Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
Parliamentary News
Media News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
24 October 2014
6 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
18 August 2014 – Hawarden Airport in Flintshire is looking at proposals to introduce a compulsory radio communication zone for all types of aircraft in its airspace, in a bid to improve safety. The move would require all aircraft to make radio communication with Hawarden radar before entering a defined radio mandatory zone. The plans are going to consultation.
18 August 2014 – The building of a new bridge has been announced to replace the existing structure carrying the westbound carriageway of the A45 over the West Coast Main Line. It will create an extra westbound running lane and an improved access slip road to Birmingham International Airport. Work on the bridge will start in January 2015 with completion in August 2016. The full project cost is £12 million and is part-funded by the Government.
18 August 2014 – Plans for a redevelopment of Carlisle Airport have been approved. City councillors have supported resubmitted proposals for a freight terminal and redesigned runway. Owners Stobart Air said it expected work on the £20m project, which also includes car parking and a fire station, would start before the end of 2014.
19 August 2014 – Trams have begun testing the lines between Manchester City centre and Manchester Airport. Several major structures have been built in the area as part of the programme, including a viaduct over the Mersey Valley, two new bridges over the M60 and M56 and the Ringway Road dual carriageway and underpass at Manchester Airport. The service is expected to begin later this year, ahead of schedule.
19 August 2014 – The owners of London City Airport have developed a six-month apprenticeship scheme with Newham Council’s employment service ‘Workplace’. Participants will learn the job of a Ramp Services Agent, a job which involves handling about 250 flights in and out of the airport everyday. Other tasks include ensuring the safety of passengers embarking and disembarking aircraft and involvement in other aspects of the aircraft turnaround process. Classroom based learning will be combined with on the job training and work experience to teach the recruits the aspects of ground aviation operations and airfield safety.
20 August 2014 – The Chair of Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Lord Haskins has written to the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, urging him to restore the direct rail connection between Hull and Manchester Airport. The LEP believes that if a half-hourly service was agreed it would add £5.3m to the Humberside economy, along with relieving road congestion. The Labour peer also urged Mr McLoughlin to keep the direct train service between Manchester and Cleethorpes, which is at risk in a Government consultation.
20 August 2014 – Thanet District Council are asking for expressions of interest from businesses interested in supporting them with the compulsory purchase of Manston Airport. Interested businesses have to complete a questionnaire to identify their interest, capacity and capability in the market by 1 September 2014, in order to be considered as an indemnity partner, should the council decide to apply for a compulsory purchase order. The leader of Thanet Council, Councillor Iris Johnston has said the council is going through ‘very strict procedures’ to discover if the airport could be reopened. She said no compulsory purchase order would be considered unless it had the backing of an investment group to provide the necessary support. The Council’s cabinet is due to consider the options open to it in the Autumn.
21 August 2014 – The Heathrow Noise Airspace Modernisation page has now been updated with a link to information on the Westerly Departures Trial. This westerly departure trial runs from 25 August 2014 – 26 January 2015. This particular trial is testing, The use of performance based navigation, and noise respite.
21 August 2014 – The Conservative Party have chosen Pearl Lewis as their 2015 Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hayes and Harlington. Ms Lewis has previously stated that she is opposed to a third runway at Heathrow Airport, arguing that due to changing communications technology, ‘there is little evidence to provide that airport capacity needs to increase over the next thirty years’. Ms Lewis stated that when she canvassed the area, ‘every person I met on the doorstep was opposed to expansion of the runway, but it is clear that Heathrow Airport are continuing with their ‘expand or die’ campaign to scare residents fearful for local jobs. I utterly condemn this climate of fear being created – local residents deserve better’. The seat has been held by the Labour Party since 1997, and current MP John McDonnell sits with a 25 per cent majority.
22 August 2014 – A poll by consumer group ‘Which?’ has found that customer satisfaction of airport passengers tends to be higher for smaller UK airports compared to larger. The survey of more than 7,000 ‘Which?’ members asked them to rate airports in categories including pick-up and drop-off, seating provision, queues at security, passport control and baggage reclaim. Among the smaller airports, the top two were Southend and Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield (85 per cent) followed by Blackpool and London City (both 80 per cent), and Inverness and Southampton (both 78 per cent). The highest rated airport in the ‘larger’ category was Newcastle at 66 per cent – larger airports were classed as those handling at least four million passengers a year.
22 August 2014 – Residents of Berkshire are being encouraged to attend a series of consultation events being run by Heathrow Airport. A proposed new runway north-west of the airport would affect residents living in and around the Slough and Windsor areas. Slough Borough Council said it was important residents were compensated for an increase in noise and the impact on property values. Three events across Slough and Windsor are currently planned.
- 8 September – Colnbrook Village Hall, Vicarage Way, Slough, 14:00-21:00 BST
- 13 September – Windsor Leisure Centre, Stovell Road, Windsor, 10:00-16:00
- 15 September – St Mary’s Church Hall, St Mary’s Road, Langley, Slough, 14:00-21:00
Slough Council is also making copies of the consultation document available at a number of its public buildings, including all of the town’s libraries. The Heathrow Airport consultation runs until 12 October.
23 August 2014 – Gatwick Airport have applied to Crawley Borough Council for planning permission for work to be carried out to prevent flooding around the airport.
23 August 2014 – The company who had previously bid for Manston Airport, RiverOak, has responded to Airports Commission, Discussion paper 7, which it has sent to all elected members of Thanet Council and Kent County Council, as well as leaders of all other district councils in Kent. The response claims Manston Airport was the sixth busiest airfreight airport in the UK, handling more cargo than Luton, Belfast, Edinburgh and Birmingham airports.
Industry News
15 August 2014 – According to UK air navigation services provider NATS, the environmental and operational efficiency of UK airspace improved during the first half of this year.
18 August 2014 – NATS has signed an agreement with Luton Airport to extend the current contract for provision of tower and engineering services at the airport for a further two years. NATS retained the contract following a competitive tendering process in 2012, and it will now run until November 2017.
19 August 2014 – The airline operator Monarch Airlines, have said that they are ‘currently reviewing their base at Leeds Bradford’. Monarch which currently flies to 13 destinations from the airport, is conducting a ‘strategic review’ of its business, and has already announced that it will stop flying from East Midlands Airport by April 2015. The airline is closing its charter operations to focus on scheduled European flights, stating that it is repositioning itself as a smaller rival to low-cost carriers Ryanair and easyJet.
20 August 2014 – International air passenger numbers increased by 3.7 per cent in the first six months of 2014 compared with 2013, despite growth slowing to 2.4 per cent year on year in June. However, the International Air Transport Association has commented that the slowdown ‘has been developing for months’.
20 August 2014 – The aviation industry has been warned about the possibility of flight disruptions caused by activity at Iceland’s largest volcano system. Seismic tremors have been recorded at Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano. Iceland’s Met Office has raised the risk level to the aviation industry to orange – the fourth level on a five-level scale.
21 August 2014 –The Commercial Director of Durham Tees Valley Airport, Andy Foulds has left the business to pursue new opportunities.
Parliamentary News
22 July 2014 – Early Day Motion (EDM) 287 – Rail link for Leeds Bradford Airport.
Early Day Motion (EDM) 287 was put down on 22 July 2014 by Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (Liberal Democrat): That this House notes that Leeds-Bradford International Airport (LBIA) has been poorly served for years in terms of being connected to other towns and cities in the wider region; further notes that the Leeds City Region, with an economic output of £55 billion in 2013, has the largest city region economy outside London; believes that a rail link will provide global connectivity for local businesses and help the Leeds City Region remain a vibrant and competitive area; further notes that the highly successful Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France showed the world what Yorkshire has to offer; further notes that this is likely to lead to further business from abroad and tourism visits, particularly with Yorkshire winning the title of Europe’s Leading Destination in 2013, beating the likes of Berlin, London and Madrid; further notes that LBIA’s passenger throughput is expected to reach 5.1 million in 2016 and support 3,400 full-time equivalent jobs; welcomes comments by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for aviation, the hon. Member for Scarborough and Whitby, on a recent visit that a rail link is obviously desirable; and encourages him to provide a further boost for local jobs and the regional economy by setting out a timescale for his plans. This EDM has been signed by 1 MPs.
Media News
17 August 2014 – A report commissioned by Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City councils into the running of Gloucestershire Airport has found that the airport has been ‘infected by a lack of agreed objectives’ from the two councils. Cheltenham Borough Council Cabinet member for Finance, Councillor John Rawson said the review has been ‘hugely beneficial’ because it has helped to set ‘clear objectives’ while also ‘identifying weaknesses’ at the airport.
19 August 2014 – The campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) have questioned some of UK air navigation services provider NATS’ claims over proposed changes to aircraft departure routes from Stansted. NATS are proposing to transfer day-time traffic from the existing south-east (Dover) flight path to the existing east (Clacton) route. NATS says that the proposed change would result in reduced emissions and fewer delays for Stansted and other airports, but SSE has calculated that the reduction in emissions would be less than 1 per cent and an even smaller percentage if long haul routes came to the airport.
19 August 2014 – The campaign group, Gatwick Airport Conservation Campaign (GACC), have said that they will continue to put pressure on Gatwick Airport with regards proposed changes to flight paths. In a response prepared by GACC, plans have been outlined to pressure local MPs to include those affected by flight paths in a compensation scheme originally designed for those living close to motorways. Complaints have also been made to the UK Civil Aviation Authority about the proposed changes.
20 August 2014 – A report by Manchester Airport Group argues that the four airports it owns contribute £4bn to regional economies. The report estimates that at East Midlands Airport 5,000 people are in full-time work as a result of the airport, which it argues contributes £139 million to the local economy.
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 18 August – 25 August
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc
There will be a reduced Parliamentary service over the summer while both Houses are in recess