all-party groups get a lot of funding from companies, and produce reports that do not properly declare the degree of influence that has been exercised by outside interests. The Times reports on how the all-party Parliamentary Aviation Group produced an report in August, on the subject of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and its effect on the aviation industry. It did not clearly declare that it was produced "with help from" airlines, travel companies and airports through the "A Fair Tax on Flying" campaign group, which wants APD cut for reasons of self interest, to increase the amount of air travel. The report, being biased towards the airlines, ignores the other side of APD - that it is in compensation for airlines paying no fuel tax and no VAT.
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HMRC modelling of potential impacts of changes in APD between airports – Heathrow APD higher
In October, the HMRC produced a report looking into the impacts of charging different amounts of Air Passenger Duty (APD) at different UK airports. The hope is that if APD was lower in the regions, and higher at Gatwick and Heathrow, then the number of flights could be evened out - boosting regional airports and taking pressure of Heathrow, and also Gatwick to a lesser extent. As APD is a relatively low tax (and air travel pays not VAT and no fuel tax) the study found that small changes to APD would have very little effect - people would rather pay a bit more for the convenience, or they would have to pay more to travel to another airport which had lower APD - so getting no net saving. The study did find if APD was increased by 50% on flights out of Heathrow the number of passengers might fall by some 22%, with travellers switching to other airports in the south-east and the Midlands. The analysis suggests passenger numbers at Stansted would increase by 20% and by 25% at Luton by 2020. This might have the potential to take some pressure off Heathrow.
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Public health checks mean Manston airport needs to become a DPE to import Kenyan veg
The No Night Flights campaign at Manston has discovered that many of the much disliked night flights there are bringing in peas and beans from Kenya. The EU has now identified some of these peas and beans in the pods as being a possible risk to public health, due to the level of pesticides present. It is therefore deemed necessary to test 10% of these imports, and this can only be done at the number of ports and airports that have the status of Designated Points of Entry (DPEs). Manston does not yet have this status, and will need to apply and be registered in order for these imports to continue.
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Commission to start dialogue on the future Nantes airport – but expects it will be difficult
After a week of sometimes violent clashes between opponents and police on the site of the future airport, near Nantes, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced on November 24 the creation of a commission, which will begin its hearings this Friday in Nantes. The hearings will continue till March 2013, and its report will take the form of proposals to the Prime Minister that will be made public. The commission will be chaired by Claude Chéreau - an experienced negotiator. ACIPA, the main opponents, have not yet agreed to take part, but can decide to do so over the next few months. They need as a prerequisite for their cooperation with the commission in early 2013 "the withdrawal of police forces from the area," they need them to "stop evictions and destruction" and especially they want "a written confirmation that it is indeed possible to without restriction tackle substantive issues of the case." The group that plans to build the airport, Airports Great West (AGO), a subsidiary of Vinci, say the talks cannot question the airport project.
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Another one! Fourth 4-runway Thames estuary hub airport proposal unveiled – Goodwin Sands off Deal
Plans to build a 24-hour £39bn hub airport on large sandbanks off the Kent coast have been unveiled. Engineering firm Beckett Rankine wants to construct a four-runway airport on reclaimed land at Goodwin Sands near Deal. Director Tim Beckett said it was the "most sustainable solution" to aviation expansion in the South East and would have the "least adverse impact". The Goodwin Sands are a series of shifting sandbanks, owned by the Crown Estate, 11 miles long and six miles wide, that are also the site of historic shipwrecks. Beckett Rankine said the location does not have the environmental and logistical issues that came with proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary. It said the site would be linked to London by the existing HS1 high-speed rail line, the A2 and M20 and to Europe via the Eurostar service. It is not far from Manston, which cannot function properly due to being in the wrong place. Just too far east. This 4th scheme joins the Foster scheme (Hoo Peninsula); the Gensler schems (floating somewhere in the middle); and the Boris Island scheme (off Whitstable).
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Government fails to properly include international aviation in UK carbon budgets – decision put off till 2016
The government was legally required to make a statement to Parliament by the end of December on whether it will include CO2 emissions from international aviation and shipping (IAS) in the UK's climate target under the Climate Change Act. Today Ed Davey went against the advice from the Committee on Climate Change, and postponed the decision, using some ambiguous wording. His exact words were that the government "is deferring a firm decision on whether to include international aviation and shipping emissions within the UK’s net carbon account" and that it "will revisit this issue when setting the fifth Carbon Budget (2028 - 2032)." ie. in 2016, which is after the next general election. IAS will continue to be excluded from the first 4 carbon budgets, which run until 2027. The Chancellor and many Conservatives are reluctant to do anything that can be seen as strengthening environmental regulations. If the greenhouse gases from IAS were included in the UK targets, other sectors, including electricity generation and industry, would have to make steeper cuts in their emissions. Government justifies its postponement by arguing that there is uncertainty about the EU ETS at present, and also whether there just might be progress on a global aviation carbon scheme through ICAO in 2013.
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MP backs call for inquiry into Sheffield airport to remain an airport rather than become a business park
The South Yorkshire Federation of Small Businesses is calling for Sheffield City Airport to be reopened, and have the backing from Labour MP, Paul Blomfield. They want the planned redevelopment of the runway as a business park to be put on hold and a public inquiry held into whether the airport could be viable. The site is 80 acres, and is owned by Peel Holdings. The MP believes there ‘does remain a role for a city airport in Sheffield’ and that Robin Hood Airport, at Finningley, near Doncaster, ‘is not a business airport’. He wants an independent public inquiry to once and for all assess the commercial viability of Sheffield City Airport and explore any outstanding concerns relating to the history and past use of the airport. Reopening it would need significant private investment. The airport closed in 2008. A mystery bidder has come forward to buy the mothballed airport.
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Boris pushing for a 4 runway hub at Stansted in his evidence to Airports Commission
The Sunday Times reports that Boris Johnson is planning to put forward the idea of a huge hub airport, with 4 runways, at Stansted. The Times says Boris will order a feasibility study into developing Stansted, and he will be submitting the findings from this study as his evidence to the Airports Commission under Sir Howard Davies. Boris is committed to opposing expansion at Heathrow, which would be deeply unpopular with thousands of Londoners, because of the noise intrusion. Boris is keen on building a huge new airport, but the Conservatives have a manifesto commitment for no new runways during the current parliament. George Osborne is not thought to favour a huge new Thames estuary airport, but he might be more supportive of expanding Stansted. In the concept of a massive Stansted hub, Heathrow would shrink. There has been fierce opposition to expanding Stansted in the past, and even building one extra runway proved difficult. Boris's plans for Stansted would be fought with passionate and determined intensity.
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IAG signs non-binding MOU with Ryanair for some 19 Heathrow slot pairs belonging to Aer Lingus
Ryanair, which owns 29.8% percent of Aer Lingus, in June renewed its effort to buy the rest of Aer Lingus, to boost its Irish operations. The EU blocked a previous takeover attempt 5 years ago, saying it would create a monopoly for Irish flights. Now IAG has signed a non-binding agreement to buy landing slots at Heathrow airport from Ryanair as part of its takeover bid for Aer Lingus. This is subject to EC approval, and Ryanair hopes the sale of the slots will help its bid to buy Aer Lingus. Ryanair proposed selling more than 85 % of Aer Lingus’s Heathrow slots and the FT says Ryanair has reached agreement with BA. Aer Lingus already has 23 daily slot pairs at Heathrow, which amounts to 3.5% of the total. It currently flies to Heathrow from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast. It recently tried - but failed - to get some of the 14 pairs of slots that had been owned by BMI. Let's see if BA uses its new slots for flights to the emerging markets - or just more lucrative tourist routes.
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London City Airport plans for larger aircraft and increased capacity – to local criticism
London City Airport already has consent to increase the number of flights per year to 120,000. The airport is now planning to submit a planning application to Newham Council in spring 2013 to allow "major infrastructure changes" (not including a runway extension) that could allow the airport larger planes. It wants to be able to handle aircraft the size of the Bombardier C-Series, [110 to 130 seats] so it can have flights to medium haul destinations like the Middle East and the east coast of the US by 2016. The plans are apparently "in their early stages, with the airport set to consult with local residents in the coming weeks." The airport, which currently handles around 3.2 million passengers a year, and some 73,000 flights. It has ambitions to increase capacity to 10 million travellers and 120,00 flights annually. The airport announced separate plans for €19 million investment on buildings, gates etc last month, with work starting in early 2013.
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December 2003: 9 years ago plans for Cliffe airport were turned down by Government
Nine years ago this weekend, the strength of people power was proved when north Kent campaigners made the then-Government see that a hub airport could never operate in the Thames Estuary. Now the threat is back again. Back in 2002, a new airport at Cliffe was one of several being considered by the Labour Government. On December 16, 2003, after a long-running, passionate campaign by people in north Kent, then-transport secretary Alistair Darling chose to leave the plan out of the Government’s airport expansion proposals. Reasons included the £11.5 billion cost, the risk of environmental damage and, notably, the danger of aircraft colliding with birds. A report by the Central Science Laboratory warned at the time that 200,000 wildfowl and wading birds over winter in the Thames Estuary – plus thousands in migration – should make the area off limits for such a large scale development.
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2% fall in global air freight, by tonne kilometres, in 2012 compared to 2011
Air Cargo World reports that during 2012, there has been a decline in global air freight. Until 2011 air freight and number of air passengers roughly matched each other. And air freight roughly matched world economic growth. But since last year, passenger numbers have continued to rise, while air freight has declined. World trade has grown steadily for 3 years but has lost its correlation with air freight. Volumes of goods carried by container ships has not decreased. The reason for the decline in air freight may be that emerging economies such as China, India and Latin America were now driving global growth and were transporting bulk commodities by sea rather than flying low-volume, high-value goods. The US and Europe have lost their historic dominance and are now responsible for just 9% and 7% respectively of trade growth. Over the decade 2001 to 2011 global air freight grew by an average of 3.7%. It grew by an average of 6.1% per year from 1991 to 2001. But Boeing forecasts global air freight will grow by 5.2% annually over the next 20 years. ??
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Changes to management of UK airspace to increase capacity and efficiency, and perhaps slightly reduce carbon emissions
Proposals to enhance the UK's airspace system, through the Future Airspace Strategy (FAS), that will increase airspace capacity, improve flight efficiency, and reduce aviation's environmental impact were recently discussed at a CAA conference. Airspace is seen by the CAA as a key part of the UK's transport infrastructure. The UK's current airspace system has not been significantly updated for over 40 years and the FAS project in intended to deliver "significant benefits for air passengers, the aviation industry and the environment." The new FAS improvements include allowing aircraft continuous climb-outs on takeoff that get aircraft to their optimum cruising altitude as quickly as possible; providing aircraft with more efficient routeings that save time and fuel; better management of arrivals at airports, such as reducing the time aircraft are in holding stacks; linking the whole aviation network together better and make use of the latest technology including Performance Based Navigation (PBN) that allow aircraft to use satellite navigation to fly much more accurate routes.
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New BA flights 4 times per day from Heathrow to Leeds Bradford
Direct flights between Yorkshire and Heathrow have been reinstated with the first BA service after an absence of 32 years,using a A319. There will be 4 flights per day, and the region’s business community is said to be enthusiastic, as it provides quicker access to Heathrow’s 170 destinations around the world. Tony Hallwood, commercial director at LBA, said: “It opens up the region to the rest of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Flights on the new route, which take 80 minutes, cost from £55 one way, including taxes. The Chamber of Commerce Chief Exec said “These new BA services connect Yorkshire to the whole of the world through Heathrow – and now the whole of the world will find it easier to get to Harrogate.” The airport wants to increase passenger from 3 million to 3.5 million over the next 18 months or so and to 4.5 million within the next 5 years.”
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More breaches of night noise limits at Leeds Bradford by Pakistan International Airlines
Pakistan International Airlines has breached night-time flying rules at Leeds-Bradford Airport. It has had 8 breaches of night-time rules in the last year. It is now being asked by Leeds City Council to give a formal commitment to introduce quieter planes, and timescale for doing so. Two years ago the Council served a breach of condition notice on the airport after warning that further contraventions by Pakinstan Airlines would not be tolerated. Improvements were made, but there are still breaches. Councillors agreed to support the approach of continued dialogue rather than formal action at this stage. At Leeds Bradford there is a restriction of planes at night that have a noise quota count greater than 1. LBIA is reviewing the designated night-time quota period of 2300—0700 as it wants to make the night period shorter, from 2330-0600.
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Letter from NGOs and UK Chamber of Shipping asking Cameron to ensure aviation and shipping are included in the UK’s carbon accounts
The key green NGOs in the UK, and the UK Chamber of Shipping have written to David Cameron, asking that the UK includes international aviation and shipping (IAS) in our carbon accounts, bringing the sector into line with our world-leading legal framework for tackling climate change. The Government is required to take a decision on whether IAS are included in our carbon budgets by the end of this year. The NGOs, (the AEF, WWF, Greenpeace, CBT, FoE, CPRE ) and the UK Chamber of Shipping are asking that David Cameron should accept the recent advice of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) by formally making provision for including emissions from these sectors in the carbon budgets. The integrity of the Climate Change Act 2008 requires that all sectors of the economy must contribute towards a cut in emissions of at least 80% by 2050 and aviation and shipping must be part of this long term emissions target. Recently aviation representatives said that they were comfortable with the CCC’s recommendations in relation to international aviation emissions.
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French First Lady Valerie Trierweiler sparks row by meeting opponents of new airport backed by prime minister
French First Lady Valerie Trierweiler,partner of Francois Hollande, is at the centre of a fresh political scandal after meeting opponents of a the planned Nantes airport, in defiance of the Jean-Marc Ayrault, the prime minister’s, support for the project. Ms Trierweiler is being accused of trying to undermine the PM;s authority by consorting with the protestors in Angers. Ms Truerweuker was happy to chat to 3 opponents’ representatives, who also asked her to deliver a letter of protest to Hollande. Ms Trierweiler has caused various controversies, such as supporting gay marriage, and is unpopular with the right wing. Her opponents also say her job as a journalist is ‘incompatible’ with her role as the President’s partner.
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Emirates keen on changing 3 degree approach slope to 5.5 degrees, to allow A380s to land at Heathrow part of the night
Giving evidence at the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, on aviation strategy, two senior staff from NATS discussed the idea of perhaps introducing a steeper approach angle for planes coming into Heathrow. At present, all airlines come in at a 3 degree angle, but at London City airport, planes approach at 5.5 degrees. However, many planes such as A380s would need to level out to a 3 degree slope some 6 miles or so from touchdown, so there would be no change for people living very close to the airport. There would be a small reduction in noise for those living from around 15 to 6 miles (approx distances) from the airport. This idea has been suggested by Emirates, as a way to be able to land more of their A380s at Heathrow and to land them until 1am each night and again from 4am. This would not be acceptable to most London residents being overflown. Andrew Haines, the chief executive of the UK CAA, told the hearing that although the idea went against the grain of international convention, “the idea ‘certainly had merit’ and that it was ‘definitely worth looking at’.
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Thames Estuary airport could mean planes taking off over Central London, NATS tells Transport Select Committee
Speaking at an evidence session of the Commons Transport Select Committee, on Aviation Strategy, Simon Hocquard, Operational Strategy & Deployment Director, NATS, said that as the prevailing wind in the south east of England is from the west, for some 75% of the time planes taking off from an estuary airport would fly, heavy and relatively low, over London. They could be persuaded to fly around London, to avoid subjecting London residents to the noise, but this would increase cost to the airlines, fuel burn and carbon emissions. He also said that a 4 runway estuary airport would have difficulty working in conjunction with other existing south east airports, but the actual problems, noise etc had not yet been modelled, and NATS had not yet been asked to model these issue. The Committee also heard from Richard Deakin about the possibilities of aircraft approaching airports at a 5.5 degree angle, till some 5 - 6 miles or so from the airport, and then reverting to the usual 3 degrees descent. This would limit noise for those further from the airport, but not for those living under the final miles of approach.
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Guardian report on the huge protests against planned Nantes airport and the battle against evictions
The Guardian reports on the battle against a new Nantes airport. On 11th December a French judge will decide whether to authorise a fresh round of forced police evictions of the squatters who live on the area of the proposed airport. Previous attempts to dislodge protesters brought hundreds of French riot police who fired teargas and rubber bullets, some climbing trees and teargassing people down from tree-houses, sparking dozens of injuries and what locals described as "war scenes". In recent months, police swoops have razed wooden huts and vegetable gardens, immediately inspiring hundreds more squatters to arrive from across Europe to rebuild the camps and strengthen the protests. The protesters, including farmers, locals and green politicians, argue that building a brand new airport for France's sixth largest city, which already has an award-winning airport, is both an environmental disaster and a waste of public money during an economic crisis. Support groups have sprung up across France.
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Monbiot on the threats of “biodiversity offsetting” as an excuse for ruining biodiversity habitats
George Monbiot writes about the dangerous new concept the government has seeded in the minds of developers and planners. The idea is called biodiversity offsetting, which involves trading places: allowing people to destroy wildlife and habitats if, in return, they pay someone to create new habitats elsewhere. In April, the UK government launched 6 pilot projects to test the idea, which would run for 2 years. Initially the government said these offsets should be used only to compensate for 'genuinely unavoidable damage' and they 'must not become a licence to destroy. However once the principle is established and the market is functioning, that is likely to change. Now biodiversity offsetting is being mooted as the means by which destruction of sites of great biodiversity value can be justified. The building of an airport in the Thames estuary would be the sort of project that this offsetting might allow, if it is permitted to continue. Monbiot cites a current case in north Kent where habitat for nightingales would become housing. Finding suitable habitat, which the wildlife finds suitable, is not easy and the success of such projects is very dubious.
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French farmers join environmental activists in protest against Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport
Useful article in English about the protests at Notre Dame des Landes, against a new Nantes airport. It says since mid-October, the number of occupiers has grown from 150 to as many as 500 at any given time. Today, they appear ubiquitous on the roads, in the fields and in the woods, building tents and cabins. With media attention now focused on Notre-Dame-des-Landes, Ayrault has pledged to form a commission to reopen talks on the airport. It is unclear what the commission will be able to accomplish. So far, the many evictions have made Notre-Dame-des-Landes headline news across the country, drawn increasing numbers of occupiers and strengthened links between the squatters and the farmers, who are determined to stay put. “We cannot fight and look for another farm,” says Marcel Thébault. “We can do one or the other, but not both. So today, we have not looked for another farm". “If we fight, the main reason is not because it is our farm and because we have put in so much work here. It’s difficult to leave a farm, but we could do it if the project was good. But on every level, [this airport] is bad. Also, we are so many together to fight this project. So, we stay.”
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IATA hopes global air freight will increase by a 5-year compound annual growth rate of 3%
IATA has said it expects global air freight, which has not grown much this year and declined in some regions, to grow in future. It expects an increase in global air freight in 2012 of 1.4% compared to 2011, followed by an increase over the next 5 years which compounded is 3% , up to 3.7% growth in the year 2016. In 2011 there were approximately 29.7 millions tonnes air freighted. IATA expects there to be 34.5 million tonnes air freighted in 2016. However, they expect the growth of air freight in Europe over the next 5 years to be only 2.2%, which is the slowest growth of any region. IATA expects the UK to have 1.8 million tonnes of international air freight by 2016, compared to 2.3 million tonnes in 2011, according to CAA data . By 2016, the largest international freight markets will be the United States (7.7 million tonnes), Germany (4.2 mt, China (3.5 mt, Hong Kong (3.2 mt), Japan (2.9 mt, the United Arab Emirates (2.5 mt), the Republic of Korea (1.9 mt), the UK (1.8 mt), India (1.6 mt) and the Netherlands (1.6 mt).
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Local Councils should sell Newcastle Airport stake to save jobs and services
Conservative councillors in Northumberland and Newcastle have said the time has come for the North East’s 7 local authorities get out of the airport business and offload their shares. They could then avoid cuts to council services and jobs. The councils between them, including Northumberland and Newcastle, own a 51% stake in Newcastle airport, but have also had to spend £68m to help refinance its debts. In exchange the authorities receive on average just £500,000 a year in dividends, as well as a say over bigger airport issues. The ownership of the airport has been particularly controversial after a former airport chief executive to walk away with a multi-million £ bonus. At the hearing, which the airport lost but is trying to appeal against, a judge made repeated references to the councils’ lack of experience in running an airport.
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New book “Tangled Wings” on the history of Gatwick airport and its neighbouring village, Charlwood
"Tangled Wings" tells the story of Gatwick from its opening in 1936 to the present day, as seen from the nearby village of Charlwood. The author, Brendon Sewill, has lived in Charlwood all his life and has held key posts at the centre of government, at the centre of the banking industry (when it was respectable) and at the centre of several national environmental bodies. He brings this experience to bear on the relationship between a small but historic village and an ever-expanding brash noisy airport. Part autobiography, part village history, part an account of the tangled development of British airports, makes this full size book an easy read. And there are plenty of fascinating illustrations. With the press full of speculation about where a new runway or a new airport should be built, "Tangled Wings" is a valuable contribution to the national debate. £10 + £3 p+p
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Tui Travel (owns Thomson and First Choice) paid no corporation tax in UK last year
Britain's biggest travel company paid no UK corporation tax in its last financial year despite posting record annual profits on Tuesday. Tui said it had been a year of "many successes", with an 8% leap in underlying pre-tax profits to £390m. But its UK corporation tax bill was zero as a result of losses incurred following a restructuring launched 5 years ago. It said it would start paying tax again once those losses have been carried forward and that it was paying the "right amount of corporation tax" in the countries in which it operates. Tui said it was "fully compliant with UK tax law", and it expected to pay small amounts of UK corporation tax in 2013/14 with significantly larger amounts in later years as brought-forward losses were eliminated. It is galling that a company can both crow about financial successes, and yet avoid making the sort of tax payments that would therefore be expected. EasyJet also pays very little corporation tax. So much for the alleged huge financial contribution that aviation makes to the UK. The tax affairs of Google, Amazon and Starbucks have made many in the UK very angry indeed.
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British Airways to cut 400 cabin crew jobs. Also huge job cuts in other airlines
BA is cutting 400 senior cabin crew positions on its long and short-haul routes, as it says it has too many of them. It has a total of around 14,000 cab in staff. The redundancies would be voluntary and that it has started a 90-day consultation process. The first cuts are expected to take effect from next March, and are expected to be from Heathrow. As well as the BA cuts, Iberia is cutting 4,500 jobs. Among other European carriers, Air France-KLM Group plans to cut 1,300 positions at its Dutch unit in addition to 5,000 already being cut at the larger French business. Germany’s Lufthansa is cutting 3,500 administrative posts and as many as 1,000 catering jobs.
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Willie Walsh tells Transport Committee there is no business case for a Gatwick 2nd runway
At the Transport Committee evidence session, Stewart Wingate, Gatwick chief executive, said he would oppose a 3rd runway at Heathrow and wanted to see Gatwick develop as a competing hub airport. But Heathrow's Colin Mattews said airlines will only pay for expansion at one UK airport and that is Heathrow, implying he would oppose a 2nd Gatwick runway. Willie Walsh also told the committee there was no business case to expand Gatwick, and said he was not aware of any discussion with airlines about the extra amount they would have to pay for a new Gatwick runway. Willie Walsh said "the only business case you could stand over is one to invest in a 3rd runway at Heathrow, but I'm not going to waste my time because it's not going to happen." Divide and rule ?
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Heathrow begins trial of noise relief zones for early morning flights
About 17 flights arrive at Heathrow each morning between 04:30 and 06:00. Heathrow is now starting a 5 month trial, the Early Morning Noise Respite Trial, to fly these flights on more defined flight paths, at the beginning of their approach, to give residents respite from noise. The aim is to protect people in dedicated areas from unpredictable aircraft noise between 04:30 and 06:00. Normally the flight paths into the airport are spread across London. The trial will define 2 zones over each trial area - 2 to the east and 2 to the west. Each zone will take turns to be active on a weekly basis. The areas covered are Vauxhall, Wandsworth, Battersea, Clapham Common, Westminster, Bermondsey, Streatham, Binfield, Reading, Purley-on-Thames and Winnersh. The scheme is a partnership between Heathrow, BA, NATS and HACAN.
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GLA launches its own call for evidence on London airport capacity and invites comments
In addition to the inquiry into airport capacity by the Transport Select Committee of the House of Commons, which was reported on yesterday, the Greater London Authority has now announced its own call for evidence on London airport capacity. They are asking Londoners to send them views and evidence for and against expansion of capacity. The GLA says its work will identify issues that the Government's independent Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, should take into account when considering the options for airport expansion. While Boris believes London's airports will be full by 2030, aviation and environmental campaigning groups do not believe there is a crisis, and existing capacity can be used more smartly. Opponents of expansion question the estimated increase in demand for air travel in future, especially for business purposes. The deadline for written submissions is 28th February 2013. The Committee will produce its findings by May 2013. The final report will be submitted to the Airports Commission in May 2013.
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T&E says global action to tackle aviation now only ‘down to political will’ in ICAO
ICAO has recognised that a global market-based measure to tackle aviation’s contribution to climate change is technically feasible. T&E has said this is an important step, as it now means the only obstacle to global action on aviation emissions is political will. The EU has moved to improve the negotiating climate by proposing a delay of one year in the requirement for flights to and from the EU to comply with its ETS. The next step for ICAO is for a ‘high-level group’ of geographically representative senior government officials to make proposals for a market-based measure, which would then be put to the next ICAO Assembly in September 2013. At this stage, the likely outcome is far from clear. It is now a matter of political will, and T&E has said - throughout the 15 years of ICAO inaction since the Kyoto protocol was signed - that technical objections were simply a convenient excuse. There is no longer any excuse for inaction and the high level group needs to work quickly.
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Gatwick and Heathrow attack each other in row over hub airport status, new runways and flights to Far East
Heathrow and Gatwick have given evidence to the Commons Transport Committee. Colin Matthews for Heathrow said Heathrow should be the single hub, and needs a 3rd runway. Stewart Wingate, Gatwick chief executive, said he would oppose a 3rd runway at Heathrow and wanted to see Gatwick develop as a competing hub airport. Gatwick announced plans to connect low-cost domestic and European flights to long-haul services, to the Far East or USA, with improved baggage transfer, to take on Heathow’s hub airport model. Mr Wingate also proposed London should be served by three 2-runway airports, with both Gatwick and Stansted getting an extra runway, instead of Heathrow getting a 3rd. He rejected suggestions that the South East was facing an airport crisis and said: “There’s a lot of capacity in the system. The challenge is how to make better use of it in the short term.” As well as representatives from the 4 main London airports giving evidence, there were also anti-expansion campaigners. EasyJet said "The importance of the hub airport has been massively overstated.”
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Delta bids for Singapore Airlines’ 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic
Sir Richard Branson could sell his controlling stake in Virgin Atlantic after rival Delta Airlines made a bid for nearly half the business. Delta, the biggest US airline, is understood to have offered to buy Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic which could, in turn, lead to a bid to take a majority stake away from Branson. Branson owns a 51% stake. Delta's move comes as Singapore aims to pull away from the crowded European market and concentrate on the rapidly expanding budget airline industry in south east Asia and Australia. However, if the Delta bid is successful, any offer to Branson would need Delta to team up with its European partners at Air France-KLM because of strict EU rules which say any operator within its boundaries must be controlled by a European-based business. Virgin has its headquarters at Gatwick. It has a fleet of 40 aircraft and flies around 6 million passengers a year to long-haul destinations. It posted a pre-tax loss of £80 million in the 12 months to the end of February.
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BA chief Willie Walsh comes out against a third Heathrow runway
John Stewart writes, in a blog for HACAN, that at at conference on 30th November Willie Walsh said he did not believe a 3rd runway at Heathrow would ever be built and that British Airways was basing its future plans on that belief by buying slots from other airlines at Heathrow and expanding its operations in Madrid. This has important implications for the future of UK aviation policy, and leaves Heathrow Airport without a critical ally. Walsh said BA is planning for life without a new Heathrow runway, and it appears that BA no longer sees the runway as in its commercial interesst. He also said he was opposed to mixed-mode at Heathrow. BA's newly-acquired Heathrow slots could in due course be used to serve the emerging markets of Asia and Africa and Madrid had good connections to South America.
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African no-frills airline Fastjet starts flights and hopes to get to 12 million African passengers per year
New African no-frills carrier Fastjet has begun its long-awaited first services in Tanzania. The airline, which is being backed by Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, ran its maiden service on November 29 from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza in Tanzania using its first Airbus A319. There will be 3 aircraft, all A319s. Fastjet said this marks "the start of a new, revolutionary, smart way to travel for African people, and our first steps towards becoming a low-cost, reliable pan-African airline.” They plan to add a 2nd base in Nairobi, before extending its network to Accra and Luanda, Angola. Fastjet's ambition is to carry more than 12 million passengers a year, from the 500,000 at present, by cashing in on demand for regional travel from a burgeoning African middle-class - with some 3 million of them "flying several times a year". Prices to start with may be as low as $20 one-way excluding taxes and charges. They are selling cheap flights as "smart travel". In June, Fastjet bought Lonrho’s aviation business, which currently flies in Africa under the Fly540 branding, with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Ghana.
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British Airways pledges to buy Solena “GreenSky London” jet fuel made from London waste for 10 years – site location still not known
British Airways and Solena "GreenSky London" say their project to build a jet biofuel facility in East London is gaining momentum. However, they won’t reveal the location of the plant but say an exclusive option on a site for the facility and consent work has begun, with the aim of having it operational and in production by 2015. BA has confirmed its commitment to purchasing, at “market competitive” prices, the anticipated 50,000 tonnes of jet fuel produced per year for the next 10 years, which equates to around $500 million at today’s price for conventional jet kerosene. BA expects enough of this fuel will be produced to power 2% of its fleet departing from London Airports. GreenSky say it will process 500,000 tonnes of London’s waste into 50,000 tonnes of jet fuel, equating to 1,100 barrels of jet fuel per day (bpd) which is 16 million gallons. It will also process 50,000 tonnes, or 1,100 bpd, of ultra-low sulphur diesel.
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Ryanair complains about £13 APD but charges its passengers much more in admin etc charges
Air France-KLM Cargo has suspended its twice-weekly B747400 freighter service between Paris and Guangzhou, in southern China, with immediate effect. "Business is not good enough presently to maintain the flights so we’ve suspended them awaiting better days" an Air France Cargo spokesman said. Last month, cargo traffic, measured in Freight Tonne Kilometers, fell by 29.2% on AF-KLM Cargo’s Asian routes and was down 20.4% globally. (IFW)
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US Senate votes to allow military to buy biofuels even if they cost more than conventional
The US Senate has voted in favor of an amendment to repeal section 313 of the annual Defense appropriations bill - which says the Department of Defense (DOD) buying fuels that cost more than their conventional counterparts. The clauses that prevented the DOD buying expensive fuel were put in by Senator Inhofe. The biofuel industry saw this as an attack on the DOD's policy of buying biofuels, and they and the airlines have worked and lobbied hard to get it reversed. The biofuel industry says over 60 senators went on record supporting biofuels policy, which they believe is a " very good bi-partisan outcome and a strong signal to investors.” Eleven Republican Senators supported the bill, primarily from states with strong interests in agriculture, timber and advanced biofuels. Many Americans support reducing dependence upon foreign oil and strengthening national and economic security via domestic renewable fuels. Especially the military that wants fuel security for massive amounts of fuel.
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Blog on Nantes: How far is the government entitled to go in enforcing the building of a new airport?
Tamsin Omond, founder of Climate Rush, narrowly escaped jail yesterday after a judge decided not to keep her on remand despite a breach of bail conditions which forbade her from going near Westminster. Their march on Parliament marked the centenary of a "rush" on Parliament by the suffragettes in 1908. The judge said said: "I recognise a need for proportionality and one should hesitate from taking away bail from someone exercising their right to protest." (Indy)
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Gatwick announces more profit, slightly more passengers and hopes of 2nd runway
Gatwick airport has announced increased profits, and increased numbers of passengers compared to last year. Comparing each month with the same month a year ago, passengers were up by 2.1% in October; up 2.4% in September; up 0.2% in August; down - 0.1% in July; up 4% in June and up 2% in May. Profits increased by 4.8% over the same April to September period in 2011. Stewart Wingate, Gatwick's chief executive, says the airport is opening up new long-haul routes to Russian, China, Vietnam and Korea. He says the growing numbers of passengers "is why we recently announced our plans to explore 2nd runway options as we believe growth at Gatwick is the best option for increasing connectivity for the next generation." He says there is an over-emphasis in the UK on the need for a single hub airport and London could follow a similar model to New York, which is served by 3 key airports. Rival Heathrow says the New York model wouldn’t work in the UK as there is only one major network airline in this country - British Airways - compared to three in the US.
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Birmingham Airport 400 metre runway extension work starts – to be ready spring 2014
Work has started to extend the runway at Birmingham Airport in a bid to compete for long-haul flights. It could be in use by spring 2014. Planning permission was granted in 2009 and in February final approval was given for the £40m project to extend the runway by 400 metres. Chief executive Paul Kehoe said the extension would allow Birmingham to compete with Manchester for flights to the US and the Far East and double capacity. Birmingham is currently England's 2nd largest regional airport after Manchester, serving 9.6m passengers a year. David Learmount, from Flight International Magazine, said that although Birmingham could "theoretically" now become a "hub" airport and fly to destinations like China, it was "very unlikely to".He said not enough passengers would fly into Birmingham wanting to go on to those sorts of destinations, unlike Heathrow - and it would benefit largely local "pleasure passengers" who would be able to choose from more holiday destinations. [So not increasing business, and increasing the tourism deficit].
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Boris now wants not only a Thames estuary airport but a massive aerotropolis = airport city
Boris Johnson - during his trip to India to promote London - set out his vision to build an “aerotropolis” around a new terminal for his fantasy project of a Thames Estuary airport. He said a town of about 20,000 people could spring up to the east of London based around a 4-runway hub airport (it was 5 runways last week...). It would have four or five “anchor” developments such as a hospital, university campus, a major business or exhibition centre to create thousands of jobs. A social infrastructure including homes, schools, shops, parks and a transport network would be a key part of the plan. Any such scheme would have truly dreadful environmental and biodiversity impacts. The Mayor said London had “much to learn” from India on the future of airports. He added that he was “inspired” by his visit to Hyderabad’s two runway airport — a leading example of an “aerotropolis” that is set to double in size over the next five years (that is because India is only starting to develop its aviation, while we did so decades ago, and it has a massively larger population).
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‘Peak oil’ is dead – but the need for urgency is greater than ever
Jos Dings, the Direct of Transport & Environment (T&E) writes that we need to ditch any notion that ‘peak oil’ will come to our rescue on climate change, and that somehow geological constraints will end our addiction to fossil fuels. At the very least it’s time to be much more precise and replace the term ‘peak oil’ with ‘peak conventional oil’ (somehow I don’t feel this slogan will catch on!). The ‘peak oilers’ overlooked for too long the fact that high oil prices spur investment into ever weirder, riskier and higher-carbon ways to produce oil – tar sands, tight oil, oil shale, deep sea, maybe even oil shale or ‘coal-to-liquid’. We need to leave two thirds of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change. That is the key challenge, and an enormous one, for global climate policy to solve, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it points to carbon taxes as a key element, if not the solution. Well worth reading the whole article.
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Infratil may consider investing in changing use of Manston and Prestwick – to no longer be airports
Radio New Zealand has said Infratil would consider investing in its two British airports to change their functions to help make them more attractive to sell. It cannot sell either Prestwick or Manston, after they have underperformed (made losses) for years. Infratil executive Tim Brown said the company now has to look at a range of complex proposals and if the use of an airport is going to change, it will have ramifications for local communities. And if airports are struggling, then they may then either need subsidies or be closed and put to alternative use. There have been some (informal) suggestions that it might become theme park... solar farm... race track... nature reserve...houses ?
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Obama fails first climate test by rejecting inclusion of US aviation in EU ETS
Barack Obama has signed a law excluding US airlines from the ETS, which is a blow to hopes for stronger climate action during the president's 2nd term. Environmental campaigners had urged him to veto the aviation bill as a sign of his commitment to fighting climate change. The White House said in a statement Obama still saw climate change as a priority but that he disagreed with subjecting US and other foreign airlines to the ETS. They said the Obama administration would work to resolve airline emissions through the ICAO. But this is disappointing to European officials and to campaigners in the US who had urged Obama to veto the bill. After winning re-election Obama listed climate change as one of the three main challenges facing the country. Connie Hedegaard tweeted: Aviation ETS: So far the re-elected Pres. #Obama #climate policies look EXACTLY as in first term. Wonder when we'll see the announced change?"
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Greenhouse gases hit record level …. and threaten tourism … while tourism threatens climate
The Doha talks are taking place at present, on global carbon emissions. The UN has confirmed that the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rose to record levels last year, reinforcing scientists' warnings that the world is on course for dangerous global warming. TravelMole reports that this will cause more pressure to minimize tourism-related carbon emissions - principally from air travel and accommodation. Global warming will also threaten tourism destinations - principally small islands, delta destinations and winter sports destinations. Global CO2 was at 391 ppm in October, compared to the pre-industrial era level of 280 ppm. About 375bn tonnes of carbon have been released into the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era in 1750, and much of it remains there for centuries. Temperatures have already risen 0.8 C and stopping an increase of over 2C is not likely. The carbon emissions from global aviation are around 5% of anthropogenic climate change, taking into account the non-CO2 impacts. World Tourism Organisation says tourism accounts for about half of all global air passengers
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BBC finally reports on “Battle lines drawn over new airport for Nantes”
With the story finally getting front-page treatment in the press, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is under pressure to explain how - at a time of growing environmental concerns and dwindling financial resources - building a €550m (£445m) airport in a city that already has one is the right course of action. As a former mayor of Nantes, Mr Ayrault is one of the airport's most vociferous supporters. Protesters have dubbed it the "Ayraultport" in his honour. But he presides over a coalition government whose other main participant - the Green Party - opposes the scheme. To defuse the tension, Mr Ayrault announced over the weekend a moratorium on work at the site. A "dialogue commission" is to be created so that opponents can once again express their concerns. The figures given by the proponents of the airport are hotly disputed by opponents of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, who argue that with proper investment the existing airport at Nantes could be sufficiently enlarged.
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Heathrow telling Davies Commission it only needs a 3rd, not a 4th, extra runway. But won’t pay noise compensation.
The Times reports that Heathrow will tell the Davies Commission that it can remain as the world’s premier international passenger hub by building a third, but does not need a fourth, runway. It is also saying that if it is allowed another runway, it will not pay for “noise compensation” for the extra numbers affected by aircraft noise. The Davies Commission has already raised this issue, as one that needs to be addressed if thousands more households are to be affected by noise. The Commission has said that it will look at noise compensation programmes at other airports. Heathrow says job creation and the boost for the neighbouring economy from expanded Heathrow is more important than direct noise compensation for Londoners. Heathrow continues to lobby to persuade opinion formers that Britain will lose tens of billions of pounds in trade if it does not have a massive hub, even larger than Heathrow now. With even more tens of millions of international passengers each year.
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Activists at Notre Dame des Landes use tractors to try to prevent demolitions – and set conditions for dialogue
Dozens of people attended Monday morning's call by ACIPA, the main association of opponents to the project of the future airport of Nantes, on the site of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, "to protect the reoccupied huts". On Sunday night 45 tractors were positioned and chained around the new cabins built by the project's opponents, during the fourth day of very high tensions and a forceful police presence. Since Friday, the police have re-intervened in larlge numbers to expel and destroy all the settlements that had been rebuilt since the first wave of destruction in October. There have been sharp clashes causing injuries to both sides. The protesters have said they will not enter into dialogue until the police presence is removed. They say they may be prepared to talk to government about stopping the airport but not just on slightly limiting its environmental impact.
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Qatar University working on aviation biofuels from single-celled salt tolerant photosynthetic organisms
In Doha, Qatar University has revealed the progress into research on developing biofuels for aviation (timed to coincide with the Doha climate talks - for PR reasons). The Qatar biofuels project is state-backed - the first in the region. The university’s project, in collaboration with Qatar Airways is now into its 3rd year and aims to find a way of producing affordable biofuels which do not rely on the use of valuable arable land and which can be produced efficiently in the harsh climate of Qatar. They have isolated multiple forms of single-celled photosynthetic organisms (cyanobacteria and microalgae) abundant in the waters of Qatar which grow well in its extreme heat, strong sunlight and highly saline water. They are trying to scale them up, from small test-tubes to water tanks - then extracting the lipids for fuel, while carbohydrate for bioethanol. So far they have made only 1,500 litres but want to expand to 25,000 litres. They hope to expand further.
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Boris Island airport (“London Jubilee Airport”) details – off Whitstable. 5 runways, maybe 6. With potentially 3 landings and 3 takeoffs every 90 seconds
The Sunday Times reports that Boris has met Sir Howard Davies, to push his opposition to Heathrow expansion (and probably his idea of a massive Thames Estuary airport). This would be built in the sea, just off the coast of Whitstable and Herne bay, and have five runways - with the potential for a sixth. This airport could handle 150m-160m passengers a year - more than double the current size of Heathrow. They claim this airport could be built in 7 - 8 years, and it "would be able to handle 3 flights landing and 3 taking off simultaneously, growing to 4 each way if it is expanded to 6 runways. This would enable it to accommodate about 240 flights an hour." (Has NATS been consulted??) The airport terminal would be at Ebbsfleet near Gravesend with tunnels for high speed rail links under the Thames (or perhaps overground) to the airport. The plans by Bridget Rosewell’s would cost an estimated £49bn, falling to £39.5bn if the railway goes partially overland. Appears to be just south of the 175+ wind turbine London Array.
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Malaysia Airports Holdings join £1bn contest to buy Stansted
The Sunday Telegraph reports that Malaysia Airports Holdings is now bidding for Stansted. The Malaysian group owns 39 airports in Malaysis including Kuala Lumpur Airport. Heathrow (aka. BAA) has sought out new bidders - in addition to the existing four - to try and boost the auction price. The original four are Manchester Airport Group (MAG) which is the favourite and is backed by Australia’s Industry Funds Management, plus financial investors TPG, Macquarie and HRL Morrison. The Telegraph says Macquarie and HRL Morrison are in the market trying to raise the necessary funds for their bids, and TPG believes it is being sidelined in the process. Malaysia Airports Holdings is 40.4% owned by Malaysia’s state investment company. It owns a 20% stake in Istanbul airport and a 10% holding in Indira Gandhi airport in Delhi. . A sale is expected in the first half of 2013.
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Approval granted for £100m Manchester Airport logistics hub covering 91 acres
TManchester Airport’s parent group MAG’s outline planning application has been approved for a 91.2 acres, £100 million world logistics hub in the southern part of Greater Manchester’s Airport City Enterprise Zone. The development will create 1.2 to 1.4 million sq ft of new logistics space. The airport hopes it will attract new international businesses and help existing airport businesses to expand, generating economic growth and - they claim" "over 1,800 new jobs" (in reality, many of those jobs are transferred from elsewhere). Some of the site will have new landscaping and natural habitats. Construction could begin by the end of the year. On 25th October, the local Wythenshawe Area Committee recommended the application for approval. Local opponents worry that it will result in serious loss of amenity, environmental damage for local people, and have serious consequences on local biodiversity and ecology.
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