Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting DatesRegional News
Traffic Statistics
Industry News
Government News
House of Commons Written Ministerial Statements
House of Commons Questions
House of Lords
Media News
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
28 June 2013
25 October 2013
7 March 2014
Meetings are held at 11am, Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, with lunch provided afterwards, location map.
Regional News
17 Mar 2013 – Planes straying out of an official flight path from Luton Airport and flying over St Albans homes has prompted the airport to start testing a more precise satellite navigation system. The trial is being conducted in two phases, with the first ending on April 18. The second phase runs from April 19 to May 24. The airport is asking for residents’ feedback during the trial, to determine whether the system is helping to lessen plane noise.
18 Mar 2013 – Gatwick has put forward eight key tests it says the Airports Commission must consider when pinpointing locations for development. The airport’s evaluation criteria includes: demand, capacity and connectivity, environmental impacts, competition, financial and economic issues, social and community issues, the end-to-end passenger experience, resilience and deliverability. Airport administrators believe greater emphasis should be placed on the passenger experience, and to competition being a key enabler of that. The airport also submitted comments on the Department for Transport’s demand forecasts.
19 Mar 2013 – Harpenden town council has sent a detailed objection to Luton Airport’s planning application to double passenger numbers and extend its taxiway. The Authority points out that it should be an independent authority and not the airport’s owner, Luton Borough Council, that decides the scheme.
20 Mar 2013 – London City Airport has announced three new routes from this year. All services will use the 98-seat Embraer 190 aircraft. From April services the airport will offer services to Rome, Fiumicino and to Kjevik Airport, Kristiansand in Norway. Later in the year British Airways (BA) is to begin flying from London City to the Spanish city of Granada from July, with BA also set to increase capacity on its London City-Malaga route.
20 Mar 2013 – A delegation from Birmingham has headed east to showcase the region to Asia’s leading airlines. With work taking place to extend Birmingham Airport’s runway bringing the Far East within reach for the city, a delegation is heading to the ‘Routes Asia’ conference in Mumbai.
21 Mar 2013 – Birmingham Airport was the UK’s most punctual airport in the last quarter of 2012, with 85% of scheduled flights and 84% of charter flights operating on time. Overall, this was six percentage points higher than the national average for scheduled services (79%) and ten percentage points better for charter services (74%). Birmingham also had the shortest delays of all airports, with an average delay of nine minutes for scheduled flights and 14 minutes for charter services. This compared to the national average of 12 minutes for scheduled and 19 minutes for charter flights.
22 Mar 2013 – Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTV) has placed an application for £4.65m from the Government’s regional growth fund (RGF) to help build a road linking the north side of the site with land south of the passenger terminal. As attempts to bring new flights to DTV have stalled, airport bosses want to develop aviation-related businesses, such as freight, warehousing and aircraft recycling, to help stem losses at the site which almost closed last year amid falling passenger numbers.
22 March 2013 – Heathrow Airport publishes it’s submission to the Airports Commission.
Traffic Statistics
18 March 2013 – UK airports handled 221 million passengers during 2012 according to figures published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an increase of 0.6% (1.4 million) on 2011. This growth continues the recovery started in 2011 following three consecutive years of falling passenger numbers at UK airports. However, passenger numbers for 2012 were still 8% below 2007’s peak of almost 240 million passengers and business passengers using the UK’s airports fell by 4%. London airports grew by 1.3 million and regional airports by 0.1 million.
20 March 2013 – Data published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows that during October to December 2012, the overall on-time performance of scheduled flights at the ten UK airports monitored was 79%, a fall of one percentage point compared with the last quarter of 2011. The average delay across all scheduled flights monitored was 12 minutes, one minute more than in the fourth quarter of 2011. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Newcastle all registered an increase in average delay of three minutes. Gatwick registered the biggest fall in on-time performance (five percentage points).
Industry News
19 Mar 2013 – Thai Airways International said it plans to operate the Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo to London’s Heathrow airport following delivery of its fifth and sixth aircraft later this year. The A380s will substitute for one of two services provided by Boeing 747-400s that will return to the London route this month after a year’s gap for refurbishment. The 747’s cargo flexibility makes retention of one service desirable, with the jumbo regularly transporting outsize items that the Airbus cannot carry.
20 Mar 2013 – The new five-day- a- week British Airways direct service between London Gatwick and Tenerife has already proven to be a success, with all the seats on the inaugural flight on 29 March sold out, both in economy and business class. With this new route, British Airways becomes the only carrier offering business class seats on flights to and from Tenerife.
20 Mar 2013 – The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has published its response to the Airports Commission. ABTA is calling for more airport capacity and better transport links to airports, believing that passengers want shorter journey times to and from airports. It also believes that capacity is needed in the South-East of England and that the mix of aviation models, including business and leisure, should be recognised.
21 March 2013 – EasyJet unveiled a new aircraft dedicated “Discover Scotland” and launched six brand new routes, Hamburg, Reykjavik, Berlin, Prague, Copenhagen and Dubrovnik. From 21 March easyJet will link Scotland with Copenhagen, Berlin, Hamburg, Reykjavik and Prague. From 27 April they will serve Dubrovnik. To serve these destinations easyJet has added two new aircraft to their Edinburgh base.
22 Mar 2013 – EasyJet is to close its check-in desks in a bid to encourage more passengers to download their boarding cards from the airline’s website. From April 30, the airline will turn all check-in desks into bag drop desks across its network. EasyJet said it would not be going down the same route as Ryanair in charging customers a fee if they forget to check-in online or fail to bring their boarding pass to the airport.
Government News
15 Mar 2013 – The Environmental Audit Committee has launched a new inquiry, following up its October 2011 Carbon Budgets report. That report looked ahead to the December 2011 publication of the Government’s Carbon Plan to support the delivery of the statutory carbon reduction targets in the Climate Change Act 2008. In June 2013, the Committee on Climate Change will publish its 5th annual progress report on UK emissions reduction against the Carbon Budget targets. This will cover the outturn data for the first Carbon Budget period (2008-2012), and make recommendations to Government on any changes needed to the Budgets. The Government is required to respond by mid-October 2013. In 2014, the Committee on Climate Change will also report its advice ahead of a Government review later in 2014 on whether the Fourth Carbon Budget (2023-2027) should be relaxed in light of a weak EU Emissions Trading System carbon price (a concern covered in the Environmental Audit Committee’s 2011 report). The Committee invites organisations and members of the public to submit written evidence, setting out their views on these issues. More wide ranging responses are also welcome. Submissions should ideally be sent to the Committee by Friday 16th May, although later submissions may also be accepted.
18 Mar 2013 – Department of Energy and Climate Change launches consultation on the draft statutory instrument: The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (“the proposed regulations”). These Regulations will amend the transitional provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012 to reflect the EU ‘stop the clock’ decision. The consultation will be of interest to aircraft operators, aerodrome operators and environmental groups. This consultation is not limited to these stakeholders; any organisation or individual is welcome to respond. The consultation document summarises the key issues on which views are being saught, however views are also welcomed on any other issues concerning the draft Regulations.
22 March 2013 – The aviation policy framework which sets out the government’s high level objectives for the sector was published on the 22nd March. The strategy aims to: limit and reduce the number of people in the UK affected by aircraft noise through better technology, implementation of noise ‘envelopes’ around airports and further use of noise abatement operational procedures, ensure that the aviation sector makes a significant contribution towards reducing global emissions, encourage the aviation industry and local stakeholders to strengthen and streamline the way they work together, and, make better use of existing runway capacity through improving transport routes to airports, encourage foreign airlines to develop routes from less congested airports, and encouraging operators of the UKs busiest airports to consider how their capacity might be used more effectively.
House of Commons Written Ministerial Statements
Transport Minister Simon Burns makes statement on Aviation policy framework
22 March 2013
Simon Burns, Transport Minister: Britain has a successful aviation sector that provides 220,000 jobs directly and underpins our place in the world economy. Government’s job is to support this and allow expansion while recognising the effect it has on the environment.
That is why today I am publishing the Aviation Policy Framework which provides the baseline for the Airports Commission to take into account on important issues such as aircraft noise and climate change. It sets out Government’s objectives on the issues which will challenge and support the development of aviation right across the UK, not just in the South East of England.
This document sets out the Government’s policy to allow the aviation sector to continue to make a significant contribution to economic growth across the country. It is also a key step towards tackling our airport capacity challenge in the South East. This is being addressed by the independent Airports Commission, led by Sir Howard Davies, who will look at the issue in a way which seeks to establish a broad consensus on the solution. This document will frame the debate for Sir Howard’s work.
This Government has already taken an important step in recognising that any decision on how to meet the airport capacity challenge in the South East and maintain our excellent connectivity is a decision bigger than any one Government. I look forward to the Commission’s initial report this December and I would like to thank MPs for their constructive engagement with Sir Howard’s work thus far.
In setting out the benefits of aviation, the Aviation Policy Framework makes clear its importance to the UK economy, both at a national and regional level. In particular, it highlights the economic benefits the UK derives from it. In tackling aviation’s climate change impacts, the policy framework sets out Government’s aim to ensure that the aviation sector makes a significant and cost effective contribution towards reducing global emissions, with the emphasis on effective global action.
And on noise, the Aviation Policy Framework addresses the real impact that aircraft noise can have. Policies such as noise envelopes will help ensure that benefits of future improvements are shared between the industry and local residents. The Government recognises the UK aviation industry’s efforts to tackle noise and challenges it to continue to lead the way in best practice. For example, last month we steered a decision at the UN International Civil Aviation Organization which will mean tougher noise standards for new civil aircraft from 2017.
I would like to thank the individuals and organisations that have taken the time to contribute to and shape this document. I have today placed a summary of the consultation responses in the House Library and it is available at GOV.UK.
The Government believes that aviation needs to grow, delivering the benefits essential to our economic wellbeing, while respecting the environment and protecting quality of life. The Government believes that the Aviation Policy Framework is a vital step forward in achieving this.
House of Commons Questions
14 March 2013
Graham Stringer, Labour Party, Blackley and Broughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 612W, on air pollution, what the sources are of the rising emissions he identifies of (a) ammonia, (b) arsenic and (c) hydrofluorocarbons in recent years.
Richard Benyon, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister: The increase in emission of ammonia between 2010 and 2011 has principally come from the increasing use of anaerobic digestion and increases in emissions from fertiliser use. The increase in emissions of arsenic between 2010 and 2011 arises mainly from increases in the combustion of coal and the production of metals between these years.Rising emissions of hydrofluorocarbons have come from sources such as losses from refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and emissions from industrial aerosols and metered dose inhalers.
Jamieson – Air Passenger Duty (Caribbean)
18 March 2013
Cathy Jamieson, Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury Labour: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the effect of UK air passenger duty on the number of arrivals from the UK to destinations in the Caribbean.
Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury: Air passenger duty rates are based on distance by band, not by distance to specific regions or countries. Therefore, HM Revenue and Customs collects information on the amount of air passenger duty revenues declared by rate and destination band. It does not collect information on the contribution to air passenger duty revenues made from flights to or from specific airports or countries.
18 March 2013
Graham Jones, Opposition Assistant Whip: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents there have been in the UK of wind turbines causing a flight safety hazard to air traffic controllers and aircraft?
Simon Burns, Transport Minister: The Civil Aviation Authority, the UK’s independent aviation safety regulator, has not received any mandatory occurrence reports relating to a flight safety hazard caused by a wind turbine. It is well established that wind turbines can degrade the quality of aviation radars. The aviation industry will object, therefore, to any wind turbine that may pose a risk to air safety, the maintenance of which is paramount. NATS, the UK’s national en-route air traffic service provider, takes wind turbine development seriously and has a strong track record in being able to identify suitable mitigations—its success rate is about 95%.
Dodds – Effects of Air Passenger Duty on tourism
20 March 2013
Nigel Dodds OBE, Democratic Unionist; Belfast North: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of air passenger duty on in-bound tourism to the regions of the UK.
Hugh Robertson, Sport and Tourism Minister: DCMS has not made an assessment of the effect of air passenger duty on in-bound tourism to the regions of the UK. As part of the HM Revenue and Customs’ report (October 2012), the impact of differing air passenger duty levels, and the effect it could have on demand, were looked at: www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/report188.pdf
McIntosh – Transport infrastructure projects
21 March 2013
Anne McIntosh, Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee: I believe it is Lord Heseltine’s birthday today. I wish him congratulations. Large rafts of money are going to city regions such as Leeds and Sheffield for transport infrastructure and other projects. We feel that we will be left in the lurch, so may I ask the team what support will be given to rural areas of North Yorkshire to improve the roads and other infrastructure?
Michael Fallon, Business Minister: That is a perfectly fair point, but let me reassure my hon. Friend that the single pot funding from 2015 will be allocated not simply to the cities, but through local enterprise partnerships. It is her local enterprise partnership that will be able to make a bid to the Government.
Gillan – Costs to organisations for HS2 review
21 March 2013
Cheryl Gillan, Conservative; Chesham and Amersham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what level of costs his Department will be (a) seeking and (b) paying to the organisations that brought the judicial reviews against High Speed 2.
Simon Burns, Transport Minister: The Department will be claiming costs from the local authority claimants, Heathrow Hub Ltd, HS2 Action Alliance (for its main claim), and the Aylesbury Park Golf Club. The level of costs that we claim from the local authorities and Heathrow Hub Ltd will be subject to an assessment. The level of costs that we claim from HS2 Action Alliance and the Aylesbury. Park Golf Club will be up to the value of £10,000 from each, due to protective cost orders that are in place for these claims. The Department is also required to pay the costs of HS2 Action Alliance (for its property claim) up to the value of £25,000.
House of Lords
Astor – HS2 Interchange at Manchester Airport
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor, Conservative peer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HS2 Ltd have included in their HS2 Phase Two estimate the cost of a people mover system at the HS2 interchange at Manchester airport; and if so, whether that estimate was calculated in the same way as the Birmingham airport people mover system in the HS2 Phase One estimate.
Earl Attlee, Government Spokesperson for Transport: HS2 Ltd has confirmed that it has included the estimated cost of a people mover system for the interchange station at Manchester airport in the Phase 2 cost estimate. This cost estimate was calculated using the same base data as that calculated for the people mover system at Birmingham airport.
Astor – Connecting High Speed 2 to Heathrow
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HS2 Ltd’s option analysis considered the potential for, and wider benefits of, an HS2 route via Heathrow, and connected to the Great Western Main Line.
Earl Attlee: HS2 Ltd considered several options for connecting HS2 to Heathrow, including a through route via Heathrow and a connection to the Great Western Main Line. Following public consultation in 2011, the Government concluded that it was important that HS2 should directly serve Heathrow and that the optimal approach would be via a spur off the main HS2 line.
Astor – Link between High Speed 2 and Heathrow
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HS2 Ltd will include in their cost estimates a people mover system at an HS2 interchange located on the Great Western Main Line at Iver and Heathrow.
Earl Attlee: The proposed link between HS2 and Heathrow is via a spur from the main line to a station at Terminal 5, to be linked to the terminal by a footbridge. There is no plan for an interchange at Iver. Work on the Heathrow link has been paused to allow the findings of the Airports Commission to be taken into account.
Astor – High Speed 2 Interchange at Birmingham Airport
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by HS2 Ltd to include in their cost estimates a people mover system between the HS2 interchanges at Birmingham airport and the airport terminal.
Earl Attlee: The inclusion of a people mover is a requirement of the HS2 scheme to enable interchange between the planned HS2 station (Birmingham Interchange) with Birmingham International Airport and the NEC. The inclusion by HS2 Ltd of a cost estimate for this link is therefore completely appropriate and expected.
Astor – High Speed 2 Airport Interchanges
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of HS2 Ltd’s decision to serve Birmingham airport with interchanges located on the direct through high-speed alignment, whilst bypassing Heathrow and East Midlands airports.
Earl Attlee: No final decisions have been taken on where the routes and stations should be sited for Phase Two. The Secretary of State for Transport set out his initial preferences for the route in January and a consultation will start later this year ahead of announcing a final decision by the end of 2014. The Government continue to support a direct high-speed connection to Heathrow, as there is a case for providing significant rail capacity to the country’s major hub airport. However, in September 2012, the Government launched an independent Airports Commission to identify and recommend options for maintaining the country’s global hub status. We consider that further work on a link to Heathrow should now await consideration of the conclusions and recommendation of the Airports Commission. We have therefore paused work on the Heathrow spur. A station at East Midlands Airport was considered by HS2 Ltd. However, the airport market was not significant enough on its own to warrant a station.
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of HS2 Ltd’s decision not to include Heathrow in the route of HS2.
Earl Attlee: The Government believe that the HS2 network should link to Heathrow and its preferred option is for this to be built as part of Phase Two. The Heathrow spur is not part of the initial preferred route for Phase Two because it has been decided to pause work until after 2015 to allow the conclusions of the independent Airports Commission to be taken into account.
19 March 2013
Viscount Astor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider amending the terms of reference of the Airports Commission to include consideration of air-rail intermodality, surface access, modal shift from road to rail, and modal shift from air to rail.
Earl Attlee: As part of its work the Government expects the Airports Commission to fully examine all the surface access needs of any potential development that it recommends. The Government have no plans to amend the Airports Commission’s terms of reference.
Media News
20 March 2013 – Airline CEO’s released a joint statement in response to the Chancellor’s Budget statement. Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ parent company, IAG; Carolyn McCall, chief executive easyJet; Michael O’Leary, chief executive Ryanair and Craig Kreeger, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic jointly expressed disappointment at the level of APD.
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc.