Latest Aviation Policy News
Airports Commission Public Evidence Sessions
Airports Public Evidence Session, Manchester 9 July 2013
Airports Public Evidence Session, London 10 July 2013
On 9 and 10 July 2013, the Airports Commission held public evidence sessions in Manchester and London. The sessions were chaired by Sir Howard Davies who was joined on the panel by the other Commissioners.
The sessions were focused on the Commission’s work to date assessing the nature, scale and timing of the UK’s aviation needs, rather than to discuss any specific potential locations for new aviation capacity. Each session was structured as follows:
Part 1. Witnesses invited by the Commission gave a presentation setting out their key arguments and evidence.
Part 2. Witnesses were questioned by the Commissioners.
Part 3. Stakeholders in the public gallery were invited to make statements.
Notes of the sessions are attached above.
Airports Commission Discussion Paper 05: Aviation Noise
Airports Commission Discussion Paper 05: Aviation Noise
The Airports Commission has published its fifth discussion paper, this time on Aviation Noise. The paper explores current scientific understanding and existing policy on aviation and noise and seeks responses to questions to develop the evidence base. It discusses the impacts of aviation noise on health, the issue of annoyance and how this develops over time. It considers different methodologies for measuring noise and approaches to mitigation. And it looks at specific issues, including night noise.
The study, finds that more people are affected by noise at Heathrow Airport in London than by any other major European airport. Moreover, Heathrow handles far few passengers and aircraft movements than any other British airport for every local resident disturbed by aircraft noise.
The Commission’s 67-page report uses the traditional measure of evaluating noise exposure – a level of 57 decibels over a 16-hour period from 7am to 11pm. On this measure, it finds that Stansted handles 12,467 passengers for every person affected by noise – 47.8 times more than the 261 passengers handled by Heathrow. For Gatwick the figure is 9,233 passengers, while Luton handles 3,927 and Manchester 638.
The paper seeks responses from stakeholders to a series of questions by Friday 6 September to [email protected].
State aid: Commission consults on new state aid (3 July 2013)
The European Commission is inviting comments on its review of EU state aid rules on the public financing of airports and start-up aid to airlines. During the last ten years, the market environment of the aviation industry has changed considerably. The Commission proposal takes account of this evolution and provides guidance on how Member States can support airports and airlines in line with EU state aid rules. In light of the submissions received, the Commission will adopt revised guidelines in the beginning of 2014.
Joaquín Almunia, Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said: “Our aim is to ensure that taxpayers’ money is well-spent and goes where it is truly needed. The next state aid guidelines will be a key ingredient for a successful and competitive European aviation industry, preserving fair competition regardless of the business model – from flag carriers to low-cost airlines and from regional airports to major hubs”.
The Commission has published a draft of revised state aid rules for the public funding of airports and start-up aid to airlines.
The main provisions of the proposed guidelines (see MEMO/13/639) are:
- State aid for investment in airport infrastructure is allowed if there is a genuine transport need and the public support is necessary to ensure the accessibility of a region. Whereas the current guidelines leave open the issue of investment aid intensities, the revised draft rules define maximum permissible aid intensities depending on the size of an airport, in order to ensure the right mix between public and private investment. The possibilities to grant aid are therefore higher for smaller airports than for larger airports.
- For operating aid to airports, which is not allowed under the current guidelines, the Commission proposes to allow such aid for a transitional period of 10 years under certain conditions, in order to give airports time to adjust their business model. Operating aid will decrease during this period. The path will depend on the financial situation of each airport.
- Start-up aid to airlines to launch a new air route is permitted provided it remains limited in time. In the draft new guidelines, the compatibility conditions for start-up aid to airlines have been streamlined and adapted to recent market developments.
The proposal takes into account the results of a first public consultation in 2011. It also reflects the principles of the Commission’s agenda for State Aid Modernisation (IP/12/458): state aid policy should focus on facilitating well-designed aid aiming at boosting economic growth and furthering other objectives of common European interest, while discouraging harmful aid that does not bring real value added and create distortions to competition in the Single Market.
The proposal is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2013_aviation_guidelines/index_en.html
Comments should be sent by 25 September 2013 to: [email protected]
SASIG Bulletins for June are now available
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State of the Nation Passenger Transport and Travel 2013
State of the Nation Passenger Transport and Travel 2013
The State of the Nation 2013 Passenger Transport and Travel report is the second report from People 1st into the passenger transport and travel sectors. For the first time the report offers insights into the trends that will influence the sector in coming years. The report analyses labour market trends, skills, education and training within the industry and offers possible solutions to deal with the challenges the sector faces. People 1st’s surveyed more than 1,400 employers from across the UK.
The report’s authors believe that low staff turnover rates are resulting in slower recruitment (seven per cent compared to the all industries average of 16 percent). But with an older than average workforce, the authors also assert that more needs to be done to attract new people and secure the sector’s long-term survival as many employees near state pension retirement age. Other findings from the report include:
- 31 per cent of the current passenger transport workforce will need to be recruited by 2020 to keep up with replacement demand and future growth.
- 54 per cent of employers responden that they felt customer handling skills needed to improve.
- 20 per cent of vacancies were reported as ‘hard-to-fill’.
- Employers said they felt that new technology (37 per cent) and a lack of staff motivation (43 per cent) were the main contributors to skills gaps.
- 30 per cent of businesses felt they needed to improve strategic management skills.
- Theoverall staff turnover rate among respondent businesses was seven per cent in 2012
A summary of the full report and an aviation themed summary is available here.
Heathrow Airport: Best placed for Britain
This report by Heathrow Airport Ltd., supported by a consultant team including AECOM* and Quod**, entitled ‘Best placed for Britain’, argues that expanding Heathrow would be the quickest and most economically viable method of airport expansion. The report asserts that:
- In total 202 of the UK’s top 300 company headquarters are in close proximity to Heathrow, and the area has 60 per cent more international businesses (twice as many US, and three and a half times as many Japanese) than the national average.
- If Heathrow Airport were closed the 76,600 people directly employed at the airport would face re-location or redundancy. Direct job losses would be far greater than those that occurred when the largest redundancy in the UK took place at Shotton Steel in 1985 and MG Rover closed its factory at Longbridge in 2005 (both 6,500 jobs), or the worst year of pit closures in the UK, 1984 (30,000 jobs).
- Additional capacity at Heathrow Airport could be delivered ‘around 7 years more quickly’ than any new airport could be built.
- Up to £25 billion of public money would be required to build a new airport.
*AECOM is a global provider of professional technical services to a broad range of markets, including design, planning and economics. Through their work, they create, enhance and sustain the world’s built, natural and social environments.
**Quod provides strategic planning advice and economic analysis to develop an in-depth understanding of the complex social and economic effects of major infrastructure schemes.
SASIG Bulletins for June are now available
The latest SASIG bulletin for June is available here.
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Consultation – Better Information about UK aviation: the CAA’s new publication duties
Under the Civil Aviation Act 2012, the CAA has new duties and powers to provide information to users of air transport to assist them in comparing services and facilities, and to the general public about the environmental impact of aviation. The CAA is consulting on its proposed Statement of Policy for the use of its information powers.
Full consultation documents can be found on the CAA’s website here.
- Start date: 31 May 2013
- Closing date: 31 August 2013
The CAA will publish its final Statement of Policy in Winter 2013, including final proposals for the areas where the CAA intends to use its powers to make information available.
Contact details for questions and comments: [email protected] or 020 7453 6734
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) traffic statistics (March 2013)
The latest Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) traffic statistics (March 2013) are available here.
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‘A Quieter Heathrow’: A report by Heathrow Airport Ltd. 30 May 2013.
‘A Quieter Heathrow’: A report by Heathrow Airport Ltd. 30 May 2013
The attached report, ‘A quieter Heathrow’, sets out Heathrow Airport’s plan to meet the Government’s aspiration ‘to strike a fair balance between the negative impacts of noise and the positive economic impacts’ of aviation. The report sets out a range of practical measures they are taking or intend to take in five key areas: quieter planes, quieter operating procedures, noise mitigation and land-use planning, operating restrictions and working with local communities.
Quieter planes
- providing financial incentives for airlines to use the quietest planes available through variable landing charges
- publishing a quarterly ‘Fly Quiet’ league table to illustrate the level of noise connected to individual airline fleets
Quieter operating procedures
- trialing new airspace management procedures
- proposing an increase in fines for aircraft that exceed the airport’s departure noise limits at night
Noise mitigation and land-use planning
- trialing new approaches to noise insulation during 2013
Operating restrictions
- reducing the number of aircraft that depart Heathrow late after 11pm and incentivising the quietest aircraft to operate arrivals before 6am
- taking steps to phase out the noisiest aircraft operating at Heathrow
Working with local communities
- producing proposals for the ‘independent regulation’ of noise