Contents
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Parliamentary News
Government News
House of Commons Questions
House of Lords debates
Media News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
6 March 2014
27 June 2014
24 October 2014
13 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
20 Jan 2014 – Worcestershire County Council have unanimously agreed about the future of Birmingham Airport – saying a second runway is vital. During a debate at County Hall, councillors said it was time the Government looked to move economic growth away from the South East towards this region. They unanimously that Adrian Hardman, the Leader of the Council, to write to the Airports Commission and Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, to express the Council’s opinion.
21 Jan 2014 – Birmingham Airport recorded the best overall flight punctuality of any UK airport operating both scheduled and full service charter flights in the third quarter of 2013. During the busiest period of the year (July to September), 88% of scheduled flights and 90 per cent of charter services operated on-time; the biggest on-time percentage recorded.
21 Jan 2014 – Stevenage MP Stephen McPartland has written to Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, asking him to call in the application to expand Luton Airport after owners Luton Borough Council granted planning permission. Mr McPartland says that he is raising the concerns on behalf of residents in the town who would be affected by the expansion.
22 Jan 2014 – A Gatwick Airport spokesperson has insisted that water the airport poured into the River Mole on Christmas Eve to stop its runway flooding, did not cause flooding further downstream. An airport spokesperson explained that rainwater from the airfield was channelled into a balancing pond where two screw pumps moved it into a separation chamber before it was discharged into the River Mole.
22 Jan 2014 – Heavy rainfall has kept Alderney Airport’s grass runway closed for almost two months. The Director of Civil Aviation closed the runway in December because of poor drainage and uneven surface
23 Jan 2014 – International software company Kewill is to open an office in the 4M building, in the Manchester Airport City north site.
23 Jan 2014 – Birmingham Airport’s re-development programme, one of the country’s top 40 infrastructure projects, has entered its final stage before completion. Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and chair of the Infrastructure Committee, welcomed progress on the scheme during a visit to the airport.
24 Jan 2014 – The future of more than 100 jobs at a Stansted Airport business are in doubt after the parent company of British Airways (BA) announced it is to end a 12-year contract at the site. Cargo company Global Supply Systems, which began operating at the airport in 2002, operates a fleet of three freighter aircraft on behalf of its minority shareholder, Atlas Air Worldwide, for BA.
24 Jan 2014 – Plans to expand Rochester Airport in Kent with a science and technology business park have been approved. The airport’s two grass runways will be redesigned as part of the £4m plans, which Medway Council say will create 1,000 jobs. One runway will be closed and replaced with a new parallel grass and paved runway.
25 Jan 2014 – The passenger ‘watchdog’ TravelWatch has said it welcomes announcements by the airline operators Flybe and British Airways, to increase the number of flights to Liverpool and London City airports respectively. However, it went to say that the number of direct routes will have fallen from 20 years ago to just 11 – and it is not just the loss of routes that will concern passengers but also the reduced capacity on many of the remaining services.
25 Jan 2014 – London St Pancras has been named Britain’s best railway station by the passenger ‘watchdog’ Passenger Focus, followed by Birmingham Moor Street and Heathrow Terminal 5. Stations were rated on services such as platform information and car parking along with standards of cleanliness, security and helpfulness of staff. Birmingham New Street was named worst station . It received the lowest satisfaction rating among passengers, followed by Maidenhead in Berkshire, London Bridge, Romford, East London, and East Croydon. Others in the bottom 10 were Gatwick Airport, Preston, Birmingham International, Wimbledon in South West London, and Grantham, Lincs. Birmingham New Street, London Bridge and Gatwick also scored badly for cleanliness while Nottingham was named as the country’s dirtiest station.
Industry News
20 Jan 2014 – A new initiative, BIOjet Abu Dhabi, has been launched to set up a sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in the United Arab Emirates.
20 Jan 2014 – Three of the world’s biggest airport operators have renewed their co-operation agreement by signing a new strategic partnership. Aéroports de Paris, the Schiphol Group and Incheon International Airport Corporation originally signed an agreement in July 2011 to improve the quality of services offered to customers.
21 Jan 2014 – Heathrow Airport registered the most cancelled flights last year, no other UK airport ranked in the top 10 for cancellations. Gatwick Airport ranked second behind only Frankfurt for flights delays. Antalya in Turkey followed in third position followed closely by Manchester. Dusseldorf, Palma, Barcelona and Madrid came in next, with Stansted in ninth position followed by Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
22 Jan 2014 – Bad weather and technical problems at the NATS air traffic centre had a major impact on the UK’s average flight delays in December. According to the latest figures from the traffic control agency, this meant NATS attributable delays caused an increase in average delay of 89.3 minutes in December, per delayed flight, compared to 20.1 minutes in December 2012.
23 Jan 2014 – The airline operator Bmi Regional is set to introduce a range of new routes as part of its expansion plans for 2014.
23 Jan 2014 – The telecoms ‘watchdog’ Ofcom has approved the development of technology for faster internet on planes and trains.
European News
22 Jan 2014 – Arnaud Feist, President of Airports Council International Europe, and Chief Executive of Brussels Airport Company, has urged the European Parliament to strike ‘the right balance’ when deciding on new State Aid guidelines. The European airport trade body met with Members of the European Parliament in Brussels and was unequivocal about the need for a final result that strikes the right balance between competition and the role of airports for economic development and job creation.
Parliamentary News
20 Jan 2014 – During a session of the Home of Commons Transport Select Committee on the interim report of the Airports Commission, MPs heard from Sir Howard Davies, Chair, Airports Commission and Philip Graham, Secretary, Airports Commission. The session was wide-reaching and covered: Mayor of London and political consensus; Estuary airport; Passenger growth at Stansted; Birmingham Airport; International airports; Delivering recommendations; Regional connectivity; Domestic flights and HS2; Northern airports; Business travel; Implementing short-term recommendations; Separate hubs; Isle of Grain studies; Timings and costs; and a Four-runway solution. A summary is shown below. The full Committee session is available here as a video link.
Mayor of London and political consensus
Opening the session, Labour Committee Chair Louise Ellman asked if London Mayor Boris Johnson was right that the Commission’s interim report had failed to achieve consensus. Responding, Sir Howard said that Mr Johnson had a specific view about hub capacity, which had not been endorsed by the Commission’s report. He pledged to press on with the work, including further work on the option on a Thames Estuary airport favoured by the Mayor. Sir Howard said that Mr Johnson’s views on hub capacity were not a ‘starting point for an independent inquiry’.
Conservative MP Karl McCartney asked if the Commission had met with Mr Johnson or discussed the issue with him. In reply, Sir Howard confirmed that he had met with Mr Johnson a couple of days before the interim report’s publication in December 2013 and that he would do so again in the future.
Labour MP Graham Stringer asked if discussions had been held with Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour Leader Ed Miliband to achieve consensus on the Commission’s findings.
Sir Howard stated that the Commission had sought to ‘maintain a parallel relationship with the three parties’, including speaking to the three main parties prior to the interim report’s publication. Later, asked by the Chair if it was possible to achieve a consensus, Sir Howard expressed the hope that there was sufficient will expressed privately by politicians.
Estuary airport
Turning to the Isle of Grain proposals, Mr Stringer asked if the cost to the public sector would be £100m and why the Commission was still assessing it. In reply, Sir Howard said that the arguments for a new estuary airport were based on a shift in the economic geography in London and the South East and the population growth of the capital. He explained that these were difficult to weigh up, alongside tricky environmental questions such as building near wetland habitat. The Airports Commission had needed to be certain that it could rule the option out, believing that they had not had a sufficient reason to do so, Sir Howard said.
He pointed to questions over building new rail routes to an estuary hub, the complexity of environmental directives, the changing the economic geography of London and what would persuade the airlines to move there, specifically the level of public subsidy required. Pressed by Mr Stringer, Sir Howard said that the Commission did not believe that an estuary airport could be built without an assurance that it would be the only hub airport. He posited that, in order to achieve this, the Government would have to purchase Heathrow Airport and run it up until a new estuary hub was established.
Passenger growth at Stansted
Mr Stringer said that Manchester Airport Group had indicated that the projections for passenger growth at Stansted were what the airport would meet this year. In reply, Mr Graham said that commercial deals with easyJet and Ryanair mean that Stansted could reach 19 million to 20 million next year. He added that Government projections also showed that the airport was currently operating at 50 per cent capacity.
Birmingham Airport
Conservative MP Karen Lumley asked how quickly the Commission had ruled out Birmingham Airport for expansion. In reply, Sir Howard said that economic modelling had suggested that the airport was unlikely to need a runway in the near future. There was a strong degree of local support for expansion at Birmingham, Sir Howard conceded, but added that the needs of passengers had to be carefully considered.
Pressed on the question of HS2, he added that the new rail link would allow people in the Midlands easier access both to airports in the South East or to Manchester Airport.
Questioned by Ms Lumley on the prospect of a third runway at Heathrow, Sir Howard believed it was ‘within the horizon of expectations’ for one to be built by 2026.
International airports
Mr McCartney asked which international airports the Commission had visited as part of its work. ‘We have talked quite extensively to people overseas’, Sir Howard said, noting how quickly the position of an international hub could change.
Mr McCartney asked for Sir Howard’s personal perspective on the impact of international air travel. International surveys suggested that Heathrow and Gatwick airports were doing rather well, the witness replied, adding that they were ‘not at all bad by international standards’.
Delivering recommendations
Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick, drawing on his own Ministerial experience, asked if the Commission could deliver their final report before the general election. In reply, Sir Howard stated that the Commission could have produced a report before May 2015, but added that they were taking advantage of the timetable to conduct work to allow any future Government to hit the ground running on the issue. ‘We could do something much more substantial, which, given the time we have been given, is exactly what we are doing’, he said.
Labour MP Jim Dobbin asked if planning permission should be granted to the Commission’s recommendations when they were delivered. In the event that consensus would be achieved, Sir Howard felt it was likely that a National Planning Statement or a hybrid bill could be brought forward to advance them. He emphasised the importance of making a decision ‘very, very fast’ after the next general election. Any future Government could publish a national planning statement in draft within a few months of coming to office, Mr Graham said.
Regional connectivity
Questioned by Mr Fitzpatrick, Sir Howard explained that the Commission had met with officials from the devolved governments, agreeing that regional connectivity was important. He noted that the number of regional connections to Heathrow had fallen in recent years. ‘We have to be careful what kinds of connectivity we are losing and what kinds we are getting back’, Sir Howard said. He added that the Commission had also acknowledged the link between international connectivity and UK investment and trade.
The Chair asked if there was likely to be an impact on the UK’s economic position because of a lack of connectivity. In reply, Sir Howard said that many arguments in this area were likely ‘overstated’, but believed that a lack of free slots available at Heathrow meant it could not benefit from new routes over the next decade.
Domestic flights and HS2
Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders asked if domestic flights were factored into the Commission’s forecasts and if HS2 were reduce the need for them. Only one per cent of domestic aviation could be diverted onto HS2, Sir Howard said, confirming that they were part of forecasts.
Pressed by Mr Sanders on the question of an airport existing mainly for domestic travel, Sir Howard believed that London City Airport was closest to that model.
Questioned on the possible use of RAF Northolt, Sir Howard explained that the Ministry of Defence currently used it. He added that because it was co-terminus to Heathrow, many of the flights already took off and landed at about the same time.
Northern airports
Conservative MP Jason McCartney asked why the Commission was not giving more consideration to northern airports as options for new hubs. Noting his own northern roots, Sir Howard explained that they had examined options to improve the utilisation of regional airports. He added that the Commission had not held a meeting at Manchester Airport, but had held a day of consultation meetings in the city’s town hall.
The traffic distribution rules could not be changed to incentivise regional travel, Sir Howard said. He elaborated that the Commission had found that regional variations in Air Passenger Duty would lead to smaller connections and a poorer service.
Mr McCartney noted significant economic developments, such as the relocation of the BBC to Salford and opportunities for new markets as evidence that the northern economy was changing. In reply, Sir Howard insisted that the Commission’s forecasts were based on trends and that they believed there would not be ‘big shift in the balance of activity to airports in the north’.
Mr Stringer asked if the Government should declare an open skies policy in all regional airports to help improve competition with the South East. Responding, the witnesses pledged to examine the issue if the legal advice given to the Commission on the matter could be shared with the Transport Committee.
Conservative MP Martin Vickers asked if the Commission had assumed that a growing economy would mean that passengers would want to travel long distances to use a hub airport in the South East as opposed to a regional one. Responding, Sir Howard explained that Heathrow’s competitive advantage was in the network of routes available from it.
Business travel
Mr Vickers asked if business travel was projected to increase for low-cost airlines. In reply, Sir Howard said that it accounted for roughly 20 per cent travel with Ryanair and easyJet, feeling that it was appropriate for many businesses to use them.
Implementing short-term recommendations
Conservative MP Chloe Smith asked what steps could be taken to improve over ground transport, for example in improving links to Stansted. She also asked why a new noise authority should be established. There would be a ten to 15-year gap before a new runway would come on stream, Sir Howard said, noting that it was important to address issues like surface access and noise in the short-term. He felt that it made sense to attach a higher weight to investment that would improve airports within that period. Improvements in access would include changes to the Stansted Express and a new station at Gatwick, Sir Howard said, noting that the Government had supported these changes in the National Infrastructure Plan.
On the subject of noise, he explained that the Commission had found that separate aviation noise authorities worked well in countries such as France or Germany. Sir Howard further explained that the Independent Noise Authority would rule on cases of airport noise as well as being a statutory consultee on the issue. He added that there would not be any overlap with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Later, asked by the Chair as to why the CAA should not oversee aviation noise, Sir Howard believed that a ‘focused, targeted, independent authority’ would increase public confidence in the process. Questioned by Ms Smith, Sir Howard believed that the numbers of people affected at given noise levels would fall over the next decade as new aircraft were brought in. Later questioned by the Chair, he said, ‘I am not hiding the fact that there will still be a lot of people affected by noise at Heathrow’.
Ms Smith asked if the Commission would be able to monitor the implementation of its short-term recommendations. Responding, Sir Howard explained that they would read the Government’s response to the interim report with interest whilst also pushing forward with the second phase of their work.
Sir Howard explained that more examination would be done on the issue in the second phase of the Commission’s work.
Separate hubs
The Chair asked if the Commission believed that there could be separate hubs at both Heathrow and Gatwick airports. In reply, Sir Howard said that the Commission had suggested that it was not a choice between ‘hub and no hub’. He cited the example of Milan Airport as one where the traditional distinction had broken down. He pointed to the rapid growth in point-to-point low-cost airlines and the question of how this would impact on the future of the aviation sector. Sir Howard affirmed that careful consideration had been given before the Gatwick option had been shortlisted.
Isle of Grain studies
The Chair asked what work the Commission would undertake on the Isle of Grain proposals. In reply, Sir Howard said that four studies would be undertaken, including on surface access, environmental impact, effect on the economic geography and airline behaviour.
Timings and costs
Asked to provide a rough deadline for the construction of each shortlisted option, Mr Graham said that a new runway could be built at Heathrow around 2026 and at Gatwick at around 2025. He added that proponents of the Isle of Grain proposals believed it could be built by 2029.
On the question of cost, Mr Graham said it the Gatwick and Heathrow options would roughly cost £15bn to £20bn, whereas the Isle of Grain would be around £120bn. These did not take into account how much cost would be borne by the public and private sectors.
Four-runway solution
Questioned by Mr Stringer on the Heathrow four runway solution put forward by the Policy Exchange think tank, Sir Howard explained that the process of building over reservoirs, which the proposal involved, was too difficult, too expensive and would take too long.
21 Jan 2014 – The House of Commons Library have published a Standard Note on Airports in the south east of England, under the present and previous governments, including the December 2013 Interim Report from the Airports Commission. Please note Heathrow Airport is covered in a separate note: SN1136 .
The Labour Government’s 2003 aviation White Paper generally supported a ‘predict and provide’ approach, which envisioned demand for air transport in the South East increasing dramatically over the following 25 years. Consequently, it supported the construction of a second runway at Stansted and a third runway at Heathrow. Expansion at Gatwick would be limited by the Gatwick Agreement, which prevents expansion at Gatwick until 2019. It generally supported the growth of smaller airports in the South East, though it rejected plans to expand capacity in the Thames Estuary area.
The Coalition Government published its Aviation Policy Framework in March 2013 – this is largely a collection of technical changes that could be made to airports to increase capacity, improve efficiency and ensure that aviation growth in the UK is sustainable in terms of noise and environmental pollution.
The Airports Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Howard Davies, was set up in September 2012 and tasked with making recommendations as to the timing and scale of any future airport capacity. It will not publish its final report and recommendations until after the 2015 General Election but in December 2013 it published an interim report short listing a new runway at Gatwick; indicating that it would carry out ‘additional analysis’ on the viability of an Isle of Grain Thames Estuary Airport, and postponing consideration of a new runway at Stansted until at least 2040.
Information on the other airports in the UK outside of the South East and London can be found in HC Library Note SN323; and there are a separate notes on London Heathrow, SN1136, and proposals for a Thames Estuary airport, SN6144.
21 Jan 2014 – The House of Commons Transport Select Committee will be holding a public evidence session on offshore helicopter safety at the University of Aberdeen on 27 January. Commenting ahead of the visit, Louise Ellman, chair of the Transport Committee said, ‘helicopter accidents in the offshore sector is a major cause for concern. After the events of last summer involving helicopter fatalities off the Shetland Isles, the Committee decided to look closely at what might be done to curb the risks that offshore workers face from helicopter transport. We are coming to Aberdeen to hear from workers themselves, oil and gas firms, helicopter manufacturers, operators and pilots’. Witnesses will include: Luke Farajallah, Managing Director, Bond Offshore Helicopters; Duncan Trapp, Vice President, Safety and Quality, CHC Helicopter; Mike Imlach, Director, Bristow Helicopters; Steve Todd, National Secretary, RMT; Captain Colin Milne, Chairman of BALPA’s Helicopter Affairs Committee; Gilles Bruniaux, Vice President, Fleet Safety, Airbus Helicopters; and Robert Paterson, Health, Safety and Employment Issues Director, Oil & Gas UK
Government News
23 Jan 2014 – UK National Statistics has published the statistical datasets ‘Monthly statistics on Air Passenger Duty receipts and passenger numbers for the UK’, for December 2013, and January 2014. Both datasets are available as downloadable spreadsheets.
23 Jan 2014 – The Department for Transport has published a report – ‘Department for Transport mid year report to Parliament: April to September 2013’. This is a review of the progress made by the Department against it’s objectives for the April to September 2013 period.
23 Jan 2014 – The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published a new report on the views of organisations administering holiday protection schemes across Europe on proposals to revise the European Package Travel Directive. The CAA has developed the report following a workshop held in London in November, which the CAA organised to bring together the various implementers of the European Package Travel Directive.
House of Commons Questions
Luff – Article 6(e) of the European Commission’s Regulation 2027/97/EC
23 Jan 2014
Sir Peter Luff (Conservative, Mid Worcestershire): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the Government asked for the removal of article 6(e) from the EU Commission’s proposal for a revision of Regulation 2027/97/EC; and what his Department’s policy is on article 6(e) of that proposal.
Robert Goodwill, (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Conservative, Scarborough and Whitby): The Department is of the opinion that hand luggage allowances are a commercial decision for airlines to manage and justify.
Shannon – Powers to monitor and control the prices of flights from London to Belfast
21 Jan 2014
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist, Strangford): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to (a) monitor and (b) control the prices of flights to London from Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport.
Robert Goodwill, (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Conservative, Scarborough and Whitby): The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) monitors airfares to ensure they comply with the specific price transparency requirements set out in Article 23 of EC 1008/2008, the Air Services Regulation. Airlines are required to display airfares clearly and transparently and prices must be inclusive of all unavoidable and foreseeable taxes, fees, charges and surcharges at all times. There are a number of further requirements that relate to the way optional price supplements are presented and the breakdown of the airfare. The purpose of these requirements is to ensure consumers can compare the cost of flights effectively. The CAA has powers to enforce the requirements of Article 23 of the Air Services Regulation and has used these powers to ensure airlines display clear and transparent prices.
The price of flights on London to Belfast routes is not subject to control or regulation. Airlines are free to set their own prices and these reflect the route specific demand and supply conditions; the choice of London origin and Belfast destination airport; the service offered by the airline and; underlying market factors. Consumers are able to select flights and prices that best suit their needs.
House of Lords debates
21 Jan 2014 – The House of Lords debated reducing regulatory burdens relating to General Aviation (GA). In the debate peers were told that the value of the GA sector and its contribution to the UK economy ‘should not be underestimated’. Answering a question on steps taken by the Government to reduce regulatory burdens relating to GA, Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said the sector covered a wide spectrum of aircraft types and activities. A summary of the debate is provided below. A full transcript of the debate is available here.
Lord Rotherwick began the debate by asking Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to reduce regulatory burdens relating to GA. Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said the sector covered a wide spectrum of aircraft types and activities. There were around 20,000 civilian aircraft registered in the UK, of which 95 per cent were engaged in GA activities, she added.
‘The value of the GA sector and its contribution to the UK economy should not be underestimated. The 2006 strategic review of GA, carried out by the CAA, estimated the UK’s GA industry to be worth approximately £1.4bn in 2005,’ she told the House.
The Minister explained that in 2012, all existing aviation regulations were scrutinised and at the start of 2013 Conservative Minister without Portfolio Grant Shapps proposed extending the Government’s red tape challenge further. She assured Members that the red tape challenge was being handled in a ‘most judicious way’ and when the panels reported; Ministers would consider very carefully any recommendations and discuss them with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The Minister also revealed that the GA red tape challenge received nearly 500 responses, which identified many areas where improvements were needed. They also highlighted the need for a change in the approach to regulating GA.
‘In response to this, a substantial programme of reform has recently been launched with the aim of helping to support a vibrant UK GA sector,’ she added.
Furthermore, the CAA recognised the need to create a culture change in its regulation of the GA sector, and had incorporated the findings of the red tape challenge into its own internal review. On issues concerning the UK Border Agency, the Minister said the GA challenge panel planned to meet with the border agency next week.
For the Opposition, Shadow Transport Spokesperson Lord Davies of Oldham said he was concerned to hear that the UK Border Agency had ‘no idea’ what was going on with regard to flights.
‘As we all know, there is a large number of aircraft in this sector…and a plethora of airfields, at least 520, where aircraft can be landed, but the Border Agency tells us that it has no idea what is happening with regard to these airports. What is going on?’ he asked.
Lord Davies asked which regulations were being used to tight up that position, and said the Government should know about the nature of those flights.
Asking the question, Conservative peer Lord Rotherwick said UK GA involved far more aircraft and perhaps twice as many flights per annum as did commercial air transport.
‘These are small aircraft in the main but there are significant gains in terms of economic and social benefit. If we effectively encourage the GA community there could be far more gains. An appropriate regulatory environment is fundamental to this,’ he claimed.
Media News
23 Jan 2014 – A number of outputs are now available form the RunwaysUK event held in London on 16 January, where Sir Howard Davies, Chair of the Airports Commission, was the keynote speaker. They are as follows; please click on the respective links: Videos; Speaker Presentations; Mindmaps; Photographs; #runwaysuk tweets ; Delegate List; Show Guide.
23 Jan 2014 – The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released further details of its recent structural reorganisation. The CAA had announced earlier in the year that it would be merging its airspace and safety functions to strengthen its oversight role.
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 20 Jan – 26 Jan
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 20 Jan – 26 Jan
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc