Agenda for Public KIACC meeting

KENT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

MEETING IN PUBLIC - in the Airport Departure Lounge

Friday 30th November 2012 6.30pm

AGENDA

1. Chairman's welcome & opening
2. Minutes of last meeting
3. Matters Arising
4. Short introduction to the public part of the Meeting by P Twyman, Chair of KIACC
5. Short presentations from Community Fund recipients
6. Report from the Airport Management - a presentation on the airport and its future (Charles Buchanan, CEO Manston Airport)
7. Thanet District Council – an update on the Council's position on the airport and its development; the work of the Airport Working Party; and views on the future (Cllr Hart, Leader of the Council has been invited to speak)
8. Questions from the public and discussion

Game-changer - Manston to stop being an airport

Manston and Prestwick have proved hard to sell. Unsurprisingly. Infratil wants to sell them because they're failures - and that's why they're hard to sell.

Infratil has been losing millions every year, for years, and they're eager to staunch the flow. The penny seems to have dropped that these two failed airports would be easier to sell... if they weren't airports.

So Infratil is putting the word out that they're prepared to stump up cash to help potential buyers transform the airports into, er, something they actually want to buy.

Do feel free to use the comments section to pass on any helpful suggestions for Manton's future... theme park... solar farm... race track... nature reserve...

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Infratil says it would consider investing in its two British airports to change their functions to help make them more attractive to sell.

The listed infrastructure investor's Glasgow Prestwick and Kent airports are for sale after years of under-performance. Last week, Dutch national carrier KLM confirmed it would start making twice daily flights from the Kent airport to Amsterdam from April 2013.

Infratil executive Tim Brown says the process of selling the airports has taken longer than the company expected. He says the company now has to look at a range of complex proposals and if the use of an airport is going to change, it will have ramifications for local communities.

Mr Brown says if airports are very successful then councils or cities often then tax them, but if they are struggling they may then either need subsidies or be closed and put to alternative use. He says the debate then becomes more complicated, which makes timeframes more difficult to guess. Mr Brown would neither confirm or deny whether Infratil is looking to buy Stanstead Airport in London.

Copyright © 2012, Radio New Zealand 19 November 2012

No sign of Prestwick airport sale

The New Zealand company which owns Prestwick has said there is no sign of a buyer for the airport, and its value has fallen. Infratil put its two UK airports, which include Kent, up for sale in March this year.

However it said the sales process for both had been "unsuccessful to date". As a result, Infratil said it had taken an impairment charge of £22m, which now values Prestwick at about £14.3m and Kent at £7.6m. Infratil said that it would "continue to seek a buyer for the airports and work with local stakeholders to review alternatives". 

Together Prestwick and Kent's Manston Airport recorded losses for the six months to the end of September of just over £2m. Passengers travelling through the airports fell by more than 180,000 during the period compared to the same time in 2011, although freight business increased.

Prestwick airport has had several owners in recent years. In 1991 the newly-privatised British Airports Authority, BAA, put it on the market. In 1992 the airport was bought by Canadian businessman Matthew Hudson. He sold it in 1998 to transport group, Stagecoach. Stagecoach then sold it to Infratil in 2001 for £33.4m.

A significant percentage of the airport's aviation revenue is derived from freight and other aircraft activity, with business and property income also playing a significant role.

bbc.co.uk 13th Nov 2012

Charles Buchanan's brave face

Every now and then Charles Buchanan reports to KIACC (the airport's consultative committee).

These reports are usually a rattling good read, if only to pick out the bits where a favourable gloss is put on the less than lovely truth.

The airport sale seems to be in the doldrums. The Olympics were a wash-out, although some planes parked at Manston. Posh people's planes.

If they happen, KLM flights would be leaving at about 6am, according to Charles. Of course, the problem with that is that they would still count as scheduled night flights, in breach of the S106.

Passenger numbers have fallen to the point where it's almost a personalised air taxi service. Cargo remains at the same level it's been for years.

Nonetheless, through thick and thin, Manston is "very committed to working with our local community", providing raffle prizes for local charity quiz nights and so on.

"discussions have not progressed as quickly as had been anticipated" - Charles Buchanan, reporting.

"the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" - Emperor Hirohito, surrendering.

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KIACC Report Oct 2012

Draft Aviation Policy - have your say

This just in from our friends at Belfast...

I am contacting you on behalf of Belfast City Airport Watch, an umbrella organisation which represents 20 residents’ associations and community groups, and which also has more than 550 individual associate members.

I am contacting you because your organisation campaigns re the issue of aircraft noise related to what the government terms a ‘non-designated’ airport with regard to aircraft noise. (The designated airports – as you are probably aware - are Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick).

We are very concerned at the lack of any adequate new noise protection measures for residents near non-designated airports contained in the DfT’s Draft Aviation Policy Framework document. While no specific timeframe is specified in the document, it appears that the government envisages that this document, once finalised, will represent its national policy on aviation strategy – including aircraft noise – until at least 2020.

I have attached, fyi, a copy of our submissions to the current DfT consultation on the Draft Framework and to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee’s current consultation on aviation strategy. Both of these contain Executive Summaries with bullet points for ease of reference – so you’ll be able to see our chief concerns and proposals at a glance. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read them.

We would urge you to do the following, if you share any or all of our concerns:

• Make your own submission to the DfT’s consultation on the Draft Framework, for which the deadline is 31st October. See: https://consultation.dft.gov.uk/dft/aviation-policy-framework
• Make a submission to the Transport Select Committee’s own inquiry into aviation strategy, for which the deadline is 19th October. One of the questions on which the Committee is seeking views is on whether or not the noise measures contained in the Draft Aviation Policy Framework are adequate. See: :
• Urge your members to do likewise – so officials and politicians become aware of the extent to which this issue matters to ordinary voters

We are very concerned that much of the Framework document is focused around issues concerning the three designated airports – and that the needs of residents near non-designated airport, which collectively impact on hundreds of thousands of people, are being ignored. We suspect this is partly because the voice of those residents hasn’t been heard loudly enough in the consultation process to date.

Many thanks in anticipation of your help and support on this important issue.

Kind regards,

Liz Fawcett, Chair, Steering Group, Belfast City Airport Watch