Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
House of Lords Written Question
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
30 September 2014 – North Lincolnshire contractor Britcon has won a contract to restore a Second World War hangar at Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The building, civil engineering and structural steelwork firm has been awarded a ‘significant’ contract for the works at the airport at Finningley.
30 September 2014 – Blackpool International airport has confirmed it will close unless a buyer can be found by the 7 October. A statement from the airport said, on ‘28 August 2014, we announced our intention to find a buyer for the airport operating company. The airport operations have been making a loss for a number of years and we are currently exploring a number of options in an attempt to secure the future of the airport. We regretfully confirm that if no agreement can be reached before 7 October 2014 which ensures the viability of its operations, then it is likely that the airport operations will close. In this event, we expect that the last commercial flights will take place on Wednesday 15 October 2014. Any vehicles parked in the car parks after this date will be made accessible to their owners however no new car parking would be allowed. We apologise for the uncertainty this will cause over the coming weeks and we recommend that any affected passengers contact their airline to confirm travel arrangements’. Blackpool Airport employs around 100 staff with annual passenger numbers reaching 550,000 in 2007. These had dropped to just over 235,000 by 2012, with last year’s total recovering slightly to nearly 263,000.
1 October 2014 – Director of Sustainability at Heathrow Airport Matthew Gorman has said that the airport did not consult as many people as it should have done about its recent airspace changes. Mr Gorman said, ‘we didn’t go as far as sending letters out to all the people that would be affected as we did not feel people would notice any change’. The airport introduced new flighpaths over the Bracknell Forest Council area as part of the five-month trial last month, without informing either residents or the Council. Since then, Heathrow has received complaints from people living in the Bracknell and Ascot area about aviation noise. More than 4,700 have so far signed a petition and a public meeting, attended by airport representatives, will be held in November.
1 October 2014 – Wandsworth Council has launched an online questionnaire to help measure residents’ attitudes on matters of aviation expansion.
1 October 2014 – The deadline for objections to the development of Carlisle Airport has passed with no legal challenge.
2 October 2014 – Heathrow Airport has announced that it will be ending the current airspace trials on 12 November, instead of its original scheduled end date of 26 January 2015. Heathrow will also be postponing trials scheduled to commence during October. These trials being run in conjunction with NATS, are being driven by Government’s Future Airspace Strategy, which requires that all airports implement changes to modernise airspace by 2020. Heathrow’s current easterly and westerly trials affect departing aircraft, and began on 28 July and 25 August respectively. The airport states that ‘to date, the trials have been successful in collecting large amounts of data and have provided valuable insight into the design and feasibility of operating precision routes and how Heathrow could maximise noise respite for local residents with new airspace design. In light of residents’ feedback and after meetings with local authorities and Members of Parliament, Heathrow asked NATS to consider shortening the trials. It is the view of NATS and Heathrow that sufficient data will have been collected by 12 November to confirm the findings of these trial. Given that is the case, the trials will stop on that date’. Additional trials scheduled to start on 20 October are being postponed until Autumn 2015
2 October 2014 – A spokesperson from Gatwick Airport has accepted that an increase in noise complaints above East Grinstead is due to more aircraft flying over the town.
2 October 2014 – Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis has suggested that Birmingham City Council should consider selling its share in Birmingham Airport.
3 October 2014 – Residents and businesses in Slough are being asked for their views on local authority plans for a bus rapid transit service along a commuter road in Berkshire. The £8m scheme, known as SMaRT (Slough Mass Rapid Transit), was approved by the Borough Council on 15 September. The proposals involve widening the A4 and upgrading several junctions, as well as turning service roads parallel to the A4 through Slough Trading Estate into bus lanes.
Industry News
30 September 2014 – Staff at the airline operator Monarch have agreed to pay cuts in order to secure the future of the business.
30 September 2014 – Bristol Airport is the first major UK airport to introduce new RNAV1 Performance Based Navigation Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) that use satellite navigation, coupled with the technology fitted to aircraft, to replace traditional ground beacons and landing systems. The new routes apply to aircraft approaching from the south and have been designed to closely replicate existing tracks. Approaches from the west have also been designed to take aircraft over the Severn Estuary, reducing noise disturbance along the coastline.
30 September 2014 – Heathrow Airport have reported that in the last three months all airlines featured in its ‘Fly Quiet table’ adhered to night time restrictions. No aircraft arrivals violations were recorded by the top 50 airlines between 04:30am and 06:30am. This is reported as an improvement from the previous three month period, in which three airlines had red scores in this category.The fourth league table covers the period April 2014 to June 2014. British Airways’ short haul fleet, Aer Lingus, and Virgin Atlantic Little Red remain the top three scoring airlines, a placing they have adhered to since the table was first published last November. The Fly Quiet table lists the top 50 Heathrow airlines every three months (by number of flights per quarter) according to six noise related criteria. The airlines receive a red/amber/green rating for each criterion, as well as an overall score which allows them to understand how they are performing in relation to other airlines. There has also been a reported improvement in the numbers of aircraft meeting our ‘Continuous Descent Approach’ (CDA) minimum standard, leading to half the amount of red scores in this category since the previous quarter. Alitalia, LOT Polish airlines, and European Air Transport have improved on their CDA performance leading to an ‘amber’ score. The airport have said that they will ‘work closely’ with Air France, Pakistan International Airlines, and Aegean Airlines to improve on the scores they have retained from the previous quarter in this category.
2 October 2014 – Birmingham Airport has opened a new ‘purpose-built transit facility’ in order to cater for long-haul services, as arriving travellers who are catching connecting flights can now remain airside, without having to pass through immigration, or be processed through security again.
2 October 2014 – Luton Airport recorded an 11.8 per cent increase in passenger numbers in August compared to the same month last year. The average increase across all UK airports was 4.4 per cent. The airport is projected to have its busiest ever year. The increase is felt to be driven by new routes and carriers and a new ten-year deal with easyJet announced in March which will see the airline grow capacity at the airport by 20 per cent over the next year. Luton Airport are also embarking on a £100m redevelopment of the site, which will increase annual passenger capacity from 12 million to 18 million per year by 2026. The plans include an expanded and modernised terminal building, better rail and other surface transport links and improvements to the passenger experience, including additional screening lanes to reduce waiting times.
European News
30 September 2014 – The European Aviation Safety Agency has published guidance which allows European airlines to permit use of mobile phones following the aircraft landing. Airlines can also allow the use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) throughout the flight, after a safety assessment process. As a result, passengers will be able to use their PEDs just like in any other mode of transport: throughout the trip. The new guidance allows airlines to permit PEDs to stay switched on, without the need to be in ‘Airplane Mode’. This is the latest regulatory step towards enabling the ability to offer ‘gate-to-gate’ telecommunication or WiFi services.
30 September 2014 – Europe’s air-traffic control organization Eurocontrol, have published a plan for countries to share non-public intelligence in conflict zones to help airlines avert aviation accidents. Director General of Eurocontrol Frank Brenner, told Reuters that his organization is pressing the task force of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations aviation agency, for member states to share the background information they use in assessing airspace risk.
House of Lords Written Question
Lord Jones of Cheltenham – Direct flights to St Helena Airport
2 October 2014
Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat Peer): To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ensure that direct flights from Europe which include a refuelling stop will be given full consideration in assessing which companies to invite to bid for the air service to the new airport on St Helena.
Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat Peer): Potential Service Providers who meet the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) criteria will be asked to submit a tender to provide the St Helena Air Service; all tenders will be given full consideration.
Media News
2 October 2014 – A number of companies are reported to have shown an interest in moving to Prestwick Airport. Cargo companies and at least one airline operator have been in talks with the Scottish Government over the possibility of moving to the Glasgow site.
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 29 September – 5 October
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 29 September – 5 October
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc .