Kent International Airport boss Charles Buchanan to release night-flight plans

Clipping: thisiskent

DETAILS of how many night flights bosses at Manston airport want will be available in two weeks. New airport boss Charles Buchanan said on Friday he would be ready to release the long-awaited figures shortly. He was speaking to the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee, which was holding its meeting in public.

Despite being pressed by committee members, he declined to reveal what Quota Count – the method by which planes are categorised by the noise they make – Infratil wanted. A 747 is equivalent to four QC. Later, Steve Higgins, a member of the public who watched the meeting, claimed to have a document showing the airport's owners Infratil wanted 1,995 QC – equivalent to around 500 night flights

Speaking to the Thanet Times after the meeting, Mr Buchanan said the figure was provisional and could change when Infratil put forward its plan. When Infratil does make public its proposals, it will begin a consultation to be run by Thanet council. Consultative committee chairman Paul Twyman said there were serious concerns over whether the process would be robust enough. He warned Thanet council that it could leave itself open to a legal challenge if people did not feel the consultation had been run properly.

Council planning boss Brian White said a lot of preparation had gone into getting ready for the consultation. Concerns were raised by the committee and members of the public who watched the meeting over how much time Thanet council would allow for people to make their views known. Worries over safety, pilots not using prescribed flying routes and the complaints procedure were also raised.

By rebecca smith rebecca.smith@krnmedia.co.uk

Many flights not needed

Clipping: thisiskent

Controversy over Manston airport is never far from the headlines but claims by a pilot that flights over Ramsgate are largely unnecessary will reignite the row. While most people in Thanet support the existence, and growth, of Kent International Airport, the subject of flights over the town has temperatures rising. Whether or not you live in the town, the blight that low-flying planes coming over the beaches and Eastcliff bring is pretty much indisputable.

Not many people can ignore the repetitive roar overhead of the training flights. The aim of having an airport in Manston is to attract business and tourism and to help regeneration. It would be ironic if these flight routes, which are to get busier if plans by airport owner's Infratil for growth come to fruition, threaten to scare away the very people and business we hope to attract.

Who would come to Ramsgate if they knew their visit was to be scuppered by the sound of roaring jet engines? What enjoyment is there in a scenery where bird sounds are drowned out by planes landing and the skies are heavily scored with vapour trails? For too long people complaining about flights over Ramsgate have been dismissed as Nimbys. Maybe this information will add credence to their claims that the disturbance is largely unnecessary.



Consultation to follow flight figures

Clipping: thisiskent

Manston airport will reveal how many planes it wants to fly at night before a survey is taken of residents' views. The airport's new chief executive Charles Buchanan told the Isle of Thanet Gazette this week he will tell Thanet council the number of "night flight quota points" the airport wants within the next three weeks. The council will then, in September, run a public consultation on the issue and the airport's future.

Mr Buchanan, who took over the running of the airport two weeks ago, said:

"The consultation needs the figure and we are going to be providing it. There would be no point in carrying out a meaningless consultation without the number and only have to consult again at a later date. It is in everybody's interests that we come forward with the figure, and we will be."

Last February the airport's owner Infratil applied to extend the time it takes the bulk of its flights by an extra hour in the morning, to after 6am, and an extra half hour in the evening, to before 11.30pm. It has also applied to increase the number of planes it is allowed to land and have take-off between those hours. More than a year later, Thanet council is still waiting for some details of the application and the delay has caused some anger among councillors. At a meeting of the council's Airport Working Party on Monday, chairman Mike Harrison said:

"They have treated the people of Thanet with contempt over the last 12 months. We have had to wait and see if something is going to start. I hope now finally something is going to happen."

He warned that if the airport was not forthcoming with the figure, the council could reject the application altogether. A new radar mast is needed at Manston airport because of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm. The airport has applied to build a new radar tower on its site that is not affected by the background radar noise created by the wind farm's 100 turbines. Mr Buchanan said:

"It's a slightly different radar system that can block out the disruption caused by the turbines and pick out an aircraft."

Experts from the RAF have expressed fears that too many wind farms in the English Channel could create security risks to the UK by allowing foreign aircraft to fly to our shores undetected.

In a nutshell: airport manners

• The Draft Masterplan for KIA is indicative but insubstantial – it needs to be redrafted, and then put out to consultation properly.
• The Section 106 Agreement should reflect the needs of everyone affected by the operation of the airport, not just Infratil and TDC.
• There is absolutely no need or justification for night flights (other than emergency diversions).
• Flight paths should avoid population centres by overflying the sea, or sparsely populated land.
• If overflying towns is unavoidable, the planes could fly higher for longer, and then descend more steeply.
• These ‘people-friendly’ routes should be agreed and implemented before flight volumes increase.
• Infratil must demonstrate that the routes are being adhered to by recording and reporting what the planes actually do, by installing adequate noise and pollution monitoring equipment and ensuring it is used consistently.
• The readings from all the monitoring equipment must be recorded consistently, and the recorded readings must be published frequently and regularly (e.g. on-line).
• Failure to comply with the S106 agreement must be reported and fined. Any decisions not to fine must be explained.

WriteToThem.com

Love letters straight from the heart

The nice people at Airport Watch have introduced me to a cracking little site called WriteToThem. Just bash in your post code, and you get instant email links to all your District and County Councillors, MP, and MEPs. This makes it a doddle to congratulate your elected representatives on the skill and wisdom of their approach to anything...

Noise pollution, an ever-growing sound footprint, air pollution, constantly circling training flights, aquifer contamination, increased use of fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions, failing to meet Kyoto targets, climate change acceleration, rising sea levels, disrupted school lessons, sleeplessness-induced hypertension, reduced quality of life, falling property prices, reduction in tourism, loss of jobs in the hospitality industries, increase in HGV road traffic, damage to local democracy, unseemly influence of trans-national businesses, inappropriate use of public funds, sub-standard monitoring, inadequate fines, unrealistic forecasts, broken promises, rushed and begrudging consultation...

Or you might not be writing about Manston.

Are night flights restricted?

An independent group set up to advise on the development of Manston airport has said no to more night flights. Kent International Airport Consultative Committee chairman Paul Twyman told a meeting of Thanet council’s airport working group that while there should be a balance of “economic and environmental interests”, he was against changing current night policy. An existing section 106 planning agreement restricts flying between 11pm and 7am. Although it expired in 2003 the agreement will remain in effect until a new one is signed by Thanet council and airport owners Infratil. thisiskent.co.uk

So the S106 'restricts' night flights - as far as I can fathom, it bans scheduled night flights, but allows late arrivals and other unscheduled flights. I've yet to find out who defines what is and isn't scheduled. With a world-weary sigh, I assume it's down to Infratil. What happens if Infratil says a plane is scheduled to arrive at 10:30pm, but it consistently arrives 1½ hours late? Nothing, I guess. Sigh.

Anyway, the S106 from yesteryear remains in force. The statutory consultation period is 6 months, and Cllr Harrison repeatedly told the assembled multitude at Manston on 19th May that Infratil has not yet triggered the start of consultations. So that means no increase in night flights for a while. Doesn't it?

Night flying fuels fresh Manston airport fight

Clipping: thisiskent

Agreements on night flights cannot be changed until the airport owners make a planning application. An independent group set up to advise on the development of Manston airport has said no to more night flights. Kent International Airport Consultative Committee chairman Paul Twyman told a meeting of Thanet council’s airport working group that while there should be a balance of “economic and environmental interests”, he was against changing current night policy.

An existing section 106 planning agreement restricts flying between 11pm and 7am. Although it expired in 2003 the agreement will remain in effect until a new one is signed by Thanet council and airport owners Infratil. On February 12 Infratil persuaded Thanet council to hold an emergency meeting requesting a temporary extension of flying times to 6am to 11.30pm in a bid to attract a new airline operator. The council was told the reason was so the company could attract British Airways World Cargo which, Infratil said, would create more than 400 jobs. After the council agreed to the changes, BAWC’s move from Stansted Airport was cancelled. Night flights are now supposed to adhere to the original terms.

On Tuesday KIACC vice chairman Nick Cole told working party members that aircraft noise is a problem for residents and raised a question over the whereabouts of noise monitoring equipment. Mr Twyman said:

“On the western take-off route planes should turn at about 1.2 miles to avoid villages but they have not done this. We have had a number of excuses over the years and I now think routes need to be clearly defined. We have to have some mechanism to ensure that these routes are kept to. In a good airport there should be good noise monitoring and we don’t seem to have mobile noise monitoring.”

KIACC committee member Malcolm Kirkaldie said:

“If someone wants to complain about noise or planes not sticking to routes it has to be done within 15 days but Infratil takes an awfully long time and doesn’t have to come back to us in 15 days, 20 days or 30 days.”

Thanet council planning boss Brian White said:

“We get separate complaints from residents about noise. Of course there has been and still is duplication of complaints. We are talking to Infratil about sharing a website with the airport.”

Mr Twyman said:

“The local authority needs a big stick it can wield at Infratil when they don’t behave themselves. I think there have to be steep or steeper penalties for people flying outside the agreed hours. We must try to build noise reduction into our plans.”

After the meeting airport working group chairman Mike Harrison said:

“Infratil has to apply to us for a night-time flying policy which will trigger a six-month consultation process.”

Ramsgate councillor David Green, who was in the audience, said:

“It seems to me to be the same old questions and the same old answers. The existing 106 agreement ran out years ago but there is a clause that enables it to continue until another is created. Talking to KIACC was another stage in the process but nothing can happen to address issues until Infratil applies to extend a building, build a new terminal or for an amendment to night flights because the agreement is attached to a planning decision.”

Steve Higgins, of the Stop Manston Expansion Group, said:

“The council need to engage with the community before they make any changes to the policy on night flying.”

KIACC examine night flights

After introductions from the Working Party Chairman, it is proposed that the meeting makes maximum use of the time available to let every member of the KIACC have their say. The KIACC Chairman (Paul Twyman) will take Members through the broad disadvantages and benefits of this subject, covering as many of the associated environmental and economic factors as possible.

There are then five main groups of issues to consider. These being;

1. Environmental impacts and measures including noise monitoring and reporting, air quality, complaint procedures and reporting etc.
2. Overflying issues specifically noise abatement routes and preferred runway usage etc.
3. The subject of how penalties and the Community Fund be addressed.
4. The social and economic advantages of enabling some night-time flying; creation of jobs etc.
5. The actual hours during which shoulder-periods etc. might be considered acceptable.

A notable omission is whether anyone actually wants night flights. Anyone who isn't on the Infratil/TDC payroll, that is. I don't know whether anyone will get the opportunity to make this point. Anyway...

(1) Click here for my thoughts on monitoring. In a nutshell, showing a commitment to monitoring is a sign of good faith, and actually doing it and producing accurate and timely reports proves you're not taking the piss. Infratil have been dragging their feet - there is no excuse for this. Any agreement between Infratil and TDC must be monitored effectively, and any complaints dealt with efficiently.

(2) Overflying issues are most easily resolved by minimising the amount of overflying. Duh! Click here to see how easy it is for the air traffic in and out of Manston to avoid overflying built-up areas. Essentially, rather than taking the laziest/easiest option of a straight-line flight path, a slight curve would route the planes over the Wantsum Channel and the North Sea, causing a lot less bother for a lot more people.

(3) When I first saw the escalating scale of fines in the S106 agreement, I was impressed. I've always been of the opinion that if you're going to go to the trouble of squeezing a fine out of someone, it's got to hurt... them. However, looking at the numbers more closely, it becomes clear that few of the breaches are being fined. What the hell is going on? The simplest way of addressing the question of penalties is to apply them consistently.

(4) This is a cracker. Am I the only one who gets the impression that this is a foregone conclusion? Shouldn't we also be considering the disadvantages? Click here to find out how increasing air travel can cost jobs. Anyway, I will be listening carefully to learn about the clear benefits of night flights. In particular, I'm curious to discover whether night flights generate more jobs than day flights. The airport is idle through the night, and idle for much of the day. Why not start by getting the airport busy in the daytime before crashing through everyone's sleep?

(5) I laughed out loud when I first found out about 'shoulder periods'. These are simply a euphemism for changing the rules, moving the goalposts. Can you, dear reader, suggest any other deadline or time limit that has a shoulder period?

• "Lovely Rita, meter maid, please don't give me a parking ticket or clamp my vehicle - I am clearly within the shoulder period on this parking meter."
• "Oh, Mr Conveyancer, please don't let my house purchase fall through - the money was nearly on time."
• "Dear Taxman, do not punish me - my tax return is only slightly late."
• "Please do not fine my plane for failing to meet your terms of business."

No. Set the deadlines and stick to them.

KIACC public meeting

Dear reader, a golden opportunity presents itself. This Tuesday 19th May 2009 there will be a meeting of the great and the good and the rest to discuss the thorny topic of night flights.

The TDC Airport Working Party will be there. Infratil will be there. The Airport Consultative Committee will be there. The general public will be there. A rare chance to see them all in the same place at the same time. The mind boggles! There's even the possibility that something useful may come out of it. 

If there is anything you want to say about night flights, or if you want to hear what everyone else has to say - BE THERE! You may not get another chance like it. 

Tuesday, 19th May, 2009 at 7.00 pm
The Passenger Departure Lounge
Kent International Airport Terminal Building, Manston
Please use the car park opposite the Terminal building (not the staff car park!).

It's a public meeting - you're entitled to be there. Click here to link to the Agenda on the TDC website. If you'll be getting to Manston on wheels rather than wings, here's how:

(click it to big it)

Infratil's flawed bid

Seppuku Lite

As I mentioned recently, before getting revolted by Infratil’s selfishness, the pile of poo they presented to TDC was the carefully considered best efforts of a wealthy, globe-spanning organisation aiming to win support from a strategic partner at a key point in the development of its European operations.

It is a public declaration of commercial weakness; of ongoing and increasing failure; of a flawed business model; of narrow short-termism and strategic poverty.

“All airports across the country are significantly affected by recession”; passengers, freight, airport investment and employment are all down. Like it says in the small print ‘the value of your investments can go down as well as up’. As Newton said ‘what goes up must come down’. As my Gran said ‘all good things must come to an end’. So deal with it.

Guys, having a fixed cost base is nothing special – everyone from the United Nations to my local ice cream van has a fixed cost base. Why bother mentioning it? It in no way entitles you to any special treatment or sympathy.

We all know Manston’s losing some £4 million per year, and that this is unsustainable, and will lead to closure. Top tip: DO NOT BLEAT about your company going down the toilet in a public document. It does not inspire confidence, and puts you in an appalling negotiating position in the event of anyone showing an interest in using your airport.

And what’s this about wanting to be “able to compete equally for new business as shown by the BAWC tender”? As if you couldn’t! At the time of the bid, Infratil had already successfully bounced TDC into giving the all-clear for night flights, and night flights didn’t seem to feature in BAWC’s decision-making process:

Jude Winstanley, BAWC's head of network and freighters, said: “After careful evaluation and taking into account a number of factors including the need to provide the best product for our customers, cost effectiveness, service quality and speed of connection, Stansted remains the most attractive long haul freighter base for BA World Cargo and our customers.” Air Cargo News, 13th March 2009

Manston lost out to Stansted on at least FOUR key considerations, and night flying wasn’t even mentioned. The competition was unequal only inasmuch as Manston was a crappier proposition for BAWC.

In an earlier post, I pointed out that Infratil made Manston’s under-usage a selling point: lack of congestion, competitively priced aircraft parking, etc. There are at least two major problems with this: first, idle is good vs busy is bad isn't a great starting point for a business model; second, when all the other recession-hit airports are less congested anyway, you suddenly lose your selling point.

Infratil are labouring under the impression that they are competing for low cost passenger and long haul freight with Gatwick and Stansted. (Duh! Heathrow, London City, Lydd and Southend: recession-hit airports, just like Manston, and all hungry for business. Manston’s business would do fine. Ignoring them won’t make them go away.) Infratil are trying to hit the big time in a high volume, commoditised market, setting off from well behind the starting line in the toughest market for decades. I wouldn't start from here, guys. Strategically, making a selling point of lack of custom, whilst aiming for a high volume, low margin market sector is a rather messy form of suicide.