BA plans cargo flights from Manston

Clipping: thisiskent

British Airways, seen landing at Manston on Wednesday after redirection due to a fluid spillage, could be flying cargo from the airport as easrly as May. British Airways is understood to be planning cargo flights out of Manston from as early as May – a move that will create hundreds of jobs. Thanet council chiefs revealed on Wednesday that night flights over the isle could increase with the imminent arrival of a new freight operator.

The announcement came after Kent International Airport bosses approached the council to negotiate a change to the hours it can run flights because they are trying to secure a "major European airline". Ramsgate Labour councillor David Green said: "It has been strongly rumoured to be British Airways World Cargo." KIA chief executive Matt Clarke said the identity of the airline it was in talks with was "commercially sensitive" and refused to confirm or deny it was British Airways. He said:

"I can confirm that we are in discussion with an international air freight operator about a potential relocation of their operation to KIA but I am unable to disclose who it is for reasons of commercial confidentiality. The discussions are at a sensitive stage and I am not in a position to add to the speculation regarding who the operator may or may not be."

A BA World Cargo spokesman said

"We are in the process of tendering our long haul ground handling operations within the United Kingdom. These operations are currently based at Stansted Airport. However, as part of the tender process, we are considering a number of different airport options within the UK."

Council leader Sandy Ezekiel speculated that if BA did arrive, it could create at least 200 jobs. An extraordinary meeting of full council will take place next Thursday at the Cecil Street offices in Margate at 5.30pm to consider the airport’s request. Its owners Infratil want to be able to run flights for an extra 30 minutes in the evening until 11.30pm and between 6am and 7am. The council is expected to review these changes every six months after the first 18 months of their introduction. It is anticipated that an extra 11 flights a week will happen, though council economy boss Roger Latchford said only a portion of the extra flights would occur in the renegotiated hours.

More night time flights for Manston?

Controversial plans for more night time flights Kent International Airport at Manston are being considered by the local council. The proposals, which could become a reality as early as this May, would see dozens more flights into Kent International Airport every month. The first planes would take off or land at Manston from 6am and would operate until 11.30pm.

Airport owner Infratril is currently in talks with a major European airline that wants to use the site for long haul international cargo movements. The unnamed company hopes to fly 747 aircraft into airport up to 11 times a week. The plan would require a step change to the section 106 environmental agreement that restricts the airport's operations and is likely to be met with opposition.

Cllr Richard Nicholson, leader of Thanet Labour group, said he was appalled, angry and surprised at the detail of the announcement, which was made unexpectedly at a hastily-called press conference this morning. He said:

"It's wrong that information should be released to the media and therefore the public at a conference arranged by the council when many of its own members had no idea of the conference or of its content. Infratil has indicated it wants alterations to the night flying policy, which is the right and proper way to proceed. But the Section 106 agreement advises that there should be a substantial consultation period before any alterations are made to agreed flying times."

Councillors will debate the issue at an extraordinary meeting next Thursday and, if approved, a revised Section 106 agreement would be in place for the next 18 months. Thanet council says the document would then be reviewed every six months until a comprehensive night time flying policy covering the period from 2010 and 2018 is drawn up. Cllr Roger Latchford, deputy leader of Thanet council, said:

"The application has only just come in and the council is moving quickly to ensure that everyone is able to have their say on it."

kentonline 4th Feb 2009

In a nutshell: Night Flights

THE AIRPORT OWNERS WANT TO…

• be able to schedule flights throughout the night
• increase the number of night flights from 2 a week to 7.7 a night
• operate a "Quota Count" system: every plane has a QC number, the louder the plane, the larger the number. The airport wants an annual Quota Count total - a "plane noise budget" for night flights
• be able to fly planes up to and including QC4 (a 747 jumbo) at any time throughout the night
• apply the night flight Quota Count to planes flying between 11:30pm and 6am, even though the standard definition of "night" is 11pm to 7am.
• count the planes that fly to the west of the runway as 50% of their actual QC number, so they can fly twice as many
• change the standard fine for rule-breaking to a flat rate of £1,000 - currently, when an aircraft is too loud, too low, or off-course, the fine starts at £1,000 and doubles for each repeat offence.
• make the "flat rate" fine of £1,000 apply only over Ramsgate: if the plane is anywhere west of the runway, the fine would be halved to £500

EMPLOYMENT

• after 10 years, Manston employs just 111 people, some part-time. 61% live in Thanet.
• the average pay at Manston is lower than the average pay in Thanet
• most of the "jobs" Infratil say will be created are imaginary - the result of totting up tiny statistical fractions of jobs: the fuel delivery driver in East Africa, the barber in Ramsgate who cuts the pilot's hair, etc
• Manston’s Chief Exec, Charles Buchanan, was at London City airport when it promised thousands of new jobs in return for permission to increase flights by 50%
• after 10 years the airport delivered just 23% of the jobs promised; less than 30% of the jobs created went to local people
• of the thousands of new jobs promised, less than 7% were actually delivered to local people
• the aviation industry has become increasingly automated, and less reliant on people - just 20% more people could handle double the current UK air traffic
• Manston airport workers tell us they could easily cope with a lot more planes with their existing staff working overtime - it will be years before they go "up a gear" and need to recruit heavily
• jobs created at and near airports are heavily outnumbered by jobs lost in the domestic tourism and hospitality industries
• in Herne Bay, a new 50-room Premier Inn with 50-seater restaurant created 60 jobs

NOISE

• the European Court of Human Rights says that sleep is a human right
• never mind the decibels, here's a rule of thumb: if it wakes you up, it's too loud
• sleep deprivation increases the risk of accidents at home, on the roads and at work
• anyone with hearing problems, or who suffers from anxiety or depression, will experience increased suffering
• over 8,000 homes in Ramsgate, and more along the flight path, will be directly affected by the increased noise
• measurements of "average noise" contours are pointless - it's not the average noise through the night of an alarm clock that wakes you, it's the peak noise (when it goes off)
• noise isn't just annoying: it's dangerous, and can even be deadly

HEALTH

• W.H.O.'s Night Noise Guidelines for Europe 2009: "... adverse health effects related to night noise [may result from] night noise levels greater than 40 dB (Lnight, outside) when most people are in bed. "
• A study of 1 million residents around Cologne airport analysing the effects of aircraft noise identified a significant and clear impact on health: a night-time average sound pressure level of 55 dB increased the risk of heart attacks by 66% in men and 139% in women.
• The current proposals will result in 30,000 people being exposed to 85dB or more between the hours of 23:30 and 06:00
• the EU is trying to ban night flights because of the health risks
• local and central Government both acknowledge that increased noise, air and ground pollution causes major health problems
• even if it doesn't wake you up, the noise of night flights can speed up your heart rate, lower your immune system, and increase stress hormones

EDUCATION

• Munich airport moved from one side of the city to another. Children were tested before and after the move for short- and long-term memory, reaction times and reading skills. Near the old airport the scores went UP, near the new airport the scores went DOWN. [Old site went from 68 to 54 dB(A); new site went from 53 to 62 dB(A).]
• research shows that living with aircraft noise impairs the "cognitive development" of children, specifically reading comprehension - schools exposed to high levels of aircraft noise are not healthy educational environments.
• reducing a classroom's background noise by 7-9 dB improves children's speech intelligibility and word intelligibility

ECONOMICS

• being under a flight path can knock up to a third off the value of your house, or even make it unsellable
• night cargo flights over a seaside town are the kiss of death to any dreams for a regeneration as a tourist destination - hotels, B&Bs, restaurants will all lose out
• the real economic gain from night flights won't be jobs for the people of Thanet, but profit for an investment company based in (and paying taxes in) New Zealand.

ENVIRONMENT

• the UK is supposed to be trying to reduce its carbon footprint to below 2005 levels
• exhaust fumes and droplets of aviation fuel fall on Ramsgate houses as the planes throttle back to land
• risk to the aquifer, absence of adequate run-off reservoir
• 7.7 cargo flights a night equals a lot of lorries a night - more pollution, more noise, less sleep

INFRATIL

• New Zealand-based, multi-billion dollar, multi-national investment company who buy and sell power stations, ferry companies etc. for profit
• Infratil bought Manston for £10.3 million five years ago, and has lost more than that since
• Infratil aims to make its investors a 20% return, but Manston is a loss maker
• Infratil told shareholders this summer that its priorities are energy and transport in New Zealand and Australia - the company’s strategy is to cut losses at Manston by cutting costs
• New Zealand financial analysts and investors regard the European airports as a mistake: Infratil's share price went up went it sold Lübeck airport in Germany; and when there were rumours that they were going to sell Manston, the share price rose
• we can’t rely on promises by Infratil as they probably hope to sell the airport, and whoever owns it next won't be tied by Infratil's promises

The Background Story

Manston a.k.a. Kent International Airport is an ex-RAF base in north-east Kent, just west of Ramsgate. It passed from the RAF to Wiggins, then PlaneStation, owners of EUJet (a budget passenger airline). EUJet went bust, and in August 2005 the administrators sold Manston to Infratil, a New Zealand-based multi-national infrastructure investor.

There is a "Section 106 Agreement" (S106) between Infratil and Thanet District Council (TDC) which regulates how Infratil can use Manston - they can't suddenly decide to turn it into a spaceport and launch satellites, for example. The scale of Infratil's planned growth is enough to require the S106 to be renegotiated, which would require a period of public consultation lasting 6 months.

The S106 states that Infratil isn't allowed to schedule any night flights, although a scheduled flight that arrives late can actually land. A night flight is any take-off or landing between 11pm and 7am. Infratil have said they want more night flights.

Many more people have a stake in this than just Infratil and TDC - East Kent residents under the flightpaths, particularly in Ramsgate, but also in the Wantsum villages, Herne Bay, Whitstable and Canterbury will all be affected to some degree. Environmental groups, transport lobbies, government bodies, wildlife groups and others also have an interest. The non-partisan KIA Consultative Committee provides a valuable forum for all the interested parties to meet and discuss.

A key issue for local residents is noise. Obviously, the nearer a plane is (in both distance and height) the louder the noise; and if everything else is particularly quiet (at night) it will sound louder anyway. Which is why flightpaths, plane heights, flight times and monitoring are so important.

TDC have a duty to do their best to regenerate and energise Thanet, which includes some of the most deprived areas of Kent. Infratil have spent £30m on Manston so far, and have yet to make their shareholders a profit. All the East Kent residents would welcome something that benefits them. We need a win-win-win solution.

Council told to disclose legal advice over night flights

Thanet Council has been ordered to make public legal advice it received over controversial night flights from Manston Airport. The council caused controversy when it entered into an agreement in 2005 with the airport’s operators Planestation that permitted additional scheduled flights to take place beyond 11pm.

At the time, many residents in the area were dismayed, saying they faced noise disruption. There were claims that the change was one that should have required planning permission. Council chiefs had initially refused to disclose the advice of its lawyers, relating to a variation in the terms of what is known as a Section 106 agreement.

It rejected a request made under the Freedom of Information Act, saying the advice was legally privileged information and there was no public interest in releasing it. But now an information tribunal has officially ruled that the council was wrong.

A panel that considered a formal appeal said councillors had already referred to the legal advice during the course of a public council meeting when the issue of the impact of night flights had been raised. As a result, the full contents of the lawyers’ advice, which addressed the issue of whether the change in policy needed planning permission should be released, the panel concluded. In a statement, the council insisted it had not deliberately sought to suppress the information. The statement said:

“Thanet District Council is committed to providing as much information as possible to the public. However, the council took legal advice in this case and we were advised not to release any information which would jeopardise the future of a passenger service at Kent International Airport.”

kentonline 2nd Aug 2006

Council promises 'hard negotiations' with airport

A three month consultation has thrown up a range of concerns from residents in Thanet, Sturry and Herne Bay, that will be discussed with Manston airport owners, PlaneStation. Inappropriate penalties, inadequate noise monitoring, off-route aircraft, and concern that cargo flights may increase, were among the worries voiced. Council leader Cllr Sandy Ezekiel pledged that the local authority would "go into hard negotiations" with the airport owners over a revised Section 106 environmental agreement that will update the original five-year-old voluntary agreement that he described as "rather woolly". He said:

"People have taken the opportunity to put their views forward and some clear messages have emerged that will be taken into consideration as work gets underway on the successor to the 106 agreement. We need to provide better information to the public and noise monitoring needs to be improved."

Dr Hilary Newport, Kent director of the Campaign for Rural England, said her main concern was over night flying. She said:

"Night flying is a major issue for any airport, but especially for Manston, and it needs to be strictly controlled or it will seriously damage people’s quality of life. The town of Ramsgate is just 1,300 metres from aircraft touching down."

She said that the branch was so concerned about the potential impact of night flying on the residents of Thanet, it commissioned research by acoustic consultants Capita Symons. Noise monitoring was conducted at three locations around the airport. It said that readings taken as jet aircraft took off showed that night flying noise over Ramsgate exceeds Government and World Health Organisation guidelines. EUjet Fokker 100s registered a peak of 84.3 decibels, equivalent to a short blast of a pneumatic drill 30 metres away. Dr Newport added:

"Night flying is not allowed at London City, Belfast, Norwich and Southend airports because of the proximity of housing. CPRE Kent believes that Manston should be classified as a city airport for the same reason. The results of Capita Symons’ noise monitoring only confirm what hundreds of Ramsgate residents already know: aircraft over the town are unacceptably noisy, and they must not be allowed to come and go at any time of night. We need to make sure that night flying will, genuinely, not be part of the long-term plans for Manston. PlaneStation needs to confirm, once and for all, what is happening after September, then the residents of Ramsgate will know what chance they have of a getting a decent night’s sleep in the future."

But Stuart McGoldrick, group commercial director at EUjet, said the company is "very disappointed at the tone and content" of the "highly subjective" CPRE comments that "fail to grasp some of the key points relating to night flights from Manston". He said:

"Kent International Airport is pleased to confirm that it has not requested permission for any night flights for the winter season starting on October 30 as EUjet has received all the flight slots requested from outstation airports. The number of night flights operated this summer will be significantly fewer than allowed under the original 106 Agreement. Kent International Airport is aware of local sensitivity to night flights and has sought to reduce night flying throughout the summer to an absolute minimum. This winter there will be no scheduled night flying at all. The Fokker 100 aircraft – which is the type EUjet operates – is the quietest regional jet in operation anywhere in the world. The CPRE refers to the measurement of noise levels of aircraft taking off – EUjet has only night arrivals at Kent International Airport. In addition, whenever wind conditions allow all aircraft have a westerly flight arrival pattern specifically designed to minimise any impact on the local population.

Kent International Airport originally requested night flights for the summer season only, which resulted in permission to operate to the end of September being granted by Thanet council. Unfortunately, due to an administrative error on our part, the original Section 106 Agreement failed to allow for the fact that airlines the world over operate on a seasonal basis – with the summer lasting from the end of March to the end of October. EUjet is no different. Hence the request that the successor 106 Agreement, the terms of which we are far from taking for granted, take account of this fact of airline life."

Mr Ezekiel added:

"Night flying is an issue that particularly affects those under the flight path and we will look very carefully at the statistics from this summer’s night flights. The public has sent a firm message to the airport owners PlaneStation that they want to know more about the plans for the airport and what it will mean for them. People want to be kept fully informed about the airport’s development and growth. This successor to the original agreement needs to maintain people’s quality of life as far as possible. The council will use feedback from the public consultation to ensure that this happens and I am sure that all councillors welcome the extensive information from the public consultation."

Council chief executive Richard Samuel said the consultation provided a lot of information and that feedback showed strong support for the airport, its continued development and for economic growth of the area. He said:

"People have told us where they stand on this issue and it is most important."

kentonline 18th July 2005

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