Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Parliamentary News
Government News
House of Commons Questions
Media News
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
25 October 2013
7 March 2014
Meetings are held at 11am, Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, with lunch provided afterwards, location map.
Regional News
24 Jun 2013 – Air India will launch direct flights between Birmingham and New Delhi from August 1, with its new Boeing 787-800 ‘Dreamliner’ aircraft. The flights will operate four times a week – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
25 June 2013 – Centrica has signed a £29m contract with CHC Helicopter which will see it operate aircraft from Humberside Airport.
26 June 2013 – Twenty three flights out of 28,546 were found to have breached strict noise regulations in a year at Southend Airport. A new report also shows the number of complaints about noise pollution are going down, while the majority of complaints, more than 80 per cent, were put in by ten residents.
27 June 2013 – A planning application by Crossrail to temporarily change taxi arrangements at London City Airport has been put to Newham Council.
27 June 2013 – Manchester Airport has opened its new £20 million control tower. The 200ft building replaces the existing tower, which has served the airport for about 40 years. The airport has stated that the new tower would offer better visibility of the whole runway.
Industry News
24 June 2013 – The UK’s air navigation service provider NATS and British Airways have started a trial of 60 optimised transatlantic flights over the course of the summer, with each flight planned to save up to half a tonne of fuel, equivalent to 1.6 tonnes of CO2. The flights are part of ‘TOPFLIGHT’, a project led by NATS under the SESAR programme, the technical and operational component of the EU’s Single European Sky initiative, and co-funded by SESAR Joint Undertaking.
25 June 2013 – People 1st’s State of the Nation research report has been launched by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Norman Baker. The report authors surveyed more than 1,400 employers from across the UK to analyse current labour market trends, skills, and education and training needs in passenger transport and travel. A summary report can be found here, and a full report can be found here. An aviation themed summary can be found here. A full report can also be found on the SASIG website here.
25 June 2013 – British Airways will start testing an electronic baggage tag with the aim of improving passenger check-in times and eliminate the need to print out paper versions. The suitcase tag contains information such as the destination airport, and passengers that have checked in can hold their Smartphone over the tag to display flight information. The tag is then scanned where bags are dropped off.
26 June 2013 – Delta Air Lines has bought a 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic as the two airlines announce a codeshare agreement. The proposed investment of $360 million was given clearance from the EU Commission and US Department of Justice last week. The codeshare agreement will see Virgin place its code on 91 Delta routes, including both trans-Atlantic and domestic US routes.
26 June 2013 – Sir Peter Rigby’s Patriot Aerospace Group has bought a 60 per cent stake in Exeter Airport from construction firm Balfour Beatty. Rigby, who runs Birmingham-based IT business Specialist Computer Holdings (SCH) and is chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, already owns Coventry Airport. The value of the purchase was undisclosed. 27 June 2013 – The new owner has said he would like to restart helicopter flights to the Isles of Scilly.
27 Jun 2013 – British Airways (BA) has chosen Toronto and Newark as its first destinations using the787 ‘Dreamliner’ aircraft. BA has now taken delivery of its first 787 from Boeing and the aircraft arrived at Heathrow just after flying from Boeing’s base in Seattle.
27 June 2013 – Leisure travellers within the EU will now be protected by comprehensive passenger rights – whether travelling by air or rail, and now also by ship, bus and coach. But research shows that two-thirds of passengers are not aware of their rights. For this reason, the Commission is launching a new campaign to inform travellers about their passenger rights, and how to claim them if needed.
27 June 2013 – A new report shows that leisure flights contribute £14.1 billion a year to the UK economy and account for 1.1 per cent of GDP. Unveiling the findings at its annual Travel Matters conference in Westminster, the Association of British Travel Agents said the report – prepared on its behalf by Cebr – showed leisure aviation contributed £36.1 billion to the wider economy
European News
25 June 2013 – European Commission consultation on International and EU policies tackling climate change impacts from international aviation emissions through market-based measures
A consultation has been launched by the European Commission seeking input on international and EU policies tackling climate change impacts from international aviation emissions through market-based measures.
The objective of this consultation is to collect experiences, suggestions and opinions related to international and EU policies tackling climate change emissions through market-based measures. The consultation seeks views on:
- policy options currently being developed on the international level at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
- options to reduce the administrative effort for small aircraft operators under the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS).
The consultation document can be found here. The consultation will last 12 weeks and will end on 13 September.
Parliamentary News
24 June 2013 – Early Day Motion (EDM) 296 – Boarding Practice of Airlines
Early Day Motion (EDM) 296 was put down on 24 June 2013 by Adrian Sanders (Torbay) (Liberal Democrat): That this House believes that the refusal by certain airlines to allow passengers to carry on board airport shopping, in addition to a prescribed cabin baggage allowance, departs from the accepted norm, and is both confusing for consumers and anti-competitive, taking away income from airport retailers; is concerned about how this practice negatively impacts consumer choice, restricts growth at regional airports and impacts on a business model that delivers £2 billion revenue per annum; and calls on the Department for Transport to support any measure that will protect consumer rights that have been in place for many years. This EDM has been signed by 1 MP.
26 June 2013 – MPs approve Hybrid Bill Procedure relating to High Speed 2
The proposed budget for High Speed 2 (HS2) would be over £40bn, MPs heard. During the day’s debate on Second reading of the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill, rebel Conservative MPs tabled a wrecking amendment for the Bill, but this was defeated at division. Opening the debate, Transport Secretary Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin (Conservative Party; Derbyshire Dales) said: ‘We need better roads, better airports, better ports, and better rail links too—an ambitious programme for all parts of our country, with HS2 an important part of that’. A full transcript can also be found here.
27 June 2013 – MPs debate An air transport strategy for Northern Ireland
Opening a debate on air transport in Northern Ireland, Conservative Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee Laurence Robertson highlighted the importance of aviation for the territory, stating that it was ‘extremely important’ to retain capacity in south-east England. He stated that many people used these links to journey to Northern Ireland.
The Committee had expressed frustration at the slow progress regarding the future of Heathrow, and concern at what he said was the apparent ruling out of a third runway at the hub prior to the commissioning of the Davies Report.
On tax, Mr Robertson said that Air Passenger Duty (APD) had led to Continental Airlines (now operating under United) considering ending its only direct flight from Belfast to the USA. Mr Robertson stressed the vital importance of APD.
Responding to the debate, Conservative Transport Minister Simon Burns said that the Government was working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive on the issues raised.
Responding for the Opposition, Shadow Aviation, Shipping, Roads and London Issues Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said that Labour supported the Davies Commission and was awaiting its outcome. Labour was committed to reviewing APD due to its impact on tourism, industry and interconnectivity, he declared. Highlighting the issue of noise, he said that mitigation measures must be in place and monitored effectively. A full transcript of the debate can also be found here.
27 June 2013 – Danny Alexander makes statement on infrastructure investment.
Beginning a statement on infrastructure investment, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Liberal Democrats, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) set out a programme of capital spending for the Government. He said that 300bn of capital spending would be guaranteed by the end of the decade, including £100bn for infrastructure spending on housing, roads, railways and broadband. Mr Alexander said £10m would be provided for a regional air connectivity fund. The accompanying policy document, ‘Investing in Britain’s Future’, can be found here.
Government News
25 June 2013 – Department of Transport consultation on a proposed new version of the environmental guidance
The Department of Transport has today published a consultation on a proposed new version of the environmental guidance given by the Secretary of State to the CAA when exercising its air navigation functions.
The proposed new guidance has two key objectives.
- The first is to provide the Civil Aviation Authority with additional clarity on the Government’s environmental objectives relating to air navigation in the UK, including the need to improve the efficiency of our UK airspace network.
- The second is a reaffirmation of the need to consult local communities near airports when airspace changes are being considered in the vicinity of these airports.
The consultation will run for 12 weeks and closes on 17 September 2013. Both the consultation paper and a draft of the guidance can be found here . Details on how to respond are included on the website and in the document’s executive summary.
We are sending this message to relevant organisations for which we have contact details, in particular those within the aviation industry, local authorities and environmental organisations. As our contact list is unlikely to cover all possible interested groups, please disseminate this to your own stakeholders with an interest in this subject. For those who do not have access to the internet, we will be happy to provide hard copies on request. The contact email address for questions is [email protected].
House of Commons Questions
Jarvis – Improvements to surface connections to major airports
24 June 2013
Dan Jarvis, (Labour, Barnsley Central): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to improve surface connections to major airports.
Simon Burns, Transport Minister: In March this year the Department published the Aviation Policy Framework which set out the Department’s approach towards surface access at airports across the UK. A number of major improvements to airport surface access are currently under way including Crossrail services to Heathrow airport and improved rail services to Manchester airport as a result of the Northern Hub programme. The Department will continue to work closely with airport operators, transport operators, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and other stakeholders to indentify further potential improvements to airport surface access. The Government has also asked the Airports Commission to recommend measures to improve the United Kingdoms’ existing airport infrastructure in its interim report. Surface access is within the scope of this work and the interim report will be published by the end of this year.
MacNeil – Comparative competitiveness of the UK’s air passenger duty regime
25 June 2013
Angus MacNeil, Spokesperson for Transport, Scottish National Party: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the comparative competitiveness of the UK’s air passenger duty regime; and what assessment he has made of claims by the British Air Transport Association that the UK’s regime ranks 139th globally on this measure.
Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury : The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review and considers them in the round. The Government has limited the increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) to inflation over the period since 2010-11. Budget 2013 announced that rates for 2014-15 will also increase by inflation only, ensuring that the real burden of APD will therefore remain unchanged for a further year. The Government has undertaken a series of reforms to increase the competitiveness of the UK tax system, including cutting the main rate of corporation tax from 28% to 23%. It will continue to fall, reaching 20% in April 2015, giving the UK the joint lowest rate in the G20. The 2012 KPMG Annual Survey of Tax Competitiveness looked at the tax regimes of six key competitor economies—including Ireland and the US—and found that the UK was the most commonly cited as being in the top three.
Vaz – Procedure for exit checks at Heathrow Airport
25 June 2013
Keith Vaz, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedure is in place for exit checks on passengers departing from Heathrow Terminal 4.
Mark Harper, Immigration Minister: Home Office Immigration Enforcement regularly conducts manual embarkation checks on passengers on an intelligence-led basis, targeting routes which are known to be used by immigration offenders. This ensures that immigration offenders are prevented from returning to the UK for a defined period. Embarkation checks can be conducted at any port, including Terminal 4 at London Heathrow. More generally, the use of advance passenger information supports our ability to undertake effective exit checks as passengers leave the UK.
Media News
25 June 2013 – Gatwick Airport – Gatwick Airport Ltd financial results for the year ended 31 March 2013
25 June 2013 – Gatwick Airport submits revised offer to the CAA on a new deal for the airport between 2014 and 2021.
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc.