Contents

SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates

Regional News

Industry News

Parliamentary News

Government News

House of Commons Questions

Media News

 

SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates

6 March 2014

27 June 2014

24 October 2014

13 March 2015

Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.

 

Regional News

30 Nov 2013 – Residents living in Kent and Sussex are being encouraged to give their opinions about how their airspace is used in the London Airspace Consultation. NATS, the UK’s majority air traffic service provider, and Gatwick are halfway through a joint consultation on the proposed airspace change. The consultation runs until January 21, 2014.

2 Dec 2013 – Cornwall’s air link to London, which was due to be stopped in March 2014, will now continue until the Autumn. Flybe has announced it will keep the Newquay-London route going until October 2014. It is anticipated this will give Cornwall Council time to arrange a public subsidy which could guarantee the route longer-term. Flybe has secured new slots, allowing its 78-seat planes to continue to fly from Newquay twice daily.

2 Dec 2013 – Newcastle International Airport has been left with a legal bill after its prolonged negligence claim against law firm Eversheds ended in the Court of Appeal last week. The court ruled that the law firm had breached its duty of care by not issuing memos properly explaining the impact of an £8.5m bonus deal for two airport executives. But the airport was awarded just £2 in nominal damages after the court decided the failure would not have caused the airport to incur substantial losses.

2 Dec 2013 – The new owner of Manston Airport Ann Gloag talks about her plans for the Kent based airport.

3 Dec 2013 – The first phase of £80m airport terminal investment at Stansted Airport is nearing completion.

3 Dec 2013 – Birmingham Airport has announced a new partnership with a Chinese travel specialist, in a bid to attract more Chinese visitors to the region. The partnership with Caissa forms part of the wider ‘China Welcome Campaign’ being launched by VisitBritain, the national tourism body, which is aiming to make the UK the most welcoming destination in the world for Chinese visitors.

4 Dec 2013 – London Gatwick has welcomed the government’s announcement to contribute £50 million for the development of Gatwick’s railway station – the Gatwick Gateway. The funding is part of the National Infrastructure Plan. The government’s funding commitment follows a letter from the Independent Chair of the Airports Commission, Sir Howard Davies, to the Chancellor George Osborne.

6 Dec 2013 – Shoreham Airport was flooded after the Sussex coast was badly hit by a tidal surge that also flooded roads and railway lines.

 

Industry News

5 Dec 2013 – The company ‘Yellow Buses’ have launched their services from Bournemouth Aviation Business Park and Hurn, with Bournemouth town centre and main hubs in the Yellow Buses network. The service now runs hourly, seven days a week.

7 Dec 2013 – Technical faults at NATS have led to cancelled flights and delays at UK airports. NATS said its Swanwick centre, in Hampshire, had ‘difficulty switching from night time to daytime operation’.

 

Parliamentary News

3 Dec 2013 – Written Ministerial Statement by Stephen Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, who will be attending the final Transport Council under the Lithuanian Presidency (the Presidency) taking place in Brussels on Thursday 5 December.

The Council will be asked to reach a general approach on a Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (Clean power). The UK recognises that alternative fuels infrastructure is an area that can benefit from regulatory support, but is not convinced that setting rigid, mandatory targets for the deployment of technology specific infrastructure is an effective way of building consumer confidence in new technology. So we welcome the approach taken to replace the targets proposed with a more comprehensive and detailed approach to the National Policy Frameworks. This will allow us to provide transparency and predictability to the market, and mitigate the risk of technology specific infrastructure being outpaced by future innovations, advancements and ultimately becoming redundant.

We support the proposals to adopt common technical standards for refuelling across the EU, but are clear that this must not create additional barriers or disadvantage early movers, who must be able to retain confidence that infrastructure installed across the EU today and in the future is available and compatible for them to use.

There will be a progress report on a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights and Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 on air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. The UK will continue to look to ensure that additional burdens and costs on UK Industry are minimised (whilst retaining an appropriate level of protection for passengers).

The draft Decision of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the EU Member States, meeting within the Council, authorising the Commission to open negotiations with the Federal Republic of Brazil on a comprehensive agreement on air transport services will be adopted. The UK supports the revision of the European Commission’s mandate which should enable resumption of negotiations of a Comprehensive Air Services Agreement with Brazil.

Under Any Other Business, the Commission will provide information on the Aviation Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), on passenger ship safety, on the impact of state aid rules on large scale infrastructure projects in Europe, on progress on Galileo and EGNOS programme and on the Blue Belt project.

 

Government News

2 Dec 2013 – A legal bid to halt the expansion of Stansted Airport has failed at the High Court. The campaign group ‘Stop Stansted Expansion’ (SSE) argued criteria which had been used to decide options for runway sites was ‘infected by apparent bias’ and asked for a delay to the Airports Commission process. It claimed Geoff Muirhead, a recently resigned member of the Commission, had a conflict of interest. The judicial review was contested by the Commission and the Department for Transport (DfT). The judge ruled both Mr Muirhead and the Commission might have acted in a way that was not ‘the most wise’ and their conduct could have been regarded by a fair-minded observer as ‘less than ideal’. But the apparent bias accusation was not supported by the evidence, Mrs Justice Patterson said. A spokesperson for the Airports Commission welcomed the decision.

4 Dec 2013 – The Government has published its infrastructure spending plan for the next two decades. The National Infrastructure Plan includes the Government selling off its 40 per cent stake in the Eurostar rail service. About £375b of investment in energy, transport, communications, and water projects is planned, although no new money will be forthcoming. The insurance industry also plans to spend £25b over the next five years.

4 Dec 2013 – The Government has accepted a series of recommendations made by the chair of the Airports Commission, Sir Howard Davies to support a package of ground transport measures designed to improve access to major UK airports. These improvements, which include redeveloping the rail station at Gatwick and setting up a study to examine southern rail access to Heathrow, have been incorporated in the Government’s £375b National Infrastructure Plan 2013. The Government said it was ‘committed to taking this package forward’ as part of the plan. Ground transport measures featured in the plan include:

  • Committing £50 million towards a full redevelopment of the railway station at Gatwick
  • Setting up a new study into southern rail access to Heathrow
  • Accelerating a Network Rail study into the Brighton mainline
  • Extending the scope of the East Anglian mainline study to include access to Stansted
  • Including the Gatwick to London route on a planned trial of smart ticketing
  • Including access to Gatwick in the Highways Agency study on local motorways

 

4 Dec 2013 – In the National Infrastructure Plan published on the 4 December 2013, the Government has set out its intention to act on the Airports Commission’s surface access recommendations. Chair of the Commission, Sir Howard Davies welcomed this move saying, ‘I am pleased that the Government has acted on our recommendations to enhance surface access to some of our major airports. Improving the quality of surface transport links can play an important part in optimising how we use our existing infrastructure in the short and medium term. We will present further recommendations for making the best use of existing capacity in our interim report, which we will deliver later this month’. The Commission recognised that the 2013 National Infrastructure Plan and Autumn Statement presented the opportunity for early progress on this issue.

4 Dec 2013 – The Department for Transport has published a consultation on a Draft National Policy Statement for the National Road and Rail Networks. The consultation period will run until 26 February 2014. The consultation questions are:

1. Does the draft NN NPS clearly establish the need for development of the national networks? If not why not?

2. Does the draft NN NPS adequately explain the Government’s policy for addressing the need set out in the NN NPS? If not why not?

3. Do the Assessment Principles provide adequate guidance to the Secretary of State on how he should assess applications for developments of the national networks? If not why not?

4. Does the draft NN NPS give appropriate guidance to scheme promoters? If not why not?

5. Does the draft NN NPS consider all of the significant potential impacts of national network development? If not, what other impacts should be included and why?

6. Does the draft NN NPS give appropriate guidance on appropriate mitigation measures? If not why not?

7. Do you have any comments on the Appraisal of Sustainability of the NN NPS?

8. Do you have any comments on the Appropriate Assessment on the draft NN NPS?

9. Please provide any further comments regarding any aspect of this consultation.

 

House of Commons Questions

 

Fitzpatrick, Shadow Aviation, Shipping and London Issues Minister (Labour Party; Poplar and Limehouse) – Solutions to Air Pollution in Greater London

5 Dec 2013

Jim Fitzpatrick, Shadow Aviation, Shipping and London Issues Minister (Labour, Poplar and Limehouse): To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what solutions to London’s air quality problems were discussed or agreed at his Department’s meeting with the Mayor of London on 1 May 2013,; and what agreement was reached about which body will meet the cost of EU fines for infractions of the Air Quality Directive in London.

Dan Rogerson, Environment Minister (Liberal Democrat, North Cornwall): At their meeting on 1 May, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was updated on the Mayor’s measures to improve air quality in London. DEFRA officials have also had regular discussions with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London on measures to reduce transport pollution in London.

With respect to EU infraction fines, the Government published (in July 2012) a policy statement on part 2 of the Localism Act 2011 concerning the handling of EU infractions and localism. This sets out arrangements for apportioning of fines, should this be necessary. The UK is not subject to infraction fines in relation to air quality and therefore it has not been necessary to come to agreements regarding this.

 

de Bois – Effects of abolishing Air Passenger Duty and representations to that effect

5 Dec 2013

Nick de Bois, (Conservative, Enfield North): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the potential effects of abolishing air passenger duty bands D and C and moving all countries in those bands into air passenger duty band B; (2) what representations he has received in favour of abolishing air passenger duty bands D and C and moving all countries in those bands into air passenger duty band B. 

Nicky Morgan, Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Conservative, Loughborough): Estimates of the level of air passenger duty rates required to deliver a broadly revenue neutral move to a two band system were published in the 2011 consultation document available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130129110402/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_airpassenger.htm  Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery. The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury/series/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

 

Media News

2 Dec 2013 – Former Transport minister and current Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has stated that she is ‘open’ to devolving short-haul Air Passenger Duty to Northern Ireland. Ms Villiers made her comments in response to a question fielded in the House of Commons on 28 November by Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist, Strangford) in which he asked the Secretary of State what steps she was taking to review air passenger duty in order to maintain competition for both investors and visitors to Northern Ireland.

4 Dec 2013 – The Monarch Airlines Group has announces that it strongly supports proposals for a second runway at Gatwick Airport.

4 Dec 2013 – Stansted Airport have welcomed the announcement in the Government’s National Infrastructure Plan, to invest in improved rail connections between the airport and London.

5 Dec 2013 – The Association of British Travel agents has published research which argues that Members of the UK parliament (MP) are concerned about the impact of Air Passenger Duty. The report states that half of those surveyed (52 per cent) responded that they believe the tax is putting UK businesses at a disadvantage. The same proportion also believes the tax is damaging the position of the UK as a hub for global air travel. Conservative MPs are most likely to believe the tax to be putting UK businesses at a disadvantage, with six in ten (60%) believing this. In the same survey last year 56% of Conservative MPs said this, showing that there is an increasing proportion of the party who are questioning the benefits of the tax.

5 Dec 2013 – BBC Two has announced a new observational documentary series about British Airways. The three-part series will feature unprecedented access to British Airways, exploring every aspect of the institution behind the scenes.

 

PDF Icon  SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 30 Nov – 7 Dec

PDF Icon  SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 30 Nov – 7 Dec

 The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc.