Contents
SASIG 2013/14 Meeting Dates
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Parliamentary News
Government News
House of Commons Questions
House of Lords Oral Questions
Media News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Dates
27 June 2014
24 October 2014
6 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
16 June 2014 – Director of Guernsey Airport, Colin Le Ray has said that it could take up to 20 years to pay back the cost of the terminal building, which opened in 2004 after coming in £7m over its original £16.4m budget. Mr Le Ray also said the time period could change if passenger numbers fluctuated.
16 June 2014 – Land’s End Airport is due to shut for more than two weeks next month as part of work to build hard-surface runways. The airport will close from 4 July to 20 July during which time Skybus services will fly from Newquay.
17 June 2014 – Newquay Airport saw its passenger numbers rise as storms during Winter 2014 affected rail users in Cornwall.
17 June 2014 – Members of the Airports Commission have visited areas of South West London, which would be impacted by any expansion at Heathrow Airport. During the visit Sir Howard spoke with Dee Scott, head teacher at Beavers Primary School which could face closure should the airport expand (link contains video footage).
18 June 2014 – Members of the European Parliament for Kent Nigel Farage and Janice Atkinson have written to the Civil Aviation Authority urging it to keep Manston Airport open. In a letter to Chairwoman Dame Deirdre Hutton, the two UKIP MEPs, who live in Westerham and Chislehurst respectively, say the closure is ‘economically damaging to east Kent’ and that the authority needs to invest in the site to ensure it has a viable future.
19 June 2014 – The Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport has welcomed talks between the UK Government and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on trade and visa requirements. Paul Kehoe, CEO at the airport, said the talks were essential for bolstering UK-China relations.
19 June 2014 – The campaign groups, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Campaign Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions East and Campaign Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions have met to discuss noise pollution and disturbance from planes flying overhead. The meeting, held in Tunbridge Wells town hall, also saw residents – many also from Bidborough and Speldhurst – discuss their concerns. They are now being submitted to Gatwick Airport Ltd and NATS (formerly National Air Traffic Services) as part of a consultation into problems in the South East created by the aviation industry.
19 June 2014 – People campaigning to reopen Manston Airport say they ‘have not lost hope’ that the airport may re-open. Also, one of the companies which used the airport, flying club T&G Aviation, has applied to the High Court to be able to continue to use the runway. The application will be heard on 27 June.
21 June 2014 – Pilots of light aircraft will be encouraged to vary their flight paths from Guernsey Airport in a bid to cut noise complaints. There was a rise in complaints last summer after the runway was moved 120m (392ft) to the west as part of a £80m refurbishment project. A spokesman for the airport said they could not find any operational changes that explained the increase in noise. The change is due to be enforced by the end of the month.
Industry News
16 June 2014 – The airline operator Cyprus Airways announced on Monday that it will sell its slot at Heathrow Airport to American Airlines for $31M. Cyprus will now transfer its Larnaca – London route to another London airport and will change its frequency and flight times.
16 June 2014 – NATS, the UK’s leading provider of air traffic services, launches a 12-week consultation today on a proposal to change the use of the existing routes for departures to the east and south of Stansted Airport. No new routes are proposed, only different usage of the existing routes. Full consultation documents are available here. The consultation opens 9 June and closes 8 September 2014.
19 June 2014 – The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said they welcome the clarification the Court of Appeal ruling brings to the issue of how far back passengers can go when claiming compensation for disrupted flights. The judgment in the Thomson v Dawson case means that passengers have a maximum of six years to take their compensation case to court. The Holiday Company Thomson had argued that a two year limitation on claims should apply, based on the limits included in the Montreal Convention (international aviation law). However, the Court of Appeal ruled that EC261/2004 – the European regulation covering passenger rights during disruption – is separate from the Montreal Convention. This means that passengers can refer compensation claims to the courts for flights going back six years, which is the maximum length of time that courts in England and Wales will allow before cases are barred from being brought.
European News
17 June 2014 – ACI Europe in partnership with SEO Aviation Economics have published a report by, entitled ‘Airport Industry Connectivity Report’, looking at Europe’s total airport connectivity (direct and indirect), onward connectivity from Europe and hub connectivity. It also analyses differences between European Union (EU) and non-EU airports and between different airport size categories. The report highlights the loss of connectivity market share of EU hubs to non-EU European hubs such as Istanbul and Moscow and to non-European hubs in the Middle East.
Parliamentary News
17 June 2014 – During a session on NATS and air traffic control services, the Transport Committee heard from three representatives of NATS – Chief Executive, Richard Deakin; Managing Director of Services, Catherine Mason; and Managing Director of Operations, Martin Rolfe. Footage of the full session can be viewed here at Parliament’s website. A full summary of the event is shown below
UK airspace
Opening the session, Chair of the Committee Louise Ellman asked how much UK airspace NATS was responsible for. Responding, Mr Deakin said that his organisation was responsible for on route air navigation for the UK and the eastern side of the Atlantic, as well as tower services at 15 airports. He said that NATS worked to ensure efficient flight paths for aircraft, as well as minimising disruption for arrivals and departures. Changing part of the air space would impact airports and vice versa, Mr Deakin said, adding that it was important to maintain an efficient system. He explained that Mr Rolfe and a NATS team had worked with the airlines over the previous summer to identify likely sources of disruption and what the best solutions were.
Flight paths
Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick asked what the relationship between NATS, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the airports were on flight paths. He also raised particular concerns over noise levels from flights, citing his experiences as a London MP. In reply, Mr Rolfe explained that decisions on paths were taken on a European level before being enacted on a local level by the CAA. He said that flights flying under 4,000 feet were the responsibility of airports, whereas between 4,000 feet and 7,000 feet it was a mixture of responsibility and above that was solely the purview of NATs. There were a variety of factors governing day-to-day flights including weather, Mr Rolfe said.
Questioned by Mr Fitzpatrick, he said that aircraft had become less noisy over the last ten years and that most aircraft coming into Heathrow flew a similar flight pattern. Mr Rolfe admitted that despite the uses of new technology, there were parts of the business that were coming under capacity constraints.
Operations outside of London
Conservative MP Jason McCartney asked which airports NATS operated around the rest of the UK. In reply, Ms Mason noted that they handled 14 towers outside of London including at Glasgow, Cardiff and Manchester Airports. She said that other towers were managed in-house or contracts were held by groups such as Serco.
NATS would look to new procedures and technology, including radar in the towers and remote towers, in order to secure renewals in a competitive market, Ms Mason said. Mr Deakin called for the greater liberalisation of the European aviation market to allow NATS to expand overseas, especially into continental market. Questioned by the Chair, he agreed that NATS often felt vulnerable in that foreign Governments could bid for UK air traffic control services, but not vice versa.
EU-US Open Skies Agreement
The Chair asked if the proposed EU-US Agreement, Open Skies Plus, would also pose a threat to NATS. Responding, Mr Deakin disagreed on the grounds that the scheme was about driving forward efficiency in Europe. He said that there was a debate over whether competition or regulation was the best driver for efficiency, adding that NATS favoured the former.
Following this, Mr Rolfe said that the EU-US had removed some barriers to liberalisation, but had not necessarily encouraged other countries to embrace it. Mr Deakin affirmed that his organisation was committed to the wider efficiency agenda of EU-US Plus. He also said that NATS would be looking to reduce its prices by 20 per cent for customers over the coming regulatory period.
Cost pressure and maintaining safety
The Chair asked how costs could be reduced whilst maintaining safety standards. If demand was too high, then capacity was sacrificed to maintain safety, said Mr Rolfe.
The Chair asked if the separation of safety critical support functions from air traffic control posed a risk. Responding, Mr Rolfe said that NATS and the Department for Transport did not support the enforced separation of functions at a European level. He said he believed that the legislation had been amended to take out the provisions on enforced separation.
NATS and the CAA
Labour MP Jim Dobbin asked if NATS had held conversations with the CAA and the UK and Scottish Governments on the implications of the Scottish independence referendum for air traffic control. In reply, Mr Rolfe noted that the SNP’s White Paper had stated that an independent Scottish Government would seek to buy a share in NATS. The UK Government currently held a 49 per cent stake in the company.
Overseas expansion
The Chair asked what NATS overseas expansion strategy was. Responding, Ms Mason pointed to the recent opening of offices in the Middle East, noting that the organisation hoped to maintain high quality UK operations.
Value for money and privatisation
Labour MP Graham Stringer asked if NATS had saved the taxpayer money since privatisation. In reply, Mr Deakin said that his company would achieve a reduction in prices over the coming period, noting that flight delays had fallen since NATS had been privatised.
Mr Stringer asked how NATS had worked with the CAA during the Icelandic ash cloud crisis in 2010. Responding, Mr Deakin said that he had been in regular contact with the CAA over the period, noting that the organisations had worked closely together throughout the event.
Near misses
Mr Stringer asked if there had been any near misses with aircraft over central London in the last fortnight. He recalled an incident he claimed to have witnessed from the House of Commons terrace where two aircraft appeared to pass close to each other. Mr Deakin confirmed that there had not been. He went onto explain that aircraft often seen to be passed close together from the ground were often separated by 1,000 feet in height.
NATS and the Airports Commission
The Chair asked if NATS had been satisfied over its work with the Davies Commission. In reply, Mr Deakin explained that NATS had been working with the Commission over the impact of adding new runways to each option, including on each airport and on the network as a whole.
The Chair inquired if the Airports Commission and Transport for London (TfL) had been right to cite NATS in concerns that London City Airport would have to temporarily close if a new Thames Estuary airport was built. In reply, Mr Rolfe said that NATS had simply highlighted that any new runways around London would put pressure on all airports around the Capital. Pressed by the Chair, Mr Deakin said that if the Davies Commission had used NATS’ figures incorrectly then it would seek to clarify that.
Environmental agenda
Questioned by the Chair, Mr Deakin said that the environmental agenda in aviation was at the forefront of NATS’ work. He claimed that the level of carbon dioxide in the UK airspace would fall by four per cent that year, with a target of a ten per cent drop by 2020. Mr Rolfe claimed that 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide would be saved by 2020. He went on to explain that NATS were the only operator in Europe that had financial incentives to meet environment targets. The organisation could face bonuses or penalties of one per cent of revenue if they met or missed the criteria. Later, outlining efficiency measures and attempts to reduce noise pollution, Mr Rolfe said that proper route management could achieve both of these aims. He explained that NATS were currently trialling new technology to specify routes that did not take aircraft over urban areas or were able to provide respite to some areas during the day.
Acknowledging that there needed to some restrictions on the operation of airports, Mr Rolfe pointed to the work of the Future Airspace Strategy group, which he chaired along with the CAA. Within this forum, he felt that the relevant parties had a handle on all the steps needed to be taken to change unnecessary rules.
Employment, salaries and retention
The Chair asked if the EU–US Open Skies Agreement Phase Two would reduce lead to cost pressures and investment in new technology that in turn threatened the number of jobs available in the air traffic control sector. In reply, Mr Deakin said that there could potentially be some job losses.
NATS had recently invested heavily in new technology and always sought to bring down its direct operating cost, he said, adding that the company was undergoing a voluntary redundancy programme that year as part of an attempt to drive down costs. However, Mr Deakin insisted that the company enjoyed an engaged and consultative dialogue with unions, but noted that there was still some way to go before customers could enjoy the benefits of efficiencies.
Responding to Mr McCarthy over air traffic controller salaries, Mr Rolfe said that only a small proportion of NATS’ 1,800 employees earned over £100,000. Adding to this, Mr Deakin said that NATS had achieved some savings in shifting from defined benefit pension schemes to defined contribution schemes. Ms Mason explained that salary levels varied across Europe, as NATS employed people in line with local market conditions. Commenting on rates of retention, Mr Deakin explained that despite a small number of voluntary redundancies, most controllers would see out their whole career with NATS. He believed that the staff attrition rate was less than two per cent.
Europe and regulation
The Chair asked if NATS was discussing organisational structures in relation to European regulation with the UK Government. Noting that NATS was a privatised company, compared to state or Government-run air traffic bodies, Mr Deakin hoped that DfT would raise concerns over competition during the Italian EU Presidency. Moreover, he praised DfT in acting not only as a regulator for NATS, but also as its champion on a European level. Mr Deakin also added that NATS had expanded to 36 countries outside of the UK, thanks to support from UKTI.
19 June 2014 – The House of Commons Library have published the standard note – ‘Aviation: airport regulation’. This note sets out the regulatory framework at UK airports, including recent reforms in the Civil Aviation Act 2012, and explains the role of the regulator, the CAA. The 2012 Act introduced a new regulatory regime at the UK’s major airports (in the event only Heathrow and Gatwick), based on assessment of market power and focused on the interests of passengers and airports’ customers (airlines etc.). These changes were the culmination of several years of consultation by both the previous Labour and present Coalition governments.
Government News
17 June 2014 – The Government has refused to comment on any potential expansion at Heathrow Airport. At a House of Lords question time, Treasury spokesman Lord Newby said the Airports Commission would present its conclusions on new airport capacity in the summer next year, ‘in the meantime the Government doesn’t propose to comment on any of the short-listed options,’ he told peers at question time.
18 June 2014 – Sir Howard Davies spoke to the London Assembly. Footage of the session can be viewed here under archived webcasts. Sir Howard also took questions on issues such as noise and climate change.
19 June 2014 – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport and Aviation Minister, Mr Robert Goodwill gave a speech outlining the importance of tourism to the UK economy. Mr. Goodwill spoke about issues such as the Tourism Council, The Passport Office, HS2, and Crossrail also touching briefly on the Airports Commission process and Surface Access to airports. A full transcript of the speech is available here.
19 June 2014 – The Secretary of State for Transport has announced that Virgin Trains has been awarded the contract for rail services on the West Coast Main Line. The direct award contract will run for 2 years and 9 months.
House of Commons Questions
Kirby, S – Travel-to-work patterns of staff of airports and airlines
16 June 2014
Simon Kirby, PPS to Sport and Tourism Minister Hugh Robertson (Conservative, Brighton, Kemptown): To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what statistics his Department collects on the travel-to-work patterns of staff of airports and airlines; and if he will make a statement.
Robert Goodwill, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport and Aviation Minister (Conservative, Scarborough and Whitby): The Department holds data from the ONS Labour Force Survey on the travel time from home to work, and the method of transport used to travel, for people employed in the passenger and freight air transport industries, as well as those employed in service activities incidental to air transport. This data is published annually in Transport Statistics Great Britain, in tables TSGB0108–TSGB0112, available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-statistics-great-britain-2013 . The survey does not however separate out those staff working specifically in airports and airlines.
MacNeil, A – Plans to devolved Air Passenger Duty to Scotland
17 June 2014
Angus MacNeil, Transport / Environment, Food and Rural Affairs / Fishing and Tourism Spokesperson (Scottish National Party, Na h-Eileanan An Iar (Western Isles)): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to devolve air passenger duty to Scotland.
Nicky Morgan, Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Conservative, Loughborough): Beyond the powers in the Scotland Act 2012, the Government has no plans for further devolution of tax powers to Scotland until the referendum on Scottish independence has been settled. 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 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.
House of Lords Oral Question
Spicer – Forecast of the tax revenue raised as a result Heathrow expansion
20 June 2014
Lord Spicer (Conservative peer): To ask Her Majesty’s Government what forecast they have made of the tax revenue which will be raised from employment and investment as a result of the construction of a third runway at Heathrow.
Lord Newby (Liberal Democrat peer):My Lords, the Government have not made any forecasts of this type. The Airports Commission has been tasked with independently assessing the options for proposed new airport capacity and will present its analysis and conclusions in its final report in summer 2015. In the mean time, the Government do not propose to comment on any of the shortlisted options.
Lord Spicer:If it requires a third runway to make Heathrow fully effective, I suspect that many if not most of your Lordships would accept that it should be built. Indeed, I guess that many of your Lordships will agree with me that it is almost bound to be built at some point in the future. The Cornish, I think, would call that “shortly”, but we would just say “in the future”. There is only one supplementary question that I can think of to ask my noble friend—politely and agreeably, I hope—and that is: when?
Lord Newby: I am tempted, of course, to say “shortly”, but it is the next Government who will respond to the report of the Davies commission. However, I think that it is worth pointing out that the Davies commission concluded that although one new runway will be needed, it will not be needed in the south-east until 2030.
Lord Soley (Labour peer): Does the Minister recognise, with the Chinese Prime Minister and trade delegation in town, that this will not be the first time that the Chinese have raised with us the lack of runway space at our premier hub airport for their expanding economy? Why, then, does the Minister persist with this silly idea that Britain is closed for business because we do not expand our airports?
Lord Newby: My Lords, it is not for the Government to decide the priorities of individual airlines flying out of Heathrow or anywhere else. However, the noble Lord will be aware that, in September last year, British Airways launched a new service from Heathrow to Chengdu. He will undoubtedly also be aware that our current bilateral flight agreement with China, which sets a constraint on the number of flights that we can have to China, is up for review. Discussions on that will take place next month.
Lord Brabazon of Tara (Conservative peer): Does my noble friend have any estimate of the current number of people employed around Heathrow—not at Heathrow, but around Heathrow—in businesses directly involved with Heathrow, such as hotels, catering, freight and others? What would happen to them if Heathrow were to move?
Lord Newby: My Lords, I am not going to speculate on what might happen in any scenario, but one of the key points which I think lies behind the noble Lord’s question is that having an aviation hub in the UK is extremely important for the economy. The aviation sector employs tens of thousands of people and the Government believe that maintaining that hub status is very important.
Lord Barnett (Labour peer):Would the Government care to give us a case for delaying the decision—or is it the Lib Dems’ fault?
Lord Newby: I am tempted to say that I sometimes think that everything is the Lib Dems’ fault. However, this is an extremely important decision. It is a difficult decision, and it is very important that it is taken after the fullest possible consideration of all the factors.
Lord Hill of Oareford, The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Conservative peer): My Lords, we will hear from the Liberal Democrats, if we may.
Lord Bradshaw: I wonder whether the Minister might turn his mind to the very effective competition that Gatwick and Birmingham are now providing against Heathrow. Perhaps he will he also say that this is not simply a matter of tax revenue; it is very wide-ranging research about the impacts on employment and revenue for the Treasury, which takes a lot of time. I am certain that whoever caused the pause did so in the proper interests of the country.
Lord Newby: My Lords, my noble friend raises a very important point—which is that whatever happens in terms of a particular airport in London in the future, it is very important that we have a range of airport capacity. Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport play very important roles. My noble friend also referred to Gatwick. On current projections, Gatwick has spare capacity at the moment and will not fill it until about 2020.
Lord Davies of Oldham (Labour peer):My Lords, will the Minister accept two propositions: first, that good aviation links are vital for Britain’s competitiveness and our future economic success; and, secondly, that to govern is to choose? What items in the manifesto of the two coalition parties carried the rubric, “We will make up our minds possibly in five years’ time on this issue”?
Lord Newby: My Lords, the noble Lord will have to contain his impatience as far as manifestos are concerned, I suspect. I would just point out to him and to the House that the five airports serving London currently offer at least weekly direct services to more than 360 destinations worldwide. That is more than Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
Lord Mawhinney: My Lords, in his earlier answer my noble friend correctly said that it is not the job of the Government to dictate to airlines to which airports they should fly. In the event that Heathrow ceases to provide a suitable hub for this country, given overcrowding, and airlines start to move out, is it thereby implied that it is all right for the Government to tell airlines where they should not fly from, even if it is not all right to tell them where they should fly from?
Lord Newby: My Lords, I do not think that it is a good idea for Government to try to micromanage the commercial decisions of individual airlines.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour peer): My Lords, this is a question that the noble Lord can answer. Will he tell the House, please, how many international flights have migrated from Heathrow to Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle and Düsseldorf in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? If he cannot answer now, will he do so in writing?
Lord Newby: My Lords, I am happy to ask colleagues at the Department for Transport to write to the noble Lord, but I do not think that the matter is as straightforward as that. Individual airlines have a whole raft of decisions to take into consideration when they decide what they are going to do. To say simply that lack of capacity is always the cause of the kind of decision that the noble Lord talks about is to oversimplify the matter. However, I will suggest to my colleagues in the Department for Transport that they drop him a line.
Media News
16 June 2014 – The Members of Parliament, Crispin Blunt, Sir Paul Beresford, Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames, Rt Hon Sir John Stanley, and Charles Hendry have formed the Gatwick Coordination Group following a meeting at the House of Commons on 11 June 2014. The Gatwick Coordination Group is established to represent local concern at the plan for a second runway at Gatwick Airport which has been shortlisted by the Davies Commission.
18 June 2014 – Speaking at the ‘Shaping a growing London: the place of an airport’ conference, Gatwick Airport non-executive director and former UK director general of Civil Aviation, David McMillan said that a second runway at the Gatwick airport would ‘complete the compass’ of the capital’s regeneration. Mr McMillan said another runway at Gatwick would bring ‘a huge jobs and business boost’, and citing West, North and most lately East London’s impact in the capital.
19 June 2014 – The Liberal Democrat Party are reported to be considering their opposition to airport expansion in their manifesto.
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 16 June – 22 June
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 16 June – 22 June
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc