Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Government News
House of Commons Questions
Media News
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
24 October 2013
7 March 2014
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
1 September 2013 – Crawley Borough Council will be holding a special meeting of the full council on September 26 to discuss views on a second runway at Gatwick. The council is asking residents to put forward their views before a decision is made on whether the authority will support the proposal.
2 September 2013 – Bristol Airport has launched a marketing campaign across Devon and Cornwall highlighting the routes available to passengers across the South West. Bristol Airport’s analysis of CAA data estimates that its market share has risen to around a third since 2008, when it accounted for around one fifth of the market for air travel in Devon and Cornwall.
5 September 2013 – The Yellow Buses Company have been awarded a contract by the owners of Bournemouth Airport to run a shuttle service to and from the airport. The hourly service, running from 7am-7pm, links Bournemouth Airport and the Business Park with Bournemouth town centre.
6 September 2013 – An all-party alliance of local authorities concerned about the environmental impact of Heathrow operations on their communities have called on the Airports Commission to order a new study of attitudes to aircraft noise. The 2M Group (Hounslow, Hillingdon, Richmond, Wandsworth, Windsor and Maidenhead, Southwark, Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham, Merton and South Bucks Councils) have said that without an updated study the Commission will be limited to basing recommendations on sites for new airport capacity on surveys carried out more than 30 years ago.
Industry News
2 September 2013 – London City Airport traffic volumes are up to levels last seen in 2008, just before the global and economic crisis, suggesting growing confidence in the UK economy.
3 September 2013 – Ground transportation vehicles at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport will start being powered by diesel made from waste products.
5 September 2013 – A new report entitled ‘The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013, Reducing Barriers to Economic Growth and Job Growth’ has been published by the World Economic Forum. The report assesses 140 economies worldwide based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector. The 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) reveals that Switzerland, Germany and Austria lead the world in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness, with Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Sweden and Singapore completing the top 10. Access the full rankings and data. The report explores how, on one hand, the travel and tourism industry has the potential to boost economic resilience and job creation but, on the other, a number of factors continue to hinder its development.
6 September 2013 – The introduction of Airbus A380s and Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliners’ is enabling British Airways to expand its long-haul network next year. The airline is introducing the only direct service from Heathrow to Austin in Texas using a 787 from March 2014 with five flights a week rising to a daily frequency on May 2014.
6 September 2013 – The campaign group ‘Stop Stansted Expansion’ are reported to have initiated legal proceedings against the Government over Geoff Muirhead’s membership of the Airports Commission. Mr. Muirhead is the former chief executive of the Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which now owns Stansted. MAG has submitted Stansted expansion plans to the commission. The group believes this will create a conflict of interest.
European News
Government News
3 September 2013 – The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a ‘call for evidence’ to support a policy review of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 1993 in England. The purpose of this Call is to seek views on the current evidence base and assistance with filling in evidence gaps. Defra want to hear from the public, local authorities and businesses affected by the Clean Air Act such as boiler manufacturers, developers and the food industry. They will welcome any comments and ideas for improving the Act and meeting the policy objectives described below.
The Clean Air Acts are now almost sixty years old and have around forty associated Regulations and are being reviewed as part of the Government’s Red Tape Challenge. There are three main objectives of the review:
- Reducing burdens on business and local authorities;
- Making environmental rules and regulations more user friendly; and
- Maintaining the quality of environmental regulations.
Responses are being sought through an online portal available from the following web page: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/atmosphere-local-environment-team/clean-air-act-review. Anyone unable to respond in this way can send responses to Defra by email or post: Bridget Haughan, Area 2C, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR or [email protected]. The consultation runs from 3 Sep 2013 to 29 Oct 2013.
House of Commons Questions
Goldsmith, Forecasts for A350 and Dreamliner aircraft flying into London in the next 10 years
3 September 2013
Zac Goldsmith (Conservative, Richmond Park): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of likely changes in the number of A350s and Dreamliners flying into London airports in the next 10 years.
Simon Burns, Transport Minister: In 2014 the Department’s aviation forecasting model predicts that there will be 12,000 A350s and Dreamliners arriving and departing at London airports. By 2024 it is predicted that this number will have risen to 105,000 departures and arrivals.
MacNeil, Potential effect the Single European Sky initiative
4 September 2013
Angus MacNeil, Transport & Environment, Food and Rural Affairs / Fishing and Tourism Spokesperson (Scottish National Party: Na h-Eileanan An Iar, Western Isles): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effect the Single European Sky initiative and its accompanying targets will have on (a) job numbers in and (b) safe and efficient air traffic services provision by National Air Traffic Services.
Simon Burns: The Single European Sky (SES) initiative aims to modernise the European air traffic network to deliver a seamless, safe, sustainable, cost-effective, high performing and modern European air traffic management system capable of meeting future capacity needs. The Government is a strong supporter of the SES initiative because of the benefits it is delivering to UK business and passengers. How NATS En Route Ltd (NERL), the UK’s regulated en route air traffic control service provider, meets its SES obligations, including targets on safety and cost-efficiency, as well as capacity and environment, is a matter for NERL and the UK’s independent aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (the CAA).
Media News
3 September 2013 – A survey by American Express Global Business Travel has found that British business travellers are cutting down on overnight stays and prefer to take trains on journeys of less than 200 miles. For trips of more than 200 miles, 76 per cent of UK travellers said they preferred to fly with only 16 per cent choosing the train. Overall 72 per cent preferred the train if it was convenient.
3 September 2013 – A British Airways customer, unhappy with their customer service, purchased a ‘promoted tweet’ to complain about the airline.
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc.