Contents
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Date
Regional News
Industry News
European News
Parliamentary News
Government News
SASIG 2014/15 Meeting Date
6 March 2015
Meetings are held at Local Government House, Smith Square, SW1P 3HZ, location map.
Regional News
29 December 2014 – Member of Parliament for Mole Valley in Surrey Sir Paul Beresford has said that Gatwick Airport Limited has refused to appear publicly before MPs at the House of Commons to answer questions on their runway campaign. A group of MP’s ‘The Gatwick Coordination Group’ invited the airport’s Chief Executive Stewart Wingate to be questioned but representatives of Gatwick declined, saying it felt a further public meeting was unnecessary.
29 December 2014 – Renewable energy developer Empowering Wind Group, is taking legal action against Durham Tees Valley Airport. The company was granted planning permission in 2008 to build a 136m-tall turbine at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium but the airport blocked the development after claiming there was an issue with ‘air safety’. The company said it was now pursuing litigation against the airport. Middlesbrough Council approved planning permission for the turbine in 2008.
29 December 2014 – More work will have to be carried out at Guernsey Airport in 2015 to fix a number defects, despite an £80m redevelopment of the airfield. The work is likely to take place in the spring and will not cost any extra as it the current costs are covered by the existing contract with construction firm Lagan. The airport says it won’t impact on passengers, but they will be getting in touch with their neighbours and stakeholders in the new few months.
29 December 2014 – Airline operator Ryanair is to reduce some of its services from Bournemouth Airport in 2015. The frequency of some services will be reduced but the number of destinations will remain the same.
30 December 2014 – The airline operator Flybe has announced that it will be running twice-weekly flights from Exeter Airport to Deauville between June and September 2015 on Thursdays and Sundays.
31 December 2014 – Former Welsh Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has defended the north-south Wales air service following criticism over subsidies and declining passenger numbers. This has been criticised b aviation commentators.
1 January 2015 – Attracting long-haul flights to Cardiff Airport is one of the aims for its owners in the year ahead in a bid to boost passenger numbers. The airport was bought by the Welsh Government nearly two years ago – since then the terminal building, its facilities, technology and transport links have been improved.
1 January 2015 – Lydd Airport (London Ashford) is set to undergo £25M worth of development work that will see a 965ft expansion of the main runway and the construction of a new terminal. Contractors have been invited to submit bids for the work.
2 January 2015 – The airline operator Flybe is suspending its Inverness to London service due to lack of demand. A spokeswoman said the airline was ‘regrettably’ stopping the service from Sunday 22 February due to ‘lower than anticipated’ passenger numbers.
Industry News
30 December 2014 –Dubai International Airport is officially the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic, according to data from Airports Council International. 68.9m passengers passed through the airport over the 12 months ending in September of 2014, compared with 67.8m at Heathrow. The five other airports to register more than 50m passengers over this time were: Hong Kong International (61.9mppa) followed by Paris Charles De Gaulle (58.1mppa) and Amsterdam Schipol (54.3mppa), Singapore Changi (53.3mppa)and Frankfurt (52.6mppa).
European News
2 January 2015 – Russia’s second-largest airline operator Transaero Airlines has received a three-year, 9 billion ruble (£100 million) credit guarantee granted by the Russian Government. Transaero specifically thanked Russia’s finance and transport ministries, as well as the Federal Air Transport Agency and Vnesheconombank, for supporting new guarantees for loans it has with government-backed JSC VTB Bank.
Parliamentary News
Sir John said, ‘the key elements in any financial evaluation are the crucial lines of financial numbers and the assumptions behind those numbers. Let us consider the key document published by Gatwick Airport Ltd and the appendix entitled ‘Financial Model’. In paragraph 3.4 on financing, for example, we would expect lines of figures, but instead we have lines of scissors – every single figure has been redacted. When we look at similar paragraphs, the balance sheet or the cash-flow statement, similarly, it is all scissors. In the crucial paragraph on tax – tax payable is a critical element of a financial evaluation – again we find acute disappointment’.
Sir John went on to say that ‘in my view, Gatwick Airport Ltd is simply seeking a blank cheque from UK taxpayers, signed on their behalf to provide the surface access infrastructure that will be needed. In conclusion, on the grounds that Gatwick Airport Ltd has totally failed to be transparent about its financial evaluation, and has concealed the public expenditure implications of the infrastructure needed for a second runway, its proposal should be rejected by the Airports Commission’.
Government News
This latest consultation contains a number of proposals to reduce regulatory and administrative burdens in line with commitments made under the Red Tape Challenge, and to improve the overall effectiveness of LAQM in dealing with current air quality challenges. The consultation document is split into two parts: regulatory consultation on a statutory instrument to enable the removal of four redundant pollutants (Benzene; 1,3 Butadiene; Carbon Monoxide; and Lead) for local authority reporting purposes; and part two which provides an overview of non-regulatory changes such as streamlining of reporting processes and providing local authorities with a role to tackle PM2.5 (fine particulates) to be set out in statutory guidance. Part two will be subject to a further, more detailed consultation in late 2015.
An online survey is available for responses via the link above. Alternatively responses can be emailed to, [email protected]. Postal replies may be sent to: Sean O’Byrne, Area 2B, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR. Responses should be received by 30th January 2015.
30 December 2014 – The Airports Commission published Airports Commission consultation: Gatwick area public discussion session transcript. This report is the second in the series of public engagement sessions concerning the Airports Commission’s consultation about increasing long-term aviation capacity. The first, Airports Commission consultation: Heathrow area public drop in session, was held in the Heathrow area on 3 December 2014 and published on 9 December 2014.
30 December 2014 – The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch is assisting Indonesian Authorities in search for the missing Air Asia flight QZ 8501.
SASIG Regional&IndustryNews Bulletin 29 Dec – 4 Jan
SASIG ParliamentaryNews Bulletin 29 Dec – 4 Jan
The Parliamentary information in this Bulletin is sourced from De Havilland Information Services plc .