CAMPAIGN UPDATE - AT A GLANCE

Government hammered over runway confusion
The Government has provoked a storm of criticism by announcing a public inquiry into BAA's application for a second runway at Stansted Airport before deciding whether use of the airport's existing runway can be increased. "The Government has shown total disregard for the local community by announcing a public inquiry into a second runway before deciding on the first," said Carol Barbone, SSE campaign director. The decision was all the more irrational since the second runway application presumed a decision had been made on the first. "Local communities will, once again, be called upon to back a campaign against a second runway – a battle that SSE is convinced it can win," she added.

Hazel Blears, local government secretary of state, has delayed any decision on the existing runway until at least September – almost a year since the end of the inquiry. Uttlesford District Council has called the Government's decision 'extraordinary prevarication' and appealed to communities to respond to the second runway consultation, now further extended to September 26. The Herts and Essex Observer criticised the Government for its cavalier attitude to our communities in the cock-eyed way it had dealt with BAA's planning applications.

Ryanair plunges into the red
In the latest blow for the low-cost airline industry, Ryanair – Stansted Airport's biggest customer – is expected to plunge into the red this year. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said that with rocketing oil prices and falling consumer spending, losses this year could be £47 million or as high as £60 million compared with a profit of £348 million last year. The airline's decision to maintain market share at the expense of profitability 'stunned the markets' according to The Times and its share price fell by a further 20 per cent. O'Leary says higher oil prices would increase the attraction of Ryanair's lower fares. The airline has maintained passenger numbers and load factors over recent months.

In another move, Ryanair has shut its sales and marketing department at Stansted Airport. Ten of its 16 sales and marketing department are due to move to Dublin and those remaining have either resigned or will stay on in a non-marketing role, according to Marketing Magazine.

BAA under more pressure at Stansted
In the wake of steadily falling passenger numbers at Stansted Airport, its two biggest customers have announced they will scale back operations this winter. EasyJet said it would increase fares and reduce capacity by 4 to 6 per cent. However, at Stansted, where charges have more than doubled in two years, it will cut its capacity by 12 per cent and move some of its flights to Gatwick. Ryanair will withdraw 12 aircraft from Stansted this winter. Fuel represents nearly half its operating costs.

"Dirt-cheap air travel is not sustainable" (The Times)
Quoting Ryanair's 'provocative gamble' of promising a 5 per cent cut in fares after an 85 per cent fall in profits, The Times says in a leader that higher fuel prices 'will finish the job that budget airlines began of pushing inefficient competitors to the wall'. The industry would polarise between long-haul airlines and short-haul 'discount merchants'. While praising Ryanair for 'doing more to widen European horizons than Jacque Delors and the EU', The Times reminds its readers of aviation's growing share of environmental pollution and that there is no renewable alternative to jet fuel. 'There is no way around the fact that higher fares are needed to make air travel better reflect its environmental cost', it says.

Bumpy ride at Heathrow…
Weakness of the economic arguments in favour of expansion at Stansted are being mirrored in opposition to plans to expand Heathrow Airport. Independent international research commissioned by Friends of the Earth says the economic case for expanding Heathrow is flawed and should be independently reviewed. The report is particularly critical of passenger demand predictions based on oil prices falling to $53 a barrel in 2030 (it is currently $130). The former chief scientific adviser to the Government, Professor Sir David King has dismissed government plans to expand Heathrow as short sighted and economically unsound. Sir David, who described climate change as 'a far greater threat even that global terrorism', said investment in new runways contradicted the effort to promote land transport. He favoured taxing aviation fuel. A leading chain of travel agents, Co-operative Travel, has come out firmly against a third runway at Heathrow and in favour of better services and technology.

…but 'better than Stansted' (according to those with vested interests)
A study commissioned by the City of London Authority concludes that a third runway at Heathrow is the 'obvious' solution and rejects expansion of Stansted or building an airport in the Thames estuary. The report, by York Aviation, concedes that a third runway at Heathrow is deeply unpopular with business leaders because of delays, airport traffic and security issues but argues it is the 'preferred candidate' to meet London's needs as the world's leading business and financial centre.

NATS rethinks flight paths
After considering more than 15,000 responses to its consultation, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is reconsidering a number of proposals including an alternative to the highly controversial Stansted westerly departure route around Bishop's Stortford, the possibility of holding aircraft bound for the westerly runway at heights above 7,000 feet, and raising the height of aircraft over Saffron Walden. NATS has so far rejected proposals that aircraft should be 'stacked' over the North Sea prior to landing at Stansted and Luton. The House of Commons transport committee is to conduct an inquiry into the NATS consultation.

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