Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
Parliamentary News
Government News
House of Commons Questions
House of Lords Questions
Media News
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
25 October 2013
7 March 2014
Meetings are held at 11am, Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
29 June 2013 – East Midlands Parkway railway station is failing to meet projections it would attract 743,000 passengers a year. The station achieved a 19 per cent increase in use in 2012, but according to figures from the Office of Rail Regulation, it was used by 261,880 passengers.
29 June 2013 – East Midlands Airport have opened a dedicated employment and education facility. East Midlands Airport and Stockport College, which also delivers the Academy programme at sister airport, Manchester Airport, has partnered with Stephenson College and Job Centre Plus to create a bespoke facility, aiming to help unemployed people in the region.
1 July 2013 – An off-site airport car park company which won planning permission on appeal is seeking to add another 275 spaces to its operation. The application for the car park at Leeds Bradford Airport Industrial Estate was initially turned down, but the refusal by Leeds City Council was overturned at appeal in 2011. Now Leeds Car Parks Ltd is seeking to vary the conditions on the planning permission to allow them to increase parking from 643 spaces to 918.
1 July 2013 – APCOA Parking (UK) has commenced its five-year contract to manage the public and staff parking operations at Southampton International Airport. The contract comprises the management of a 1,494 space multi-story car park and other long-stay spaces.
1 July 2013 – From 1 July air passengers can fly from Bournemouth to the USA. Aer Lingus Regional flights can now connect through Dublin to complete pre-clearance and customs, ahead of their onward journey to the US. It is estimated that the new service could save passengers up to two hours on arrival at US destinations including New York, Boston, Chicago and Orlando. Ireland is the only country in Europe to offer passport and customs pre-clearance to US destinations.
1 July 2013 – Manston Airport have said they are confident that a new passenger service to Amsterdam will continue. The Dutch carrier KLM, started twice-daily flights from East Kent to Schiphol three months ago.
3 July 2013 – The High Court has sanctioned Uttlesford District Council’s bid to wind up a Stansted Airport company which owes more £1M in business rates. The local authority took its case to the court after it was forced to write off the debt from Eighteen Aviation Ltd, which traded as Aero Toy Store.
3 July 2013 – After several years of falling passenger numbers, Bournemouth Airport has said its use is rising again.
4 July 2013 – EasyJet have signed a nine year contract to continue using Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
4 July 2013 – Norwich Airport Passenger Action Group has completed its new website which it hopes will facilitate improved communication between the group and Norwich International Airport passengers. The website is available here.
Industry News
1 July 2013 – EasyJet have introduced changes to their hand luggage requirements. The carrier will only guarantee to store luggage in its overhead lockers that is 37 per cent smaller than the current limit. Passengers who travel with bags that are larger than the new size but meet the old requirements, will not have to pay to have them checked in but may have their bags stored in the aircraft’s hold, meaning they would have to wait for them to appear in baggage reclaim.
1 July 2013 – British Airways subsidiary, BA CityFlyer, has become the first UK airline to place Panasonic’s ‘Toughpad tablets’ on flights operating out of London City Airport. The Toughpad FZ-G1 tablets, with the latest generation Windows 8 Professional operating system, are being used by engineers and flight crew on each of the airline’s aircraft.
4 July 2013 – British Airways has confirmed September 24 as the launch date of its A380 services from Heathrow to Los Angeles.
Parliamentary News
5 July 2013 – The Government’s Transport Committee is calling for evidence on the European Commission’s proposal for legislation setting flight and duty time limitation (FTL) requirements for the crews of aeroplanes involved in commercial air transport. The Commission’s forthcoming proposal will be published by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in October 2012. Written evidence would be welcome on the Commission’s forthcoming proposal from any individual or organisation potentially affected by, or with a view on, the Commission’s proposals. Deadline for written submissions is Monday 5 August 2013.
Government News
1 July 2013 – Up to 20 potential sites for new runways have reportedly been identified by the Airports Commission. More than six plans for new hub airports in the Thames estuary plus options for expanding Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and Birmingham airports are thought to have been put forward to the Airports Commission, according to the Sunday Times. A ‘do nothing’ option, to test the case for retained airport capacity at existing levels, is also expected to be examined.
4 July 2013 – The Airports Commission have released the names and organisations of the witnesses for the Public Evidence Sessions to be held in Manchester on the 9 July and London on the 10 July. The details of the sessions are available here, with the details of the witnesses available here.
5 July 2013 – 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 paper seeks responses from stakeholders to a series of questions by Friday 6 September to [email protected].
House of Commons Questions
Lefroy, Amounts collected in Air Passenger Duty,2010-2013
2 July 2013
Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative, Stafford): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount was collected in (a) class A, (b) class B, (c) class C and (d) class D air passenger duty in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.
Sajid Javid (Economic Secretary): The published statistics on air passenger duty (APD), including the total amount of tax collected by year, are available online here:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx
A breakdown of total receipts by APD distance band is not available.
Eagle, M – Aviation: Air links to London
5 July 2013
Maria Eagle, (Shadow Secretary of State for Transport): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether the funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round to improve air links to London will be available to all regional airports; (2) whether the funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round to improve air links to London will be used to restore links that no longer operate; (3) what proportion of matched funding must be provided as a condition of accessing the funding announced to improve air links to London; (4) what criteria he will use to assess bids by regional airports for funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round to improve air links to London.
Simon Burns (Minister of State for Transport): The importance of regional air connectivity to London airports is recognised in the Aviation Policy Framework (APF), which confirms that the Government would be inclined to support proposals by devolved and regional bodies to establish Public Service Obligations (PSOs) that comply with the specific conditions within EU law (Regulation 1008/2008), where necessary to protect services between other UK airports and London. The APF states that regional bodies (e.g. devolved Administrations, local authorities and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs)) will continue to be responsible for developing the business, financial and legal cases required by—the regulation on PSOs, and for demonstrating the importance of particular air services to the economic development of areas of the UK. Where the case for a PSO has been made the Government will agree, subject to periodic review, the appropriate level of support it will provide alongside regional support.
House of Lords Questions
Berkeley, State aid to airports
2 July 2013
Lord Berkeley (Labour peer): To ask Her Majesty’s Government under what circumstances and for what purposes state aids are permitted to airports.
Earl Attlee (Government spokesperson on Transport): The provision of State aid for airports is governed by the financial aid criteria defined in Article 87(1) of the European Community Treaty. The European Union has produced guidance on how the State aid rules should be applied in relation to investment in airport infrastructure, capital injections, loan guarantees and privatisation. Any such application for State aid would need to comply with this guidance to ensure that any investment found to constitute State aid is only approved under strict criteria to minimise distortion to the market.
Media News
1 July 2013 – Following the CAA’s announcement that it is to merge the activities of its Safety Regulation Group and Department of Airspace Policy, initial details of the new Safety and Airspace Regulation Group (SARG) have been announced. The new merged department will be led by Mark Swan, previously the CAA’s Director of Airspace Policy.
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc.