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Latest news stories:
Private jet business travel. Who uses it and why?
In a long article on who is using private business travel, and why, ABTN gives a lot of information on how the industry works. Private flying has fallen significantly since 2008 and the financial crisis. The banking sector used to use more business jets when they launched new IPOs (initial public offerings) when executives wanted to make many presentations in different places, the same day. They also say companies want the private space on the plane to continue their discussions, as well as the very fast transfer from car to plane, and plane to car, with the minimum of hassle. Rock bands etc, now make a higher proportion of their money from tours, so they like using private jets for painless travel. And the remote locations where some natural resources and minerals are found are more quickly accessed by private flights to small airports, rather than large planes to main airports. And more ....
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Airport protesters target London Mayor Boris Johnson over his estuary plans
Campaigners fighting plans to build an airport off the Kent coast staged a protest outside City Hall, as a quick response to Boris Johnson's restatement of his ambition - a week after his re-election as Mayor of London - to build a new airport in the Thames estuary. Speakers at the protest included Jenny Jones, Murad Qureshi, and Caroline Pigeon as well as representatives from the North Kent areas currently blighted by the airport plans. The protest outside the mayor's offices came as Kent County Council (KCC) published its own vision of aviation. - not surprisingly hostile to the estuary plans (but in favour of absolutely everything else ...) London's mayor declined an interview with BBC South East, but Daniel Moylan, deputy chairman of Transport for London, said the estuary airport was close to Mr Johnson's heart.
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BMI REGIONAL IS SOLD FOR £8M
BRITISH Airways owner IAG has agreed to sell the regional business of newly acquired BMI for £8million to an Aberdeen-based consortium. BMI Regional, which operates 18 Embraer jets in the UK and northern Europe, is being bought by Sector Aviation, led by Ian Woodley, who founded a regional airline bought by BMI in 1996. The consortium is backed by Stephen and Peter Bond, who are also investors in Scotland’s Loganair. IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said a deal, which needs Civil Aviation Authority approval, should secure about 330 jobs
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Boris reaffirms his enthusiasm for an estuary airport, and sees it as a “moment for greatness”
Having got back into power, Boris has already stated that he will use his second term of office to push his estuary airport scheme. Urging the government to give the scheme its backing, he repeated his belief that the hub airport - dubbed Boris Island - had the potential to place London as the "economic powerhouse of Europe." Boris wants a four-runway airport, which would be the biggest in the world, to be built in the Thames Estuary. He said: "The Government has got to seize the nettle. This is a moment for greatness. It is a moment for bravery" and "My gut feeling is that you could entrench London's position as the economic powerhouse of Europe. You would solve all sorts of problems in transport infrastructure and regeneration if you went for a big, bold solution of the kind that Norman Foster was outlining." There was a protest against the estuary airport plans outside City Hall.
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Justine Greening confirms no Heathrow 3rd runway, and no mixed mode in prospect
At a travel conference in London, the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, conclusively ruled out any prospect of increasing flights at Heathrow: “We don’t think the third runway is the right thing.” She also said “mixed-mode” would not be considered in the government’s review of airport capacity. This technique, enabling aircraft to land and take off from both Heathrow runways, extracts at least 25% more capacity with no extra building - but subjects those on the ground to more noise. [BAA persists with its whinge that the UK economy is being damaged without more flights to China etc, (ignoring the fact that airlines could put these on, using other leisure travel slots, if there was the demand for them. When the aviation policy consultation starts, some time this summer, a key issue is going to be to really question the insidious perception that aviation growth is what drives the UK economy. The interests of airport operators and airlines are not necessarily the same as those of the wider society, and the soon everyone wakes up to this reality, the better].
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Emirates’ profits fall on ‘crippling’ fuel costs
Emirates, the Dubai based airline, is still making huge profits. However, its profit for 2011/12 was $629 million, down from $1.6 billion in the previous year. Emirates says th is is due to fuel costs. The airline transported about 31.4 million passengers in 2010, and says this was up to about 34 million passengers in 2011. Wikipedia data look as if Emirates is the global airline with the highest level of passenger kilometers, implying it does particularly long haul routes. Which would explain why their fuel bill was $6.6 billion last year. But Delta Air Lines' fuel bill was approaching $12 billion.
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“Viable” urge council to buy Plymouth City Airport lease
Viable Group, which is an American investment advisor located in Texas, hopes to reopen Plymouth City Airport, and wants Plymouth City Council to buy back the lease for the site. Viable Group claims its five-year plan could see 500,000 passengers using the airport afer 5 years if owners, Sutton Harbour Group (SHG), would sell the lease. Sutton bought the 150 year lease from the council in 2000. Plymouth City Council said it supported the idea in theory. Some of the land at the airport has already been earmarked for a £38m housing project. Viable wants to start off with charter services, and then go to scheduled daily domestic flights using two 19-seater planes. Then they want a 40-metre extension to the runway, allowing 90-seater jets to connect Plymouth to Europe.
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After 28 days the Nantes hunger strike ends, with concession from authorities to reconsider land expropriations
After 28 days of hunger strike, which Michel Tarin endured to the end, and 5 others fasted for slightly shorter periods, the strike has ended. At last there have been concessions from the local authorities that the compulsory purchase of land owned by farmers and other local residents will be suspended for the time being. The expropriations will not now go ahead until the outcome of several legal proceedings that have been filed against the proposed airport. It is likely that these legal challenges will take up to two years, giving the campaigners two more years in which to continue their opposition. The hunger strikers ended their fast with bowls of soup, and though exhausted, they are delighted with the result. Drinking their soup together, surrounded by a huge an efficient network of support, the hunger strikers emphasized the quality of support they received each day and the climate of affection and solidarity that has buoyed them up during their ordeal.
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Fire safety problems delay new Berlin airport yet again – opening on 3rd June delayed to late August
The opening of Berlin's new airport will be delayed by up to 3 months due to fire safety problems. This an embarrassing blow to the German capital's flagship project less than a month before its planned launch, which had been due for 3rd June. Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, which will also be known as Willy Brandt Airport after West Germany's Cold War chancellor, may now open in the 2nd half of August, after the school holidays in Berlin and Brandenburg. Flights were to have been transferred from Berlin's Tegel airport, to the new one. The problem is that the fire safety installations - notably smoke extractors - were not ready, so a safe evacuation of passengers could not yet be acheived in the event of fire. The delay will cost the two existing airports, and some airlines, money. The opening of what will be Germany's third largest airport after Frankfurt and Munich, has been postponed once already.
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Airbus and Boeing hit by plane cancellations
Airlines have cancelled a total of 32 orders for planes so far this year, according to data from the world's two major plane makers. Boeing said it had 25 orders for its 787 Dreamliner cancelled by airlines without naming who they were. Airbus has had 7 A350 orders cancelled by Etihad Airways. The cancellations reflect the difficult travel market and weak global economy. For Boeing, the 25 Dreamliner cancellations compare with 19 orders so far this year, meaning the plane maker is in negative territory for its flagship plane. Based on list prices, it would cost the airline about $193.5m (£119m). Boeing's order book stood at 415 on 1 May, against 95 for Airbus on 30 April.
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Are the B787 Dreamliner’s claims to be a new generation in aircraft fuel efficiency over-stated?
Kevin Lister has written an open letter to the Aviation Minister, Theresa Villiers, pointing out to her that, despite all the hype about the Dreamliner being touted as the first of a new generation of planes, it is not greatly more fuel efficient than others. It is not likely to "solve" the industry's future fuel or emission problems. Looking at the likely number of passengers, the range and the fuel capacity, the fuel consumption figures for the A380, Boeing 787, 777, and 747 very comparable. And are in the same range as the old Lockheed Constellation aircraft of the 1950s. The Dreamliner has lighter components, using carbon fibre rather than aluminium. But its main aim is to be a slightly smaller plane, that can fly long distance, without needing to refuel. This means carrying a great deal of fuel on take off for such a long trip. A doubling in a plane's speed increases drag by a factor of four, and the power consumption of the engines by a factor of eight. Therefore, for greatest fuel efficiency, a plane would fly more slowly and over relatively short distances.
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Customs checks ‘drop as staff move to passport control’
The Immigration Service Union warns that the number of customs checks at main UK airports has dropped because more staff than usual have been moved from other duties to work on passport control. Passengers were being waved through without extra checks, leaving the UK open to a higher risk of arms and drug smuggling. The government says it is committed to maintaining border security by deploying staff flexibly. Both the home secretary and immigration minister have pledged to deal with the airport immigration delays. But with customs staff being moved to help with passport checks, Heathrow staff "are having to reduce all other activity, and that includes the secondary activity of checking for drugs, firearms, and such like." Organised crime gangs are well aware of this.
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Cambridge Airport wants to expand its passenger flights
The Marshall Group, owner of Cambridge Airport, UK, is preparing to embark on a £20 million investment to develop the airport’s land and upgrade its infrastructure. Groundbreaking on the green field site, located to the south of the runway, is scheduled for July. Plans include a new taxiway and the rehabilitation of the runway. The airport says it has increased executive aviation movements. It is getting regional airline services and leading aviation companies as tenants. It wants to entice more businesses to the airport: Though it did well in 2001, the airport has too few commercial passengers to be recorded by the CAA.
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Boeing ‘Dreamliner’ offers only marginal noise benefit – its “quietness” is exaggerated
The Dreamliner 787 has been much hyped, for its theoretical reduction in fuel use and in noise. Boeing claims it is 60% quieter, a statement that needs to be understood in terms of how aircraft noise is measured. It does not mean 60% quieter, in the way a layperson would understand the statement. It means actually a reduction of perhaps 3 decibels, to anyone standing under the flight path - a difference that is barely noticeable, even to trained ears. These figures are also theoretical, along the lines of the car fuel consumption figures given by manufacturers, and very difficult to replicate in real life. If the planes are heavier, taking off with more fuel and luggage on board, or landing on full power, they are still very noisy. And if there are more flights overhead, that is actually what people are bothered by, rather than a 3dB difference.
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All BMI Baby routes from Belfast to go by 11th June, and Flybe moving into the gap
BMI Baby will stop all its flights from Belfast City airport from 11th June. The airport said 420,000 of its passengers last year had flown with BMI Baby. BMI Baby services from East Midlands to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newquay, and from Birmingham to Knock and Amsterdam, will end on the same date. BMI Baby said it would not affect BMI mainline's service from Belfast to London Heathrow. Monarch said it would run services on 25% of routes operated by bmibaby from the Midlands. A BALPA spokesman said: “The frustration has now turned to anger following the news that Flybe (which is part owned by BA) has moved onto many of these bmibaby routes without any opportunity for staff to look at options and alternatives." Flybe is moving quickly onto some of the abandoned routes.
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The inclusion of international airlines into the EU ETS is largely compatible with world trade rules, finds study
(From GreenAir Online) The legal case against the inclusion of international aviation into the EU ETS has centred on whether the EU has the power to regulate emissions produced outside the EU. Also whether the EU’s scheme is consistent with its obligations under applicable bilateral and multilateral agreements governing air transport services. And third is whether it is compatible with the EU’s WTO obligations. This latter challenge is the subject of a paper by Dr Lorand Bartels of the Faculty of Law at Cambridge University. Bartels concludes that despite the complexities of WTO law, the EU scheme in the main is justifiable on environmental grounds and, insofar as the scheme affects services such as tourism, it is likely a WTO panel would lack jurisdiction to determine on a violation until ICAO remedies had been exhausted.
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Lufthansa to cut 3,500 jobs in savings drive – 2,500 in Germany
Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, announced plans to slash 3,500 administrative jobs around the world as it tries to offset soaring fuel costs and fierce competition in Europe to return to profitability. It says these job cuts will reduce its administrative costs by a quarter. Lufthansa has a workforce of about 117,000 people worldwide but it needs to radically cut costs to remain competitive. About 2,500 of the planned job losses will be in Germany. The high fuel price,a weak global economy and competition for passengers with fast-growing low-cost carriers and Middle East airlines are the problem. Other European airlines have also done less well recently than expected. Lufthansa said it will only increase seat capacity by 1% this year, not 2%.
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Bmibaby to be grounded – jobs of nearly 500 staff may be lost
IAG has announced that Bmibaby will be grounded on 10th September, with some routes being stopped as early as next month. This will affect almost 500 staff. BMI Baby employs 497 staff in the UK, including 83 people at its Castle Donington headquarters, as well as 98 pilots, 117 cabin crew and 76 operations staff based at East Midlands Airport. IAG said it was still willing to sell airline, but it didn't expect to find a buyer for the carrier which is losing £25m a year. BA said it is more optimistic of being able to sell Aberdeen-based Regional. They will be making reductions to bmibaby's flying programme from June with many flights ending on 11th. Monarch has announced it is launching a new base at East Midlands Airport to plug the gap left by the grounding of bmibaby. It will also offer additional flights from Birmingham.
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May 8th. The 28th day of the Nantes airport hunger strike – 5 hunger strikers are still continuing.
The campaigners against the proposed airport outside Nantes in South West France have today occupied the centre of Nantes with a convoy of tractors and 1,000 people - and 15 young cows. They are supporting the peasant farmers who have moved into their 4th week of a hunger strike and are making their voices heard before Sunday’s Presidential Election. Already the campaigners have forced Hollande, who has supported Nantes Airport, to agree it will not go ahead until all the legal cases have been heard but Sarkozy, when questioned, said the area is just a wasteland without the airport! That is an insult to the beautiful farming area and especially to the farmers on hunger strike.
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Gatwick Airport aims to rival Heathrow after signing Air China deal
Air China is the latest long-haul carrier to sign up to Gatwick, which is trying to build a reputation as an alternative gateway between the UK and emerging markets. Air China will operate 4 direct flights a week between Gatwick and Beijing. [Heathrow has perhaps 90 flights to China per week, and Gatwick will have 4. So it has a long way to catch up ...] A Gatwick spokesman said Gatwick could serve London "just as effectively" as Heathrow, where take-off and landing slots are in short supply. Gatwick has "the capacity to grow to serve 40m passengers by 2020 but also has the ability to serve London just as effectively as Heathrow - and do so for less than half the cost." Gatwick has lower landing fees than Heathrow (in 2009 they were up to £12.80 per passenger at Heathrow, and £6.79 per passenger at Gatwick. Bit higher now).
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Airlines oppose higher landing fee to cut immigration queues at Heathrow
BA, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines and Virgin are - unsurprisingly - totally against landing fees being used to pay for government border agency staff. An increase in landing fees, which are now £19.30 per passenger at Heathrow, must be approved by the CAA. A % is already used by BAA to pay for immigration control infrastructure, such as the new e-passport gates, but the money has not been used before to pay immigration staff. UK Border Force staff numbers have been cut by 800 in the past 2 years and a further 700 jobs will be lost by 2014-15. More than 550 volunteers (many retired and those recently redunded) are reportedly going to be drafted in to help man UK borders during the Olympics. Meanwhile Willie Walsh tried to make out some of the money from APD could be used for this. APD is not for that - it is to compensate for lack of VAT and fuel duty on air travel.
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Growing opposition to Luton Airport plans
A large number of groups and organisations opposed to the further expansion of Luton Airport met to confirm and co-ordinate their opposition to proposals to significantly increase airport capacity. They discussed key areas of opposition including increasing noise affecting households and schools, the problems of unregulated night flights, the plans to add 100 extra flights and 16,000 passenger journeys a day, and key concerns over safety and pollution. Their joint statement reaffirms the strength of opposition: "Far from having received a positive reaction from local people as is claimed by the airport operator, the expansion plans are meeting growing opposition from local communities already blighted by noise, pollution and congestion caused by Luton Airport. Community groups and campaign groups are united in their determination to oppose these ill thought out expansion plans until they are once again defeated".
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Delta first airline to buy an oil refinery, to get control of jet fuel costs
Delta Air Lines has agreed to buy a disused oil refinery near Philadelphia from ConocoPhillips to offset the risk of higher jet fuel prices. The airline says it is just a modest investment of $150 million - about the same as buying one Boeing 777. Delta h as received $30 million from the state of Pennsylvania as part of a deal to support job creation, and says it would spend $100 million more to refurbish the plant to increase its output of jet fuel. The company estimated this will cut its annual jet fuel bill by some $300 million, once the refinery was refurbished and operating again. To achieve similar fuel savings, it would have to buy 60 new-generation narrow-body planes like the Boeing 737, a capital investment that would total $2.5 billion. Delta said it had also struck a three-year agreement with BP to supply crude oil to the refinery.
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Birmingham Airport calls for Government backing. Claims 36 million passengers by 2030?
Paul Kehoe is lobbying for his airport again. He is calling on the Government to endorse the ational status of Birmingham Airport, and dismissed claims from BAA that Heathrow is the only answer to forging new air links with the country. He says, after a trip to China, that Chinese airlines are now considering Birmingham as a new destination once the runway extension is completed in 2014. He says there is a partnership between Birmingham airport and MG Motors, owned by Shanghai Automotive. There is a large Chinese community in Birmingham, and thousands of Chinese students come to Birmingham each year. Kehoe says since 2003, after London, Birmingham has attracted more Chinese investment projects than any other UK city. And he claims the number of passengers using Birmingham airport will rise from 9 million per year now to 36 million by 2030. !? 36 million ??
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Olympic Games, despite conventional wisdom, present no large benefit to airlines
The Olympic Games or any sporting event when held in a large city present little increase in overall air passenger numbers, according to industry body, CAPA. While leisure demand increases, corporate traffic tends to reduce. BA and Virgin do not expect much rise in passenger numbers from the Olympics - perhaps even a slight loss. The number of business passengers is likely to fall during the Games. There is likely to be a small reduction in the numbers of Brits going abroad during the Olympics. During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, airlines recorded traffic – and financial – losses as security measures stunted growth. BAA does not expect to get back even as much as 10% of what it has to spend to prepare for a couple of very busy Olympic days, such as 13th August, when an increase of 45% is expected.
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Airlines could be asked to pay through higher landing fees for quicker Border Control checks
The FT reports that airlines using London’s Heathrow airport would pay higher landing fees to help sort out Britain’s border chaos under a plan backed by David Cameron. They say BAA is studying the proposal, which foresees airlines funding extra Border Force staff through the charges they pay BAA. The Government believes airlines should meet a share of the cost of cutting the immigration queues. “The real answer is to get the airlines to pay for more security – that’s the long-term answer.” BAA levies annual landing charges worth more than £1bn on airlines at Heathrow to pay for infrastructure investment, including some equipment at the border, such as e-passport gates. The landing fees could help to pay for additional Border Force staff. Willie Walsh has said airlines would be prepared to pay for the right service but not if the government was wasting money. Meanwhile some Border Agency staff were flown from Manchester to Heathrow, to cope with delays.
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US representative to ICAO says general consensus remains that market measures should only be implemented from 2020
The US permanent representative at ICAO has recently said that general consensus within ICAO since 2007 has been that market-based measures (which means emissions trading, emission related charges and taxes, and emissions offsetting) to limit the growth of aviation emissions will not come into play until 2020. He believes that the consensus on the delay in bringing in emissions trading etc, although not unanimous, continues, and he is not convinced it will be changed at the 2013 Assembly. He was critical of the slow progress at ICAO to deliver on a CO2 standard for airframes and engines that is due to be produced in 2013. He told ICAO that he expected technological and operational improvement measures being used in the period to 2020, and only carbon trading perhaps after that.
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Slowdown in cheap flights gives boost to British economy
New figures published by the Office of National Statistics show that the British are taking almost 20% fewer overseas holidays compared to 3 years ago, whilst the number of foreign tourists visiting the UK is virtually unchanged. This means a major boost for the UK Balance of Payments and shows that the Government’s policy of increasing APD is actually benefiting the UK economy, contrary to the claims made by the UK’s major airlines - and foreign tourists are not being deterred by APD from visiting the UK. The latest statistics show a decrease in overseas leisure trips by UK residents from 60 million to 49 million between 2008 and 2011 leading to a reduction in the UK’s tourism trade deficit from £20 billion to £13 billion. Inbound tourist numbers fell by just 300,000 over the same period. The boom in cheap leisure flights and the generous tax breaks given to the aviation industry actually harm the UK economy and damage traditional UK tourist destinations
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Queues at Heathrow, cuts to UK Border Agency budget and what it costs the taxpayer
Long queues at Heathrow for Border Control are getting a lot of news coverage, and there are fears this is damaging the reputation of Heathrow. Some claim even damaging the reputation of the UK. Fast Track passengers – in many cases business passengers who are considered as vital for the British economy – also often have to queue for up to half an hour. The Border Force has agreed a series of performance targets with Heathrow setting out the maximum acceptable queuing times. Immigration controls are not done by BAA itself, but by the UK Border Agency. The UK Border Agency gets about 35 - 40% of its funds from fees (visa charges, permits etc - not from the airport or port), the rest is paid by the taxpayer. Quite how much border control at UK airports costs is not revealed. Civil service unions have predicted even longer queues if the Border Force presses ahead with plans to cut staff. The Telegraph says the number of Border Agency staff at airports will fall from 8,500 in October 2010 to 7,322 by April 2015. The Immigration Service fears delays could get much worse during the Olympics.
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Birmingham sets sights on China flights
Paul Kehoe, the CEO of Birmingham airport, is planning to start direct flights to China as an alternative to services from the south-east. He visited the Chinese city of Chengdu for the Routes Asia aviation conference last week and met with airlines to discuss possible direct flights between Birmingham and China. Birmingham is hoping to attract long-haul services from the airport once its runway extension is completed in 2014, and said feedback from the airlines had been positive. Kehoe says direct China flights from Birmingham will bring investment to the region, and giving airlines and passengers an alternative to battling with London’s congestion problems.
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European Parliament begins scrutiny of EU airport noise rules
IIn December, the EU presented its " Better Airports" legislation package, which it said is "a comprehensive package of measures to help increase the capacity of Europe's airports, reduce delays and improve the quality of services offered to passengers". The European Parliament will soon start scrutinising the draft regulation. The Airports Package aims to replace the airports noise directive with regulations and generally water down protection for residents. But the MEP in charge of the dossier and steering the noise regulations through the Parliament appears sceptical about the Commission's motives. On noise, he feels the Commission has put economic considerations above all else when drafting the regulation, which is not acceptable. The regulation is aiming to have fewer restrictions on airports, so their growth is not jeopardised. There are hopes of banning the noisiest planes, and decide on a timetable following a "cost effectiveness assessment". The worry is that noise reduction that has economic costs will be opposed.
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IAG sees more airline failures, hails Gulf rivals
Willie Walsh expects more airlines to struggle this year, against higher oil prices. Weaker airlines will have dificulty in generating the cash needed to ride out high oil prices. Though IAG cannot sell Bmibaby or Bmi Regional, it is looking for other airlines to buy. About half a dozen European airlines have folded in the past year including Barcelona-based Spanair which stopped trading in January despite a cash injection from the Catalan government. Iberia will be creating a low cost airline, Iberia Express, designed to replace labour rules at the main carrier, and against which Spanish pilots are staging a series of strikes to try to halt the creation of the cheaper sister airline. Heavyweight Gulf carriers like Emirates, Abu Dhabi's Etihad and Qatar Airways are mopping up traffic for fast-growing East-West hubs.
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UNCTAD Warning to Global Aviation: Biofuels Will Worsen Food Price Pressures
In a clear early-warning to the global aviation and transportation industry, the UN Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) has asserted that growing usage of biofuels is already contributing to higher food prices, and indicated that the problem could get worse in future. A new UNCTAD report launched in Doha says “mounting financial speculation in commodities and the increasing diversion of agricultural land to biofuel crops has changed the forces underpinning commodity prices, pushing them through a sustained period of increase”. It particularly warns the aviation industry, which is aiming to shift into biofuels in their attempt to reduce emissions, and says the industry has downplayed the long-term impact on land-usage and food prices.
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BAA’s group net debt rose by 3.6% from £10.4bn in 2010 to £10.8bn in 2011
BAA's passenger numbers have recovered since the low point of the credit crunch, but its balance sheet is still in the red. BAA's group net debt rose by 3.6% from £10.4bn in 2010 to £10.8bn in 2011. Their first quarter pre-tax loss was £231.4m. The business owes more than £10bn, and so has a large annual interest bill (it paid out £388m last year), and spends £1bn annually on improving its airports. BAA has not made a quarterly profit since it was acquired in 2006. It has not paid corporation tax in years, has borrowed even more to pay investors who leveraged up to the hilt when they bought the business in the first place. Does paying a sizeable dividend appear wise when you owe £10bn and you haven't made a profit in years?
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EasyJet chief Carolyn McCall urges Government to look at second runway at Gatwick or Stansted airports
Carolyn McCall wants a new runway at Gatwick or Stansted and says this makes the most economic sense - in terms of solving what airlines make out is a lack of south east runway capacity. The airlines were upset when Theresa Villiers last week repeated the government's complete rejection of a 3rd Heathrow runway. This easyJet publicity is just another part of aviation industry's attempt to brainwash the UK public that economic recovery depends on air travel expansion - which is in fact largely a myth. Most air travellers are on leisure trips and take money out of the country. But airport expansion benefits the airlines and the airport operators - hence their continual pressure for expansion and attempts to distort the real situation. Ms McCall said it was critical that the UK remains an "important gateway" but argued there was an "overemphasis" on the hub airport idea - because easyJet deals with short haul leisure passengers, and is not contemplating flights to China etc. Self interest.
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Nantes: 20th day of the hunger strike against the airport plan, 4 strikers.
On the 15th day of the Nantes airport hunger strike, one of the farmers has lost 11 kilos and the other 12 kilos. They are determined to continue, and have been joined by two other hunger strikers. They have also been visited by José Bové, the famous campaigner and now an MEP, who will keep them company overnight. He says the presidential contenders, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, must end their silence on the airport protest now the hunger strike is entering its 3rd week. They can no longer ignore it and they need to find a way to suspend the compulsory purchase of land and resume talks. Bové says the politicians have all the means they need to find a way out without losing face.
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Governments failing to avert catastrophic climate change, IEA warns
Governments are falling badly behind on low-carbon energy, putting carbon reduction targets out of reach and pushing the world to the brink of catastrophic climate change, the world's leading independent energy authority - the IEA has warned. "The world's energy system is being pushed to breaking point," Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the IEA. "Our addiction to fossil fuels grows stronger each year." On current form, she warns, the world is on track for warming of 6C by the end of the century – a level that would create catastrophe, wiping out agriculture in many areas and rendering swathes of the globe uninhabitable, as well as raising sea levels and causing mass migration. Under current policies, the IEA estimate that energy use and CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050.
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New report shows the UK nuclear regulator was wrong in not opposing Lydd Airport’s planning application
A decision on whether to allow expansion of Lydd airport was due in March 2012 from Eric Pickles, but this has been delayed for an unknown length of time. Meanwhile, the Lydd Airport Action Group has commissioned a new report from a doctor at Imperial College that shows the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) was wrong to conclude that the probability of an accident at Dungeness resulting from the introduction of heavy aircraft taking off and landing from Lydd Airport would be so low that it could be ignored. The Imperial College study showed that Dungeness A, which ceased power generation in 2006, would still be a risk if hit by a plane. Dungeness B, which is still working, would be a safety risk, being only 3 miles from the airport, and built before any consideration was given to the risk of a hit by a heavy aircraft.
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China’s emissions trading pilots are starting to take shape as the EU’s flagship climate policy looks increasingly fragile.
There are 7 new pilot carbon emissions trading schemes in China, 5 in municipalities (Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tainjin) - and two provinces (Guangdong and Hubei from 2013). These pilot projects will pave the way for a national trading scheme (ETS) to be implemented in 2016. Details are steadily emerging of the pilot schemes and China’s commitment to tackling climate change is growing increasingly clear, making it more difficult for Europe to argue that it is out in front and unable to increase its ambitions. At the same time as developing its own emissions trading schemes China is currently objecting to flights between China and Europe being included in the EU ETS. A new report from Sandbag suggests that China could include flights from the major cities within the emissions trading pilots and thereby enact the equivalent measure clause which would remove them from the EU scheme.
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US Ambassador to ICAO Skeptical Council Can Reach ETS Consensus
EThe US Ambassador to ICAO is skeptical that ICAO’s assembly can reach consensus on market-based measures to control emissions when it meets in September 2013. He said ICAO's current direction on developing market-based measures, such as ETS, dates from a resolution at the assembly’s last meeting in 2010 - and that “is actually a derivative” of one adopted in 2007. He said the consensus on Market Based Measures (things like ETS) among the 191 member states of the Assembly has changed little since that time. “The ICAO Industry Emissions Reduction Roadmap from 2010 to 2050 has virtually all of the emission reductions coming from aviation from 2010 until 2020 attributed to technological and operational improvements. Only beginning around 2020 does the ICAO industry roadmap plan for reductions from market-based measures...The roadmap realistically has alternative fuels coming on line slowly and not making really big, significant contributions until after 2030.”
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Edinburgh Airport sold to Global Infrastructure Partnership for £807m
A deal has been struck to sell Edinburgh Airport to the owner of Gatwick and London City airports for £807m. GIP has beaten a consortium led by another infrastructure investor, JP Morgan Asset Management. The sale price, slightly more than expected, is payable in full at closing of the deal, expected in May. It is thought that GIP intends to improve the speed at which passengers move through the airport at check-in, security and baggage handling, and to link the airport with new routes. Its investment pattern is to sell the asset on after about 7 years. GIP is said to have improved the passenger experience at Gatwick. Edinburgh airport handled 9.5m passengers last year, caters for about 40 airlines, serves more than 100 destinations and currently generates around £50m EBITDA annually.
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Noise from planes approaching Gatwick flying over Edenbridge at ‘damaging levels’
TNoise from planes flying over Edenbridge is at potentially damaging levels, according to a Courier investigation. Edenbridge is about 8 miles from Gatwick, directly under the approach path. Our study of sound levels over the town showed residents are being forced to put up with conditions that some experts believe could have long-term health implications, such as hypertension, hearing impairment and increased risk of heart disease. Recently monitoring of the noise there showed spikes of up to 91 decibels under the flight path, around 9am, checking 29 planes flying overhead. They had an average volume of 72.7 decibels and a peak of 91. Local residents find it is the constant repetition and long duration of the noise that makes it so annoying.
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London Southend Airport terminal extension approved
Southend airport has been granted approval for the extension of its terminal building by Rochford Council. There will also be five more aircraft stands. Despite strong opposition, only one member of the public was permitted to speak against the application. Only two councillors voted against. Work on the extension will start later this year. The new terminal was opened in March, but the extension will add another 90 metes to it, more than doubling its size, with more check-in desks and baggage drop off points. more security screening channels, larger arrivals and departures lounges, more retail etc. It has emerged that Anglian Water were not informed of the application. SAEN understands that the water company is less than happy, as the new terminal as it stands was only just approved as it took the sewage system up to 100% capacity. The extension will exceed capacity. he airport is looking at 6 million passengers per year by 2020, rather than the 2 million previously anticipated.
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Kehoe says BAA claims are a con, and Chinese companies are happy to fly to Birmingham, bypassing Heathrow
We have heard many aviation lobbyists claiming that if business people cannot get direct flights from Heathrow to a multitude of destinations, Britain's economy is doomed. Now Paul Kehoe, CEO of Birmingham airport, publicly disagrees, wanting to persuade those in power that flights to or from Birmingham will be quite acceptable to commerce, and can bypass Heathrow. And Birmingham gets the profit. He says BAA is "trying to conflate the wider British economic interest with the interests of Heathrow". Kehoe says the claims that Britain's economy requires new runways in the south-east are a "con" that an industry dominated by BAA will not question. He says he was in Chengdu recently, talking to Chinese airlines that were considering any entry point into the UK. Kehoe says the Chinese he had spoken to would be happy to come to Birmingham: "they see the UK as an important market and don't care how they get there." So lots of in-fighting within the industry, like dogs over a bone ... They all want the money ...
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Noise ban provides nightmares for German airports and airlines but better sleep for campaigning residents
GreenAir online has a long and comprehensive article about what has been going on in Germany recently, with the huge protests at Frankfurt against the 4th runway, and against night flights - which have now been stopped over a 6 hour period. Also the protests at Cologne Bonn Airport where there is now a night flight ban. And protests in Munich against plans for a new 3rd runway. There will also be a 6 hour night flight ban at Berlin’s new Brandenburg International Airport when it opens in June. Airlines like Lufthansa are complaining, and claiming they cannot run an efficient and profitable freight operation without night flights being permitted. The German Aviation Assoc claims there are no such bans at Amsterdam, Paris, London or Dubai. But the German opposition has been very effecive and got results.
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BA-owner IAG completes BMI takeover – doubts it can sell BMI Baby and BMI Regional
IAG has completed the take over of Bmi. The main BMI airline is to be integrated with BA, but IAG reiterated that it did not intend to keep the BMI Baby and BMI Regional businesses. IAG is receiving a "significant price reduction" on the agreed £172.5m purchase price for taking the BMI Baby and BMI regional airlines on. BMI is estimated to be losing about £3m a week. The deal was cleared by the European Commission last month on certain conditions, including that 14 slots at Heathrow airport were released. A Scottish consortium called Granite may buy the regional part of Bmi, for flights to and from Scotland, and perhaps saving some 400 jobs.
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London Mayoral candidate, Siobhan Benita, candidate pressing for 3rd Heathrow runway (with Michael Portillo’s backing)
Siobhan Benita is the only mayoral candidate to be pressing for a 3rd Heathrow runway. She says "We will scrap the £60bn Boris Island vanity project and instead support the expansion of Heathrow airport, while maintaining strict limits on sound and emissions" and "I absolutely understand that people are worried about noise levels and I would call on the aviation industry to produce a 10-year roadmap for aircraft noise reduction. With quieter and cleaner aircraft becoming more commonplace, the industry can do much more to reduce noise and emission levels in the coming years" Michael Portillo gives her his backing. He thinks a third runway for Heathrow airport is fundamentally important for the capital and "I can't understand any candidate presenting himself or herself without making such a commitment".
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London Gateway port development – to open in 2013 – a few miles west of Southend
Opening in the fourth quarter of 2013, London Gateway is set to become the premier UK logistics centre. When fully developed London Gateway port will handle 3.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units) annually and the adjacent logistics park will be the largest in Europe. It is about 4 miles south of Basildon and about 7 miles west of Southend on Sea. DP World is a company based in Dubai. There is likely to be a connection between Stobart buying Southend airport, and the new mega-port close by.
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West Sussex study shows personal flights the largest single component of carbon footprint
West Sussex County Council have done an analysis of their carbon emissions, to understand individual emissions and help communities to change their lifestyles, consumption etc. The consumption-based carbon footprint for West Sussex residents broken down into sixteen specific segments shows that the largest single component is personal flights, at 13%. This comes higher even than food and drink (retail) at 12%. And then at 10% each are household fuel, and domestic vehicle fuel. Followed by other non food shopping at 9% and then household electricity at 7% - with other sectors at lower figures. Remarkable that the flights component is so very high. For the Lake District, the proportion of emissions from foreign flights by visitors to the Lake District was a third of the total budget—yet of the 16 million visitors a year, only 10% come from abroad".
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Jenny Jones, the Green Party London mayoral candidate, says close London City Airport
The Green Party's candidate for London mayor has said City Airport should be shut down. Speaking to the BBC's Daily Politics, Jenny Jones said the airport should be closed and replaced with "something useful" such as housing or allotments. Britain should follow Europe by "expanding" rail travel, not aviation: "We should start to understand that short haul flights have got to be overtaken by rail travel... We are very greedy and we take up more than our fair share of the earth's resources. We have to learn to adapt and survive." A spokesman for London City Airport said it "directly contributes over £0.5bn a year to the UK economy" (evidence for that??) and connects London with 30 destinations in the UK, Europe and America. The other candidates have not mentioned London City Airport.
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Manston tries to use Theresa Villiers speech to press for its expansion
In her speech to an aviation conference in London on 18th April, Theresa Viliers made a brief mention of Manston, saying "some would also like to see Manston to play a role in meeting our aviation capacity needs". The "some" who would like to see Manston play a part are North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale and the airport owners. By comparison, airlines and passengers are conspicuous by their absence, and there is huge public opposition to expansion of the airport - the approach path of which is directly over Ramsgate, with the runway just a mile from houses. Roger Gale said that, "given the right rail links and good road links, there is no reason why Manston shouldn't play a major role in aviation in the south east." But it does not have those road and rail links. Manston is just not in a suitable location to be a useful London airport. Location, location, location.
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IATA wants government help for the future growth of aviation
IATA has said that a significant decline in global airline profitability, or even losses, look inevitable for 2008 as the industry struggles with sky-high fuel prices. Director General Giovanni Bisignani forecast industry losses of USD$2.3 billion in 2008 if the average price of a barrel of Brent oil remained at USD$107 for the rest of the year. Bisignani said traffic growth in the industry would at best be 3.9% this year. (Reuters)
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A flying feud: BA boss and Branson go to war
The heads of BA and Virgin hate each other, and always have - even more since 2006 when Virgin reported on BA to the UK competition authorities for price fixing. They have been attacking each other for years, and the sparring between two rather unedifying personalities, over ways in which to more effectively damage the climate through increasing air travel, is distasteful. But this article in the Independent goes through their mutual hostility and the past of their squabbles.....
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US and India warn Europe that row over Aviation EU ETS could derail global climate change negotiations
The US special envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, has warned that the inclusion of foreign airlines in the EU ETS could hold up global climate change talks. He said that just because progress on a global agreement over aviation emissions reductions at ICAO had proved difficult, “it did not mean the multilateral approach should be thrown away.” While US carriers continue to comply under protest with the EU ETS, 2 Indian airlines serving Europe have been forbidden to take part and have failed to submit their 2011 emissions reports by the March 31 deadline, leaving open the possibility of fines by their UK authority. Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said Europe “could not accept threats of all kinds of trouble just because a small price has to be paid for the pollution caused by travel, while no one grumbles about paying for online tickets, extra luggage or seat reservations.”
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Theresa Villiers shuts door on third runway at Heathrow
Ms Villiers stressed at an aviation conference in London that, although there were divergences of opinion within the Coalition on aviation policy, the Government would look at all options for increasing capacity in the South East “with the exception of a third runway at Heathrow”. She said “The Coalition has always been clear that its doesn’t support a 3rd runway at Heathrow - one of the very first acts as government was to confirm that.” And “The quality of life aspect of a 3rd runway with up to 22,000 more flights over London every year would be massive and there’s no technological solution in sight to ensure planes become quiet enough, quickly enough to make this burden in any way tolerable. So we need another solution.” This could also potentially put the Government on a legal collision course with BAA, which cautioned it could go down the route of a judicial review if Heathrow was the one option barred from the public inquiry into future hub capacity.
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Boeing 787 Dreamliner delivery flight USA to Tokyo with 10% used cooking oil and chicken fat
All Nippon Airways, in Japan, have used 10% biofuel (it does not say whether in one or more engines) mainly from SkyNRG used cooking oil, in its Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The plane flew from Washington to Tokyo. ANA says there were significant carbon savings - though two thirds of the carbon savings claimed come from the Dreamliner itself, rather than the fuel. There are known supply problems with used cooking oil, and there is not enough of it to be more than a token gesture for the aviation industry, on publicity flights. Boeing say the Dreamliner can carry 201 - 250 passengers on routes of up to 14,200 to 15,200 km; and 250 to 290 passengers on routes of up to14,800 to 15,750 km. Boeing claim it produces 20% less CO2 than a similarly-sized current commercial aircraft.
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Nantes airport protest: Faut-il encore construire des aéroports ?
Several Europe Ecologie members have written on why they are opposing a new airport at Nantes, when the existing airport is not full. They argue against it on climate grounds, and on economic and social grounds. They say "If they persist, it will be in defiance of warnings from climatologists and economists, in addition to the contempt of the citizens. If, instead, they decide to abandon it, preferring to invest in training, colleges and high schools, or public transport, then we will highlight their political courage."
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Aviation minister Theresa Villiers defends Heathrow No 3rd runway policy
Theresa, speaking at an aviation conference in London, said a new third runway at Heathrow would have a "massive" impact on the quality of lives of residents near the airport. She stressed the coalition Government had "always been clear" that it did not support a third runway at Heathrow. Instead, she said "another solution" to south east England airport capacity was needed. At the conference, Colin Matthews produced figures showing that foreign airlines were shunning Heathrow because of capacity constraints at the airport. Mrs Villiers said: "The coalition has always been clear that it does not support a third runway at Heathrow. One of its very first acts as a Government was to confirm this. Heathrow is unique in Europe in terms of the magnitude of the noise impact it has on densely populated areas." She also said that "arguably the most well-connected city in the world, with its airports providing direct links to around 350 international destinations".
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CBI, aviation industry, BAA etc say (again …) UK will become a branch line without Heathrow 3rd runway
The Chief Policy Director of the CBI says “The UK is becoming a branch-line destination on the route map of global airlines." And for some reason she feels the need to also say that "Such is the threat to the UK's prominence that Dubai is set to overtake Heathrow by 2016 as the world’s largest international airport." So what? Dubai is more centrally located than London for global traffic. She also fears Heathrow will be overtaken by Paris or Frankfurt. The director of airline Etihad says (surprise surprise) “Heathrow will not be able to compete unless it opens another runway.” That's because he wants two more flights per day to Dubai. And BAA boss Colin Matthews will unveil new research showing 53% of airlines are increasing their flights out of other countries due to the severe capacity restraints at Heathrow. And more along those lines ....
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Traffic pollution kills 5,000 a year in UK, and aviation & shipping pollution kills another 1,800, says MIT study
A study by MIT in Massachusetts has found that combustion exhausts across the UK cause nearly 5,000 premature deaths each year. They also estimate that exhaust gases from aeroplanes cause a further 1,800 deaths annually, compared to 1,850 deaths due to road accidents. In total, about 19,000 deaths per year in the UK are caused by air pollution of all sorts - of which 7,000 are due to pollutants blown in from the continent. The findings challenge the traditional view that industrial plants are the main source of pollution, because traffic pollution occurs much nearer to people's homes than industrial emissions. One of the authors, Steven Barrett hopes soon to conclude a detailed assessment of the health impacts of either a 3rd runway at Heathrow or a Thames Estuary Airport.
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A third hunger striker has joined the two local farmers opposing Nantes airport
At Nantes, the two local farmers have completed 7 days of hunger strikes, and say they are in good health. They have been joined by a local left wing politician, so there are now three of them. There is a lot of local support for these farmers who are putting their health at risk to save their land and their employment. They say the maga airport project is a devourer of agricultural land and public money, for the most great advantage of VINCI (the company building the airport) shareholders. This project goes against the current social issues and current ecological good of the area.
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Stop Stansted Expansion calls on the CAA to tackle the environmental impacts of aviation
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has called on the CAA, to do much more to tackle the adverse environmental impacts of the industry, particularly for communities near to airports. In its response to an environmental consultation by the Civil Aviation Authority, Stop Stansted Expansion makes clear that fine words will not be enough without measurable targets and timescales to ensure progress towards meaningful goals. Top of SSE’s list for action is reduced aircraft noise during take offs and landing, as well as addressing night noise from both aircraft and airport operations and helicopters. SSE wants the CAA to be far more active on environmental issues and is also pressing for it to become an independent environmental watchdog for the aviation industry.
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Jeff Gazzard: Let’s do the maths on third Heathrow runway CO2 emissions
Jeff Gazzard, in a letter in the Guardian, rejects the comment by Richard Deakin (head of NATS) last week that - and this is a literal quote - "the single biggest thing we could do to reduce CO2 in the UK is to build a third runway at Heathrow". Barely a credible statement. Jeff shows that the CO2 produced by aircraft stacking over London is perhaps 219,000 tonnes CO2 per year, compared to around 19 million tonnes per year from planes using Heathrow. So the stacking is about 1.16% of the total. And a 3rd runway would perhaps generate another 7 million tonnes per year. If so, the amount of CO2 wasted now in stacking would be about 3 - 4% of that produced by runway 3.
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Virgin Atlantic to appeal against BMI sale to BA
Virgin is to appeal against the European Commission's decision to allow the owner of British Airways, IAG, to buy the airline BMI. IAG, which also owns Iberia, has been given the go-ahead to buy its smaller rival from Lufthansa for £172.5m, and the deal is expected to take effect on 20 April. But Virgin said that the Commission "seemingly ignored all of the strong cases" made against the deal. Branson criticised the Commission for reaching its conclusion in 35 working days, and the way only 12 out of the 56 daily pairs (56 is 8.5% of the total) of Heathrow slots Bmi owned will be released to other airlines. Also that the deal puts BA in a position of market dominance at one of the world’s busiest airports. Virgin will bid for all the 12 slots that BA has been forced to give up.
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Airport retail: rise and rise of the shopping centre, with an airport attached
A huge, and growing, proportion of the money made by airports is from retail. It seems that the industry expects significant increases in this spending over the coming years, and airports do all they can to get passengers to spend as much time as possible in retail, put retail outlets in arrivals, etc etc and devise means for them to buy goods for collection on their return, to avoid baggage problems. The industry expects most growth in the Far East, where women tend to spend a lot of designer brands. The airport retail industry finds passengers buy less when they are stressed by airport security waits and queues, and they buy more when calm and happy. Airports need a ticket as proof of identity, so they can monitor the types of travellers, and the routes, which generate the most cash. Seems the Chinese, the Russians and the Nigerians tend to spend the most. At Heathrow, the average passenger spends £4.35. But for fashion, the average BRIC passenger spends £45.50. No wonder BAA wants more.
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Ryanair cuts 8 routes from Edinburgh airport and 4 from Liverpool
Ryanair is cutting some of its operations at Edinburgh Airport. It will close 8 routes and 60 weekly flights from October 2012. Winter routes affected include Bratislava, Bremen, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Gothenburg, Kaunas, Lodz and Poznan. In February, Ryanair cut five routes from its summer schedule, after a breakdown in talks with BAA over airport charges - which it wants lowered. Ryanair claimed the latest cuts would see Edinburgh Airport traffic fall by 500,000 passengers a year and lead to the loss of up to 500 "on-site" jobs. Ryanair says APD is causing it to cut flights from Liverpool to Milan, Rome and Rimini, all in Italy, throughout summer, and Almeria - and cut the frequency of others. Strange that a £13 tax has that effect, when Ryanair happily adds so many other charges, such as €20 per kilo of extra luggage, and €60 for not checking in online.
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Threat to a village called Wilton from proposed 2nd Sydney airport
There have been demands for many years for another airport for Sydney (Australia) as it is claimed that the current airport is nearly full, and that demand for flying is increasing fast, and will continue to do so. It is even predicted that it will quadruple by 2050. One possible site is called Badgerys Creek, not far from Sydney, though there are many problems with the site. Another potential site is Wilton, a village 80 kilometres south-west of Sydney. This is proving to be very controversial, and there is strong opposition building from local residents against having their homes destroyed, and their lives ruined, by having a massive new airport on their doorstep. Usual pressure by the aviation industry to press for more capacity, with the usual threats of economic doom etc if it is not built. Sounds familiar? They should twin Wilton with Sipson.
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Proposed Thames Hub airport in ‘very worst spot’ say air traffic controllers, NATS
Thames estuary would be in the "very worst spot" for the south-east's crowded airspace, according to the boss of Britain's air traffic control service, Nats. Richard Deakin, chief executive of Nats, said the architects of the Thames Hub airport had not contacted them beforehand to discuss its feasibility. Norman Foster and partners unveiled the blueprints of the £50bn project last November. Deakin said the proposed site for the new airport, on the Isle of Grain, was directly under the convergence of major arrival and departure flight paths for four of London's five airports. He added: "We're a little surprised that none of the architects thought it worthwhile to have a little chat" with the air traffic controllers. The proximity of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport would also affect traffic patterns and force aircraft into more circuitous flight paths.
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Inspector dismissed Dunsfold Aerodrome appeal for Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use
People living near Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey were pleased to learn that, on 5th April, the Inspector ruled against the aerodrome. Dunsfold had appealed against a refusal by Waverley Borough Council to allow the the appeal by the aerodrome for a "Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use" (CLEUD). That would have meant there could be completely unrestricted use of the aerodrome, with no limits on number of flights, time of flights, amount of noise, amount of traffic generated, or anything else. Dunsfold based their case on what had been permitted on 1st July 1948 (the day the first Town and Country Planning Act became law). Though the Inspector has ruled against the appeal, in 2018 the current situation changes, and the aerodrome hopes to do more aircraft maintenance etc.
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Indian environment minister says EU ETS is ‘deal-breaker for climate talks’
India has formally forbidden its airlines from participating in the EU ETS, having earlier said it would boycott the scheme. The Indian environment minister says the ETS is a "deal-breaker" for global climate change talks, and she it saying the ETS is trying to disguise unilateral trade measures under climate change. A European Commission spokesman said "I don't see why this should be a deal-breaker if both share the same objective, which is reducing global emissions." The EU continues patiently to repeat that it has been driven to make all airlines pay for their emissions after more than a decade of talks at the United Nations' ICAO failed to find a global solution to rising emissions of greenhouse gases from aviation. However, ICAO has now been bounced into more action, though many environmental groups still question whether it can deliver a viable plan.
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Qantas trials used cooking oil from SkyNRG (Netherlands) in biofuels flight
Qantas will use recycled American cooking oil to help power a biofuel trial flight tomorrow (13th April). The aircraft will use a mix of biofuel and conventional jet fuel for the Sydney-Adelaide return service. Produced by Dutch firm SkyNRG, the fuel has been used by several other airlines. Qantas claims its "life cycle" carbon footprint is around 60% smaller than that of conventional jet fuel. It is part of a long-term plan to reduce a fuel bill that totalled A$3.6 billion last year. Last year they were enthusiastic about algal biofuel, but there is no mention of that now.
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British Airways to axe 1,200 jobs in bmi takeover
BA says it has began consultation with trade unions on the integration of the loss-making airline, bmi. IAG was given regulatory clearance to buy bmi from the European Commission 2 weeks ago. Bmi is losing more than £3m a week, is not a viable business, and, without the acquisition, was facing closure with the potential loss of all 2,700 UK based jobs. The consultation proposes the full integration of bmi mainline into BA securing approximately 1,500 jobs. The integration proposals could result in up to 1,200 redundancies. Jobs secured under the proposals include the transfer to BA of around 1,100 cabin crew, pilots and engineers based at Heathrow and up to 400 passenger services jobs at Heathrow Terminal 1. The UK redundancies will mainly be at Castle Donington and at regional airports.
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IAG keeps 42 pairs of slots at Heathrow out of the 56 acquired from bmi
ABA's parent company, IAG, has to give up 14 pairs of daily take-off and landing slots at Heathrow, in order for its take-over of bmi to be approved. BA gains 56 pairs of slots per day, so without the 14, is gaining 42 pairs, which will be used to expand BA's operations at Heathrow with new destinations and more schedules. Seven of the relinquished Heathrow slots must be sold to operators providing flights to Edinburgh and Aberdeen. IAG must also provide competitors with access to seats on its UK and European services, allowing airlines such as Virgin to book journeys for passengers who wish to transfer on to its long-haul flights. Completion of the sale of bmi by Lufthansa is anticipated to take place around 20 April. Walsh said IAG would operate bmi's published schedule in the short-term but soon expand IAG's long-haul network, announcing new destinations in Asia.
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Two local farmers from Nantes and local politician on hunger strike against the planned airport
The campaigners against the proposed new NantesAirport just outside the city at Notre-Dames-des-Landes have entered Nantes with sheep and tractors and “plan to stay a while” ! They are supporting two peasant farmers who have gone on hunger strike because they have had papers served for the compulsory purchase their land to make way for the airport. What is particularly dreadful about this is the fact that the authorities who want to build the airport are still facing legal challenges from the campaigners. If these legal challenges are successful, the airport make be stopped but peasant farmers will have lost their land and their livelihood.
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KLM promises MilieuDefensie (Netherlands) not to buy jatropha from Waterland International
Lufthansa and KLM have flown trial flights, with KLM using - as far as we can make out -used cooking oil fuel, and Lufthansa using fuel made of 80%camelina and 15% jatropha. MilieuDefensie (Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands) has been able to get a written undertaking from KLM not to do future business with a company called Waterland, which produces jatropha. The KLM undertaking does not rule out other jatropha or other unsustainable biofuels in future, however. MilieuDefensie is asking people to write to Lufthansa, to get them to also stop using jatropha fuel. In September 2011, Jatenergy Limited announced it had sold 200 tonnes of crude jatropha oil at US $1,000 per tonne from its joint venture operations with Waterland. The oil had been refined into biojet fuel for Lufthansa by Neste Oil.
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Barker backs tougher EU emissions targets ahead of Denmark talks
The EU currently has a target of cutting its CO2 emissions by 20% of the 1990 level by 2020. The UK is pushing for this to be increased to 25% or 30% by 2020. The Climate Change minister, Greg Barker, says moving from the 20% to the 30% target would boost investment in low-carbon industries and strengthen the price of carbon, which has tumbled more than 60% in a year - and that the tougher targets would also help UK and European companies access a clean tech market estimated to be worth "trillions of dollars" by 2015. But he echoed George Osborne in his insistence that the UK would not act unilaterally if other EU states refused to sign up to more ambitious targets. The UK thinks it will exceed the 20% target. This does not include the embodied energy in imports. There are EU talks in Denmark next week. Poland is holding out against tighter targets.
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Manston’s night flight proposals are opposed by 73% (by 89% of those under flight path)
The majority of people living near Manston Airport are against plans to operate more night flights, research by Thanet District Council has suggested. They say 73% of 2,000 residents questioned were against the proposal of the owners, Infratil. People cited potential noise levels and disturbance to sleep as their primary reasons for objecting. The airport is desperate to get some night flights for freight, to try and make a bit of money, and say they have to be given some "flexibility". The Thanet District Council report goes to Cabinet on Thursday 10th May and will then be considered at an Extraordinary meeting of Full Council on Thursday 24th May. Canterbury City councillors have concluded that flights between 23:00 and 07:00 were ‘not justified’ given strong opposition from Herne Bay residents, and they will submit a formal objection.
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HS2 revises down economic benefits of £33bn railway
Originally the High Speed 2 line, from London to Birmingham was stated to provide an economic benefit of £2.40 for every £1 invested. This figure has been reduced now for the 4th time, and is down to £1.20 per £1 invested. The DfT insists it will deliver benefits of £4 for every £1 spent, compared to a conventional rail line. The full route, going north to Leeds and Manchester, now has an estimated benefit-cost ratio of between £1.50 to £1.90 for every £1 spent. The DfT is saying more affluent people in more rural areas are opposing the scheme, while those in the northern cities are in favour of it. The 51m group and the HS2 Action Alliance have launched judicial reviews of the decision to proceed, and expect their cases to be heard in the autumn.
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British Airways plans to cut almost 600 jobs at Gatwick Airport
Almost 600 BA employees at Gatwick could lose their jobs or be transferred to another company as part of BA plans to cut costs. It plans to cut 170 customer service and management support jobs and outsource 400 ramp worker roles. The jobs it plans to outsource include baggage, de-icing and coaching operations, and the arrivals baggage service. BA has begun consultation with unions over the plans. The GMB said the announcement was a "disaster for staff morale". Unite said the plans were "extremely worrying" and called for the airline to guarantee no compulsory redundancies. BA is the only airline operating out of Gatwick with its own ground staff workforce. BA overall employed 7.7% fewer staff in 2010 than in 2009.
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Emirates wants to be allowed to fly A380s over London at night except 1 – 4am
Emirates wants to be allowed to land its A380s at Heathrow, at night, except 1 - 4am. The number of night flights - which are deeply hated by tens or hundreds of thousands of London residents, whose sleep is disturbed by the noise - is around 16 per night, between 23:30 and 06:00, and those flights are mainly between 04:15 and 06:00. Emirates claims is A380s are quieter than most 747s on take off and landing, but the difference is small. To someone sleeping below the flight path, it is still a noisy plane going overhead, even if it is a fraction less noisy. Emirates wants to land at an angle of 5.5 degrees, rather than the usual glideslope of 3 degrees, so making less noise further from the runway. There is due to be a night flights consultation starting later this year - hence the Emirates hopes.
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