Manston: there's no fine print to read

The new night flights proposal from Manston contains just two rules that matter: how many planes, and how noisy. What will happen when Manston breaks the rules?

Absolutely nothing.

Manston has removed all the penalty clauses from their proposal.

In the autumn of 2010 when Manston came out with a proposal that even TDC (They Don't Care) couldn't take seriously, it contained the following puny penalties:

This was, of course, a significant watering down of the penalties in the laughably inadequate S106 agreement, which doubled the fine for each repeat offence. And we know that only a tiny percentage of the flights that caused annoyance and distress to the (voting, Council Tax-paying) public ever attracted a fine.

However, in the glorious new future that Manston has planned for us, there will be no fines and no penalties. There will be no incentive for them to abide by any rules. There will be no point in TDC bothering to monitor them - not that they do much of that at the moment.

We will have to hope that the airport that is happy to stick two fingers up to the American government will be good and considerate neighbours.

We will have to trust them to regulate themselves responsibly.

Come to the public meeting on November 25th and tell us what you think.

Cargolux in international criminal conspiracy

$124 million of  'Sorry'

It appears that Infratil's best friends Cargolux are getting their arses kicked for their part in an international criminal conspiracy. Two conspiracies, in fact.

The US Department of Justice has accused several airlines of engaging in a conspiracy to eliminate competition by fixing the international cargo rates they charged, from at least 2001 through 2006. Three of the airlines have coughed up fines to avoid the presumably more expensive rigmarole of going through the courts. See Reuters for more grisly details. The red-handed three (and their guilt money) are:

• Japan-based Nippon Cargo Airlines Co ($45 million)
• Korea-based Asiana Airlines Inc ($50 million)
• Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines International ($119 million)

Dear reader, your eyes do not deceive you: that's $119,000,000 worth of naughtiness. But they are contrite:

Cargolux Chairman Marc Hoffman said yesterday that his airline had "cooperated intensively with the DOJ and the other authorities throughout the investigation and will continue to do so." He added that the company had "reviewed and reinforced its competition compliance program." ATW Online

Meanwhile, in another part of the globe, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has also been investigating cargo price-fixing, and collusion on fuel surcharges, between 2003 and 2006. Once again, Cargolux have sought to save themselves some hefty legal bills and have offered the ACCC A$5 million worth of 'sorry'.

"Cargolux has cooperated intensively with the ACCC and the other authorities throughout the investigation and the legal proceedings and will continue to do so," Chairman Marc Hoffmann said. RoutesOnline

Familiar words.

As I typed this, and registered the fact that even the smaller fine is more money than Manston has ever made, I had a fleeting mental image of Infratil as an impressionable adolescent hanging out with crooks just because of the cash they can flash.

It's a dirty dead-end business guys, and you're in with a bad crowd.

Airport broke night flight rules

Manston airport has been fined £52,000 by Thanet Council for operating night flights that break an environmental agreement. The Section 106 clause specifies that no flights can take off from the airport between 11pm and 07am, but it does allow for a maximum of 12 humanitarian, mercy or emergency flights by relief organisations during any calendar year between those times.

The level of fines on night flights between January and August 2003 from the airport had already assessed. Councillors considered 17 subsequent night flights between September and December last year. Information from the airport operators stated that all 17 flights were humanitarian and that the cargo carried was replacement Iraqi currency, designed to help the country's reconstruction and recovery programme.

Councillors decided that this was not what they considered to be ‘humanitarian’ flights and that payment due under the 106 agreement should be enforced. Cllr Sandy Ezekiel, council leader, said:

“This council is firmly committed to the environmental agreement because it was put in place to help protect local residents. Councillors are determined to enforce the agreement where we believe that it has been breached. Night flights disturb sleeping patterns and cause annoyance. While the council is committed to the development of Manston as an airport, it does not want to see this take place to the detriment of the local environment or local residents."

kentonline 23rd Feb 2004