Latest Aviation Policy News

  Sustainable Aviation Noise Roadmap

Sustainable Aviation (SA) is an alliance of UK airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers and air navigation service providers. In this report they set out their projection of aircraft noise impacts from UK aviation, based largely on the UK Government forecasts of aviation demand-growth published in 2013, along with their own added assumptions, and how to deal with the issue of aircraft noise as a result.

The report summarises the potential for noise reduction from issues such as: new aircraft and engine technology development (e.g. aircraft design); operational improvement opportunities (e.g. managing noise at takeoff and landing); planning (e.g. current policy and grant schemes to address aviation noise); noise communication and community engagement, (e.g. current arrangements, barriers to engagement, and opportunities for improvement); and finally, operating restrictions (e.g. night flying).

SA believe aviation in the UK is able to accommodate significant growth in air transport movements to 2050 and at the same time achieve a potential reduction to UK aviation’s total noise output compared to 2010. SA say they can achieve this through ‘imminent and future aircraft and engine technology’, and the ‘wider implementation of operational improvements in the use of airspace and flying techniques and through better land use planning in the immediate vicinity of airports’.

The conclude by stating that their ‘Noise Road-Map’ presents a tool kit to assist the industry in further developing measures to reduce noise from aircraft. From the ‘Noise Road-Map’ SA intends a ‘Delivery Action Plan’ to monitor and manage common industry actions, and a ‘Member Specific Action Plan’ developed by individual airlines and airport sites with their relevant stakeholder groups to incorporate these principles into existing noise strategies such as airport Noise Action Plans.

 The Economics of Airport Expansion

To contribute to the Airport’s Commission inquiry The World Wildlife Fund, Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise, and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, commissioned a study by CE Delft on the economics of airport expansion. The aim of the study was to propose a general framework for assessing airport expansion and new airport development projects, based on best practices and academic research. Special attention is paid to the issue of connectivity.

The study sets out to answer two main research questions: What framework should be used to assess the economic impacts of airport investment projects? And, does airport expansion lead to increased capacity, more connectivity and more economic growth?

The report describes the practical applications of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for aviation appraisal. It critiques existing approaches for not including effects such as: impacts on property and land values; impacts on other markets, such as the costs and benefits to businesses in the supply chain (backward linkages); impacts on other transport modalities (effect on rail and road transport); strategic effects (locational advantages); and regional inequality. It also critiques the lack of what it calls ‘non-monetised impacts of transport project investment’, such as: biodiversity, landscape, water, townscape and heritage of historic resources. It suggests that omitting these will ‘result in an underestimation of the net impact’ of aviation.

The report authors argue that a CBA should , besides economic impacts, also include external effects, such as social and environmental impacts, that are not internalised in market prices. This would produce a Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) which, the authors believe, would be a more appropriate way to evaluate airport investment plans. The authors suggest that SCBA offers a more holistic, objective assessment of the pros and cons of airport development.

The report then goes on to consider the relationship between capacity, connectivity and economic growth. It discusses the issues of connectivity, specifically in relation to Heathrow airport, compared to the aviation networks of the main European hub airports (i.e. Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam). It finds that Heathrow has fewer destinations than other hubs, but offers a high frequency of flights to the destinations it serves, specialising on the most profitable routes. The authors conclude by stating that the relationship between connectivity and economic benefit has not been studied in much detail in the academic literature. They suggest that the available empirical evidence shows a weak correlation, mostly for less developed economies, but there is no evidence of causation. The authors argue that the methodological shortcomings of the studies that aim to prove a causative relationship ‘undermine their ability to differentiate between correlation and causation’.

 Is this the end of the hub? The impact of Middle Eastern Air Carriers on European hubs

This study aims at updating Europe’s local and regional governments on the increasing impact of air carriers based in the Arabian Gulf. The report states that ‘the competition between airlines and their respective market shares may seem a purely economic concern but it is not. The consequences will be felt in regions seeking new destinations from their key airports, and will be equally strong for regions that are home to European flag carriers’. With their hubs located in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Doha in Qatar, these airlines connect the growing markets of the Far East and Australia with Europe. Their unique geographical location puts them in a perfect position to compete with European network carriers.

A summary report produced by the SASIG office on the Civil Aviation Bill is now available in the SASIG Publications page here. 

The Civil Aviation Bill received Royal Assent on 19 December 2012, becoming the Civil Aviation Act 2012.  Further information can be found in the SASIG Publications page here. 

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