Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Parliamentary News
Government News
Media News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
27 June 2014
24 October 2014
13 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
28 Apr 2014 – Members of the Charlwood History Group have said they are ‘appalled’ at the possibility that buildings in Charlwood would be demolished to make way for a second runway at Gatwick Airport. Members of the Group have criticised proposals from Gatwick Airport Limited, which are currently going through public consultation. The group, which is part of the Charlwood Society, stated that according to the airport, 18 listed buildings would need to be demolished. It said the total includes five buildings listed by English Heritage as Grade 2 star.
29 Apr 2014 – Thomson and First Choice will be increasing capacity at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield by 10,000 departing seats through the introduction of two new routes during summer 2015. Thomson and First Choice have also announced that in summer 2015 they will be once again offering flights from Humberside Airport, with the launch of a new route to Majorca. The move to introduce this new route is part of the operator’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport. Overall Thomson and First Choice are increasing flights from regional airports with 29 new routes announced for summer 2015.
29 Apr 2014 – The Head of Marketing at Birmingham Airport, Neil Rami, has said that the airport’s new runway extension will act as a catalyst to inward investment in the region. He has also said that the endorsement of the Prime Minister for the expansion of facilities at the airport was also a ‘major boost’ in the area’s profile.
29 Apr 2014 – Thanet Council Conservatives have criticised Labour and independent councillors for opposing a relaxation of night flight regulations. Conservative Group Leader Cllr Bob Bayford said, ‘we are not in favour of a ‘free for all’ at Manston throughout the night – that would clearly be unacceptable. However, Labour’s iron fist policy will kill Manston and its potential to offer real jobs to people in Thanet’. 29 Apr 2014 – North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale has given a speech to the House of Commons requesting an urgent Government review to be set up into whether passenger space at the major London airports, could be freed up by using Manston for cargo traffic. 4 May 2014 – MP for North Thanet, Sir Roger Gale has announced that a formal offer has been made to buy Manston Airport and keep it as a working airport.
1 May 2014 – Expansion plans of Luton Airport that would increase capacity to 18m passengers a year have been given Government support. Luton Council supported the plans in December but Communities Secretary Eric Pickles had been asked to review the decision. Campaigners against the expansion have said it will bring an unacceptable increase in noise and air pollution. Airport managing director Glyn Jones said the Government’s support after a ‘thorough process’ was ‘a real vote of confidence in the airport and its future’.
1 May 2014 – London Luton Airport Operations Ltd and its new owners, Ardian and Aena, have announced that the Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed that Luton Borough Council may proceed to grant consent for its planning application. Construction will take place over three phases and will seek to expand and remodel the terminal building to accommodate and equip an increased number of security passenger screening lanes, immigration passenger screening lanes, international and domestic passenger reclaim belts and increased retail, catering, circulation and seating areas. The development will also incorporate a new two-storey pier, a new parallel taxiway and a new multi-storey car park. Development will also mean ‘dualing’ the road from the Holiday Inn Roundabout to a newly configured road system in front of the Central Terminal Area.
1 May 2014 – Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is continuing to see an increase in passenger numbers. More than 695,000 people used the Yorkshire airport during the 12 months up to the end of March 2014 – an increase of 2.4 per cent from the previous year. The figures coincide with Doncaster Sheffield Airport announcing new routes to Belfast, Isle of Man, Riga and Bucharest for summer 2014, along with routes to Antalya and Zante recently announced for summer 2015.
2 May 2014 – Visiting Leeds Bradford Airport Aviation Minister Robert Goodwill has that a new rail link to the airport is ‘obviously desirable’. Mr Goodwill was at the airport yesterday for a tour of the facility, as part of a day of discussions with council and business leaders.
2 May 2014 – A new purposed-built hangar at Durham Tees Valley Airport has been built to house the National Police Air Service’s (NPAS) Eurocopter. The airport has been a base for police air support operations across the area for almost 20 years and the new hangar, built by Darlington-based steel specialists Prospan, has been provided under a five-year agreement between the airport and the NPAS.
2 May 2014 – The airline operator Jet2 is targeting increased growth at Manchester Airport with new routes from the site.
3 May 2014 – Gatwick Airport’s ongoing public consultation process continued in East Sussex. New jobs, air pollution and infrastructure were among the top issues debated at meetings held in Reigate, Horley and Charlwood. Responses at the event were said to be mixed.
4 May 2014 – The Chief Executive of Hever Castle near Edenbridge in Kent, Mr Duncan Leslie, has expressed fears that increasing capacity could have a detrimental effect on visitors at the site. Mr Leslie said that ‘if they increased aeroplanes I would be surprised if this business survived long term’.
Industry News
29 Apr 2014 – Norwegian Air may not be able to build an international long-haul airline in the European Union if it fails to gain support from the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT). Norwegian Air launched flights to the United States and Bangkok from Norway last year, and in February gained a temporary operating licence, enabling it to base the business in the European Union, where it can operate under more favourable conditions and take advantage of the Open Skies trade agreement with the US. The airline is currently awaiting a decision from DOT for a permanent licence. However the application for a permanent licence has been contested by some parts of the aviation industry.
29 Apr 2014 – A new report by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) suggests that the air transport industry currently supports 58.1 million jobs and $2.4 trillion in global gross domestic product. The report, ‘Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders’ looks at the economic and social benefits of the commercial aviation industry around the world and examines the sector’s environmental progress.
30 Apr 2014 – A new all business class airline plans to fly between London to New York in 2016. Odyssey has won the backing of veteran private equity pioneer Jon Moulton, one of the investors that helped it towards a first round of funding of more than £5 million, raised through online crowdsourcing
1 May 2014 – Airports and sea ports have experienced long delays following a computer problem. The fault on UK Border Force computers, which began on Wednesday, disrupted airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Birmingham with ports such as Dover and Southampton also affected.
2 May 2014 – NATS and Gatwick Airport have published an analysis of the London Airspace Consultation. Full details, including a consultation report are available here.
European News
1 May 2014 – Long-term exposure to particulate matter pollution is strongly linked with heart attacks and angina, a new European study of over 100 000 people has shown. The results indicate that this association exists at levels below current European limits, and that the burden of disease due to particulate matter may have been largely underestimated.
The data were collected from 100 000 people across five European countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden), following each person for an average of 11.5 years. The study accounted and adjusted for a number of known risk factors for acute coronary events, such as smoking, existing illness and socioeconomic factors. Estimates of air pollution concentrations at participants’ home addresses were calculated using mathematical models based on measurements taken over the course of a year.
The model results indicated that individuals were exposed to average annual concentrations of PM2.5 ranging from 7.3 μg/m3 in Sweden to 31.0 μg/m3 in Italy. The risk of coronary events was raised by 13 per cent for each 5 μg/m3 increase in annual PM2.5 concentration. During the study period, a total of 5 157 participants (around 5 per cent) experienced acute coronary events.
Parliamentary News
1 May 2014 – Early Day Motion (EDM) 1311 – Glasgow Airport, First Scottish Airports to Welcome the A380. Early Day Motion (EDM) 1311 was tabled on 1 May 2014 by Jim Sheridan (Renfrewshire North (Labour): That this House welcomes Glasgow Airport on becoming the first Scottish airport to welcome the A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft; notes that Emirates operated the one-off A380 flight to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its Glasgow to Dubai service which has carried over 2.4 million passengers since its launch on 10 April 2004; recognises this was a significant milestone in Scottish aviation history; believes the A380 service was yet another example of Emirates’ commitment to Scotland following the introduction of a second daily flight in 2012; and welcomes the important contribution of Glasgow Airport to the economic success of Renfrewshire and Scotland. This EDM has been signed by 1 MP.
Government News
30 Apr 2014 – A letter from Sir Howard Davies to Louise Ellman, MP (Chair of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee) has been published in response to issues raised following Sir Howard’s questioning in front of the Committee on Phase one of the Commission’s work. The letter can be found here. In the letter Sir Howard outlines the Commissions approach to the Thames Estuary proposal, which Sir Howard said would necessitate closures to Heathrow, Southend and London City Airports; the objectives of the Commission’s first phase demand forecasting; the current policy and legal context (and the Commission’s consideration of this issue) of air service access at regional airports; and the estimated infrastructure costs generated by the Commission in the first phase of its work.
1 May 2014 – The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published new interactive maps of Air Quality Management Areas. These can be interrogated by Local Authority area.
Media News
28 Apr 2014 – Andy Shand, General Manager of Customer Affairs for NATS about a new time based separation Air Traffic Movement system which is being piloted at Heathrow Airport. The system is designed to reduce delays caused my factors such as strong head winds.
28 Apr 2014 – The Centre for Aviation presents a detailed discussion of regional air connectivity.
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 28 Apr – 5 May
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 28 Apr – 5 May
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc
The House of Commons will be in Easter recess from Friday 11 April until Monday 28 April 2014 and thereafter from Friday 2 May until Tuesday 6 May 2014.
The House of Lords is in Easter recess from Thursday 10 April until Tuesday 6 May 2014