Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Parliamentary News
Government News
House of Commons Questions
House of Lords Questions
Media News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
27 June 2014
24 October 2014
13 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
31 Mar 2014 – Air China is set to resume flights between Gatwick and Beijing following a break in service over the winter. The airline operator is to run four flights a week during the summer using an Airbus A330 in a two-call configuration with 30 business class seats and 207 in economy.
31 Mar 20143 – Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said that a new city with 190,000 homes and ‘thousands of jobs’ could be created if Heathrow Airport were to close in West London. The Mayor announced his ‘Heathrow City plan’ which envisions the future of the site if the Airports Commission opts for a new airport in Thames Estuary. The Labour Party has said the plans would ‘wreck west London’s economy’ and the Green Party has warned about the estuary’s environment. The plans for the Heathrow City development were designed by global real estate advisers Jones Lang LaSalle.
31 Mar 2014 – Kent’s Lydd Airport has announced that the first phase of its £25m development plan is now underway with the appointment of Capita to manage and design its runway extension. The airport’s 294m runway extension, plus a 150m starter extension, will be the first phase of its development plans, which also include a new terminal building with capacity for up to 500,000 passengers annually. Capita, part of the design team for London’s £14.8bn Crossrail transport scheme, will provide project, cost, construction and design management services for the airport.
1 Apr 2014 – The Dutch airline operator KLM has re-introduced a fourth daily service to Schiphol from Norwich. It is anticipated that rhe increased frequency will provide better connections to destinations such as Dubai, Lima and Toronto.
1 Apr 2014 – A new campaign group has formed among communities living around the Gatwick Airport area are protesting that changes to the airport’s flight paths create too much noise. The Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions (CAGNE) was created earlier this year and already has more than 300 members across Sussex, who are angry at the airports new flight paths.
1 Apr 2014 – Airports operator Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has announced plans to expand its planning team to cope with an increasing workload at Manchester Airport. The group’s property development arm, MAG Property, is working on Airport City – an £800m office, logistics and manufacturing development that will be the focal point of Greater Manchester’s enterprise zone. MAG Property is leading the 10-15 year project, and is working with developers Argent, and a joint-venture partnership that includes Beijing Construction Engineering Group, Carillion and Greater Manchester Pension Fund. The company said that although there was a simplified planning process within the zone, it needed new staff to cope with the detailed planning work that is still required. MAG is also seeking new planning staff to cope with an increasing workload at Stansted Airport.
3 Apr 2014 – Workers at Manston Airport have presented short-term and long-term business plans to the airport’s management in an attempt to ensure the viability of the Kent airport. Regional Officer of the Unite union, Ian McCoulough said, ‘the workforce prepared two impressive business plans in a very short time to save Manston from closure for the management to consider … the management have now taken away the plans to consider and we will be meeting them again next Thursday (10 April).’ The Government has been approached for help at the airport after an offer from an unnamed buyer was withdrawn. The Leader of the House of Commons, Mr Andrew Langley, has pledged to raise the issue with Transport ministers.
3 Apr 2014 – Prime Minister David Cameron has denied suggestions that Birmingham Airport is being overlooked in the Government’s long term aviation strategy. He visited the airport on Thursday where a new £40m runway extension is nearing completion. (Link contains video footage).
4 Apr 2014 – Leader of Rochford District Council, Terry Cutmore, has welcomed six new routes being provided by the airline operator Flybe, from Southend Airport. It is anticipated that 60 new jobs will be created as a result. The new routes are to: Rennes, Groningen, Münster Osnabrück, Cologne, Caen and Antwerp.
4 Apr 2014 -. London Gatwick has opened its public consultation on second runway options, which invites the local community to feedback online, by post or in person at one of 16 public exhibitions. The consultation provides further details and asks for views on the options Gatwick proposal to the Airports Commission in its July 2013 submission.
Chief Executive of Gatwick Airport, Stewart Wingate, said, ‘we are keen to encourage as many local people as possible to respond to our consultation as this feedback will have a key role in helping us to refine our runway proposals. The consultation is a chance for the local community to find out more about our proposals, ask questions and have their say on our plans for a second runway’.
Gatwick Airport is consulting on three options.
- Option 1 is a new runway 585m south of the existing runway.
- Option 2 would be 1,045m to the south. For both of these options, one runway would used for landings and the other for take-offs.
- Option 3 is also 1,045m to the south but the two runways would be used independently.
Based on its work to date on the options, Gatwick has established a provisional order of preference which is detailed in the consultation document, with Option 3 being the preferred first choice. The Airports Commission focused its assessment on this option for last December’s Interim Report but said it would, however, keep this under review.
Gatwick Airport say that they will use the responses to this consultation to refine its plans and conclude on the option it prefers. They will then ask the Airports Commission to take that option forward for further consideration as part of its evaluation process and subsequent advice to the Government in the summer of 2015.
People can respond, get more information and find the full details of where the public exhibitions will be held at www.gatwickairport.com/consultation.
Residents and businesses across parts of Sussex, Kent and Surrey have been sent letters about the consultation process in recent weeks which include details of the locations and timings of the public exhibitions.
The six-week public consultation runs from 4 April to 16h May 2014.
Public consultations will be held in Crawley, Rusper, Smallfield, Ifield, Lingfield, Horsham, Crowborough, East Grinstead, Reigate, Crawley Down, Horley, Charlwood, Dorking, Edenbridge, Felbridge, Epsom.
Industry News
31 Mar 2014 – Based on reports from over 1105 airports worldwide, Airports Council International (ACI) preliminary passenger traffic results for 2013 show that the top six ranked positions with respect to the world’s busiest airports remained unchanged as compared to the previous year – Although Atlanta (-1.1 per cent) remains the world’s busiest airport, Beijing (+2.2 per cent) continues to close the gap in second position. London-Heathrow (+3.3 per cent) remains in third while Tokyo-Haneda (+3.2 per cent) preserves fourth position. Chicago-O’Hare (+0.2 per cent) and Los Angeles (+4.7) maintain fifth and sixth ranks respectively.
One of the fastest-growing airports in the world is Dubai, moving from 10th to 7th rank. Dubai passenger traffic grew by over 15 per cent in 2013. Istanbul (18th rank) and Malaysia (20th rank) were two other airports experiencing double-digit growth rates, increasing by 13.6 per cent and 19.1 per cent respectively.
The world’s largest air cargo hub continues to be Hong Kong (+2.3 per cent). Memphis (+3 per cent) is in second followed by Shanghai (-0.3 per cent) in third rank. Incheon (+0.3 per cent) and Dubai (+6.8 per cent) move up ahead of Anchorage (-1.7 per cent) to the 4th and 5th positions respectively (see tables 1, 2 and 3).
31 Mar 2014 – The airline operator easyJet has agreed a new 10 year contract with Luton Airport which could see the airline more than double its size at the airport from four to nine million passengers a year. The expansion would also see the creation of 2,500 new jobs at the airport – the UK’s sixth largest – and in the surrounding region. easyJet has 15 aircraft based at Luton, its second largest base, and plans to grow its capacity by around 20 per cent over the next year – adding new business and leisure routes and increasing frequencies on some of its existing 39 routes from Luton.
1 Apr 2014 – British Chambers of Commerce have published a report ‘Heathrow: A national asset’ which aims to describe the impact of an expanded Heathrow Airport, to the UK. The report argues that businesses from a wide-range of sectors, from manufacturers to high-skilled service industries, would benefit from an expanded Heathrow Airport. Additionally, it asserts that increasing runway capacity at Heathrow would reduce ticket prices for passengers, allow new airlines to compete in the market and open up access to new routes.
1 Apr 2014 – The rail union RMT has announced that it is to begin balloting staff this week across Heathrow Express for industrial action in response to a package of multi-million pound cuts which amount to an all-out assault on pay, jobs and safety. Ballot papers will be sent out tomorrow (2 April) and the ballot – for both strike action and action short of a strike – will close on 15 April. RMT has had a formal notice that Heathrow Express plans to re-organise its workforce indicating that, in an attempt to save £6 million over the next five years, some 201 jobs are now placed under threat of redundancy, representing almost a half of the current workforce.
1 Apr 2014 – Global consultancy company Accenture has stated that it has reduced its carbon emissions per employee by 36 per cent against its 2007 baseline, primarily through increased use of video conferencing and green procurement standards. The company yesterday published its annual Corporate Citizenship Report, confirming that emissions per person have now fallen from 4.0 metric tons to 2.6 metric tons of CO2.
1 Apr 2014 – Heathrow Airport have announced that it would not appeal against new economic regulation which will see airport charges cut over the next five years. According the airport the cut in airport charges by RPI -1.5 per cent from 2014 will see Heathrow’s per passenger airline charges fall in real terms from £20.71 in 2013/14 to £19.10 in 2018/19.
1 Apr 2014 – A new operational procedure to cut the amount of time aircraft circle in ‘holding stacks’ at Heathrow Airport is set to begin today (1 April). Traditionally NATS, the UK’s air traffic service provider, has only been able to influence an arriving aircraft’s approach to Heathrow once it enters UK airspace – sometimes only 80 miles from the airport. This limits the opportunity to manage the flow of traffic and can result in additional time spent in the holding stacks. However, from today, if delays in the Heathrow holding stacks begin to build, air traffic controllers in the Netherlands, France, Scotland and Ireland will be asked to slow down aircraft up to 350 miles away from London to help minimise delays on arrival. The trial is being led by NATS in close cooperation with French air traffic control provider, DSNA, the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre and Prestwick Control Centre, with the aim of cutting average holding times by at least a quarter from the current time of just under 8 minutes.
1 Apr 2014 – The airline operator Saudia has reinstated its direct route from Jeddah to Manchester after five years.
1 Apr 2014 – TAM Airlines and US Airways have officially completed their transition from Star Alliance to Oneworld. The transfers are the largest single-day expansion for the airline alliance since its inception 15 years ago. As a result, Oneworld Alliance now has just fewer than 100 new destinations in its network, almost a 10 per cent increase.
2 Apr 2014 – Former Aviation Minister Michael Spicer has warned that British Airways may be forced from Heathrow Airport because of ‘uncertainties’ about the airport’s future capacity. Mr Spicer claimed the idea would have been ‘unthinkable in the 1980s’, as he urged ministers to address UK airport expansion.
European News
31 Mar 2014 – Members of the European Parliament will be presented with two choices this week that will likely determine the future of the Aviation European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) until at least 2016. As the lead environment committee (ENVI) voted by the narrowest of margins on March 19 to reject a trilogue compromise agreed with EU member states to continue with the ‘Stop the Clock’ (STC) scope of the scheme, the airspace proposal put forward by the European Commission and supported by a majority of ENVI members will be the text presented to the plenary session. However, the STC trilogue deal is expected to be tabled as an amendment and may well achieve majority support. Meanwhile, NGOs are urging MEPs to vote for the airspace approach while representatives from the aviation industry are calling for a vote against and in favour of the trilogue deal. The debate on the issue will be held on Wednesday April 2 with the vote taking place the following morning.
Having previously strongly supported the airspace proposal, in which an amendment to the Aviation EU ETS would see coverage of emissions from all flights taking place within European Economic Area (EEA) airspace from 2014, the Parliament’s rapporteur on the directive, Peter Liese, is now backing the STC scope that would apply to intra-EEA flights only until 2016. The agreement with EU states would see a reversion to the full international scope of the scheme from 2017 should ICAO fail to come up with an agreement to go ahead with a global market-based measure from 2020.
3 Apr 2014 – The European Parliament has voted to exempt international flights from paying for their carbon emissions following pressure from national governments not to extend current rules beyond domestic air travel. The European Parliament voted by 458 votes to 120 to support a proposal which would limit the current regulation to domestic flights until at least 2016.
Parliamentary News
‘The 20th Commonwealth Games are due to take place in Glasgow this summer. While overall responsibility for the security of the Games rests with Police Scotland, aviation is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament under devolution legislation. Police Scotland has, therefore, requested that the Government develop a set of temporary airspace restrictions from 13 July – 6 August to help protect the Games venues from potential airborne risks.
Initial proposals were developed during the autumn of last year, based on a scaled down version of the model used successfully during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Police Scotland, working with colleagues from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has subsequently engaged extensively with aviation representatives from the airports located within the proposed airspace restrictions to test the proposals and to develop mitigations to minimise the impact on business as usual.
As a result of that engagement work the Government, with the assistance of the CAA, refined its proposals and has now prepared the necessary Statutory Instruments to give effect to the temporary airspace restrictions that will be put in place for the Commonwealth Games. NATS, the UK’s en-route air traffic service provider and publisher of the UK’s aeronautical information, will be publishing the details of these Regulations on 17 April 2014 in a number of Aeronautical Information Circulars. In addition, full details of the planned airspace restrictions, including maps, will be published on the Airspace Safety Initiative web site at www.airspacesafety.com.
In total there are 6 sets of Regulations, two covering the Glasgow area (a core Prohibited Zone over the city’s Commonwealth Games venues and athletes’ village, surrounded by a larger Restricted Zone), and four smaller restrictions of shorter duration, protecting specific events – the cycling time trials at Muirhead, the triathlon events at Strathclyde Country Park, the diving competition at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh and the shooting competition at the Barry Buddon range near Dundee.
All the Regulations have been designed to allow aviation business to continue as usual so far as possible, while ensuring the safety and security of the Commonwealth Games. They also provide specific exemptions for aircraft such as those operated by the Police or emergency medical services to enter the protected airspace. We do not expect that any airports within the restricted airspace will need to close as a result of the planned measures, and there should be no impact on scheduled air services that will be vital to competitors, officials and spectators.
The Government’s paramount objective is the delivery of a safe and secure 2014 Commonwealth Games for all, and the airspace restrictions will help to provide this whilst minimising the impact on the aviation community, so far as possible. However, the Government reserves the right to implement additional airspace security measures should the need arise’.
Government News
1 Apr 2014 – The Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) new General Aviation Unit has been established and has begun work . The CAA is hoping that the new Unit will help to improve the Authority’s regulation capacity. Andrew Haines Chief Executive of the UK Civil Aviation Authority said, ‘I have been the first to admit that the way the CAA has regulated the UK’s general aviation sector has sometimes been disproportionate, and is in need of reform. The launch of the unit is a genuine indication of our commitment to regulate in a sensible and proportionate way. Of course, where there are clear safety justifications, the CAA will regulate to protect UK citizens, however we also recognise that we need to do that in a way that equally encourages a vibrant GA sector for the UK’.
House of Commons Questions
1 April 2014
Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist, East Londonderry): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of the removal of air passenger duty (APD) on the number of passengers travelling between Belfast and Newark International; and if he will take that assessment into account when considering changes to levels of APD for other flights from and within the UK.
Nicky Morgan: The Government does not monitor passenger volumes on individual routes. The published statistics on air passenger duty, including information on passenger numbers by band, are available at: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutyBulletins.aspx. The published statistics on airport passenger volumes are available at: http://www.caa.co.uk/airportstatistics. Budget 2014 announced the reform of air passenger duty with the abolition of bands C and D from 1 April 2015. This will eliminate the two highest rates of air passenger duty charged on flights to countries over 4,000 miles from Britain, cutting tax for millions for passengers to travelling to China, India, Brazil and many other emerging markets. This will mean that flights to South Asia and the Caribbean will pay tax at the lower band B rate. Air passenger duty is a relatively efficient and non-regressive tax, which makes an important contribution to the public finances.
3 April 2014
Dr Alan Whitehead, (Labour, Southampton, Test): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the HM Revenue and Customs computable general equilibrium model used to assess the effect on GDP of illustrative policies to meet targets in the fourth carbon budget includes (a) avoided costs of flooding and damage caused by flooding as a result of climate change, (b) a carbon price, (c) avoided costs of air pollution and (d) macroeconomic effects of an increased take up of domestic and commercial energy efficiency.
Nicky Morgan, Assistant Government Whip (Conservative, Loughborough): The scope of the analysis carried out by HM Revenue and Customs for DECC was to estimate the macroeconomic impact of the fourth carbon budget policies. The modelling therefore captured the macroeconomic effects of improvements in energy efficiency among households and businesses. It did not include the potential economic effects of any resulting reduction in environmental externalities, such as the avoided costs of flooding and avoided costs of air pollution as a result of the policies. The impact of the fourth carbon budget policies on the carbon price in the EU Emissions Trading System was taken into account in the modelling.
House of Lords Questions
31 March 2014
Lord Spicer (Conservative peer): To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the future ability of United Kingdom airlines to operate out of Heathrow Airport.
Baroness Kramer, The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Liberal Democrat peer): My Lords, the Government have made no such assessment. The future ability of United Kingdom and other airlines to operate at specific airports is a commercial matter for airlines and airports. The Government publish aviation forecasts for the UK, including air transport movements and passenger numbers, most recently in January 2013. The independent Airports Commission will report in 2015 on any recommended requirements for additional capacity to maintain the UK’s global hub status.
Lord Spicer (Conservative peer): Is the Minister aware that it is because of the uncertainties about capacity at Heathrow that British Airways is undecided about whether to keep a big hub there? Would that not have been unthinkable in the 1980s, for instance, when Heathrow was the No. 1 international airport in the world and when I was Minister of Aviation?
Baroness Kramer: My Lords, Heathrow is an incredibly successful airport where many people vie for slots. The commission has been clear that there is no crisis of capacity in the south-east now, although it concluded that we will need one additional runway in the south-east by 2030 and, in all likelihood, a second by 2050. In the mean time, the noble Lord will note that the UK has the third-largest aviation network in the world after the USA and China. London serves 360 destinations, in comparison to Paris at around 300 destinations and Frankfurt at 250.
Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat peer): As regards the information that we have had today about climate change, will the Minister update the House on what progress is being made to improve the ground connections, specifically the rail connections, from Heathrow, which matter whether or not we have a third runway there?
Baroness Kramer: My Lords, we expect the commission’s recommendation to be consistent with our plans to cope with climate change, but the noble Lord will of course be aware that the commission, among others, reported into HM Treasury’s national infrastructure plan, which was published on 4 December. That recommended quite a number of enhancements for rail access. As a consequence of that, work will be done to provide rail access at Heathrow from the south. More is being spoken about that today as part of the announcement of how Network Rail will spend £38 billion that has been provided. Indeed, further enhancements to surface access for Gatwick and Stansted are in that national infrastructure plan.
Lord Clinton-Davis (Labour peer): The Minister is complacent. Does she realise that while we delay, Frankfurt, Schiphol and Paris are all thriving and expanding? Meanwhile, the main sufferers will be British Airways and British aviation. Is it not time for an altered Heathrow to provide the obvious choice for expansion? In that way, British airlines will expand with it.
Baroness Kramer: My Lords, as the House will know, the Davies commission is looking precisely at the capacity issue in the south-east and will recommend what it considers to be the best way to respond to it. That report will come in 2015. The Government of the day will then decide how to respond to the report. Given the quality and quantity of the work, it would be wrong to pre-empt that decision.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent/Labour peer): My Lords, I congratulate the Government on their decision to extend Crossrail to Reading after much representation by the local authority, residents and indeed Members of Parliament. Will the Minister confirm that that will provide after 2019 a direct link to Heathrow, which will serve well not only Reading but the many other places that can be reached from Reading? I declare an interest as I live there.
Baroness Kramer: The link from the west is crucially important. More was said again today in the announcement about Network Rail and we are always delighted to hear congratulations.
Lord Davies of Oldham (Labour peer): We all know that the Government congratulate themselves on having kicked into the long grass the crucial issues of what to do about an additional runway in the south-east. But Sir Howard Davies produced an interim report in 2013, which had some constructive suggestions. I cannot for the life of me understand why the Government are similarly inert about those issues. For instance, one of his recommendations was that we should establish an ombudsman to identify the irritation, difficulties and problems associated with noise at Heathrow. Why on earth do the Government not act on that? After all, we know that the big problem with regard to the location of the additional runway is people’s anxiety about noise.
Baroness Kramer: The noble Lord is right that there are many interesting suggestions in the interim report. The Government will respond to that shortly, but they are substantial recommendations that deserve a great deal of consideration before we come to a conclusion. As I said, we will respond shortly, but unfortunately I am not in a position to do that today.
Baroness Tonge (Independent/Liberal Democrat peer): My Lords, will the Minister accept that the present method of measuring the noise of aircraft coming in and out of Heathrow is seriously deficient? In fact, the lowest levels disturb residents far more than anyone can imagine. Will she say what plans the Government have to revise how they measure noise levels from aircraft, following the noble Lord’s question earlier?
Baroness Kramer: The issue of noise, as people will understand, is a contentious one that has been addressed in a number of ways in the interim report presented by the Davies commission. Our response to that noise issue will be part of our response to the overall interim report.
The Lord Bishop of Birmingham: My Lords, will the Minister take note of the increased capacity of regional airports in this country—for example, the extended runway at Birmingham? Will she encourage airline users and businesses to use these airports not only for the convenience of British travellers but also for the increased capacity and enjoyment of visitors to this country?
Baroness Kramer: My Lords, it is indeed true that regional airports play a very important role. That has been widely recognised in the Aviation Policy Framework published by the Government last March. It is also true that Birmingham is expanding its runway; there are other upgrades of various kinds at both Bristol and Southend; and Manchester Airport is playing a very important role with its airport city enterprise zone development project. I recommend those airports strongly to anyone considering travelling.
Media News
31 Mar 2014 – The airline operator Flybe is implementing a brand and marketing strategy focusing on ‘time-saving travel’, including television spots, alongside a website overhaul and the introduction of purple as a colour it can ‘own’. Chief Commercial Officer Paul Simmons said that as Flybe has no airline competitors on 80 per cent of its routes the marketing will target road and rail users and champion the airline’s speed to destination.
1 Apr 2014 – The Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport, Colin Matthews is to leave his position in June after the opening of the New Terminal 2 building. Mr Matthews said, ‘it has been a privilege to serve as CEO of Heathrow for the last six years. With a strong leadership team, the company continues to raise standards of passenger service, improve efficiency and reduce costs. The opening of Terminal 2: the Queen’s Terminal in June this year is a further important step in the transformation of Heathrow, and long-term prospects are bright following the decision of the Airports Commission to shortlist our proposal for a new runway’.
Sir Nigel Rudd, Chairman of Heathrow Airport said commended Mr Matthews saying that ‘Colin has done a fantastic job of improving Heathrow for passengers and will remain as chief executive until his successor is in place to ensure a smooth transition’.
A successor is expected to be in place later this year. Prominent internal candidates include the Development Director, John Holland-Kaye, who is currently in charge of delivering the new Terminal 2 building, but previous appointments have been external, with Mr Matthews himself having previously been the Chief Executive at Severn Trent Water and British Airways Engineering Director.
3 Apr 2014 – Luton Airport has announced the five winning artists from its recent Gateway Gallery competition. The artists, all of whom are based in the Three Counties, will have the opportunity to showcase their work in the Airport’s exhibition space over the coming months, treating passengers to a collection of stunning contemporary art that explores textures, colours and patterns.
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 31 Mar – 6 Apr
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 31 Mar – 6 Apr
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc