Stansted Airport Blog

Protesters cause chaos at Stansted

2008-12-15T17:11:48Z

In the small hours of Monday morning a group of more than fifty protesters from the environmental group, Plane Stupid, breached the perimeter fence of Stansted airport using bolt cutters. Armed with concrete blocks and their own security fencing which they chained themselves to, they were able to bring about the delay and cancellation of dozens of flights and ultimately, they brought misery to the travelling public.

The climate change action group claimed that they regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers but that the action was necessary because they had been let down by their parents’ generation over CO2 emissions. They said that although they were afraid of being arrested and ending up in prison, they were more afraid of the impact of climate change. Although some of the passengers concerned were sympathetic to what the protesters were trying to achieve, there was little sympathy for their actions.

Essex police made 57 arrests and charged the majority with aggravated trespass whilst four were charged with conspiracy to commit a public nuisance and three with gaining access to a restricted area. Concerns were raised about the fact that the protesters had been able to breach security in the way they did, with many members of the public expressing fears that a terrorist group could have done the same thing with devastating consequences. Nick Barton, commercial director of BAA at Stansted, said that he was happy with security measures and made the point that the runway is a huge area (2000 acres) and that no-one wanted to run the airport like a fortress.

Stansted praised for environmental focus

2008-12-03T17:03:38Z

Stansted Airport has once again been rewarded for maintaining a focus upon environmental management despite aiming to increase its passenger numbers. In 2005, the airport was awarded the IS014001 certificate which honours the successful management of environmental issues. It is currently the biggest airport in the United Kingdom to have been given this award.

A recent independent assessment found that Stansted had continued to manage such environmental issues very well and the airport therefore managed to retain its certification. The airport has strived hard to protect the environment and has introduced schemes including a biomass heating boiler. This boiler was installed as part of the recent terminal expansion and its introduction has ensured that the terminal is now completely carbon neutral. The airport, which has also been praised for encouraging travellers to access the terminal via public transport, will be able to keep this certification until 2011, at which point a further assessment will be carried out.

Andy Jefferson, the head of environment for BAA Stansted, has revealed that the officials at the airport were extremely proud of achieving the certification in 2005 and they have been thrilled at “maintaining” the honour by “continually striving to improve” all areas of their performance.

Jefferson revealed that managing the environment is not merely a side-project for the officials at the airport but actually remains “critical to the sustainability” of the business carried out at Stansted. The thorough assessment necessary to maintain the certification involved inspection of various parts of the airport’s operation and the officials take the whole process very seriously.

Stansted airspace proposal debated by MPs

2008-11-06T14:54:03Z

Last week, two MPs from Suffolk held talks with a government minister in an attempt to gain support for their aim of changing proposals for a new holding stack for Stansted Airport. The MPs, named as David Ruffley and Tim Yeo, met with Jim Fitzpatrick to air their concerns at the new proposals. Stansted Airport wishes to introduce fairly dramatic changes to their airspace. Approximately twenty-five peaceful villages between the areas of Stowmarket and Hadleigh are now at risk of being changed forever.

Residents in the villages are worried that they will have to listen to a noisy plane every two minutes during the day. The villages are renowned throughout the country for their tranquility and peaceful atmosphere, and these new proposals from Stansted Airport are threatening to bring an end to such a positive reputation. Many people decide to move to the area in an attempt to escape the pressures of city life, but how many people will want to put up with the noise emitted from jet planes?

One thing is for sure: the residents are not taking the news lightly and it is clear that they will not succumb to the proposals without putting up a fight. David Ruffley spoke publicly about his belief that Jim Fitzpatrick should be made aware of the potentially “devastating effect” which the changes to the airspace could bring. He believes that the rural areas affected by the proposal will dramatically feel the impact of the “new holds”. According to Ruffley, since the “level of ambient noise” in the area is lower than in other regions, the “noise overhead will be all the more noticeable”.

Government backs plans for Stansted expansion

2008-10-15T16:07:25Z

The Government has approved an increase in passenger numbers and flights at Stansted airport, much to the disgust of locals and environmentalists. In last week's written statement to Parliament, Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, announced that permission had now been given for an extra 10 million passengers (increased from 25 million to 35 million) and 23,000 flights (up from 241,000 to 264,000) a year.

It is almost two years since the district council refused permission because of fears over noise and environmental concerns. Now a lengthy public enquiry following BAA’s appeal has resulted in the Government overturning the decision.

Stansted’s managing director has spoken of the benefits for passengers and local businesses but environmentalists are furious over the apparent hypocrisy of a government, which has given a commitment to tackling climate change. This came most recently at the Labour party conference when international aviation was mentioned as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which the party has pledged to reduce by 80% by 2050.

The Department of Transport has said that any impact on health caused by air pollution would be small and that any effects on nearby protected woodland would not be sufficient to justify upholding the appeal.

Uttlesford District Council has six weeks in which to lodge a further appeal. A spokesman has expressed his disappointment at the decision and spoken of the impact on the quality of life for local residents. The Government has meanwhile said that this decision in no way implies their support for a second runway.

On Oct 13th a group of anti-expansion protesters, some dressed as suffragettes to mark the anniversary of their rush on Parliament, tried unsuccessfully to gain entry to the Houses of Parliament.

Ryanair planning transatlantic routes

2008-10-03T12:32:17Z

Ryanair mooted the idea of transatlantic flights for $12 last April, but no more was heard and it was written off by many as just a dream. However, 17 months on and with the aviation industry in crisis, the playing field has changed and last week Michael O’Leary resurrected the idea of low cost flights to New York from Stansted, Prestwick and Birmingham.

Ryanair would set up a totally new company solely to operate these routes. They have been quoted as saying that “the whole European agenda has changed” making it easier for their bid for Aer Lingus, the Irish national carrier, to be approved. If their bid is successful, they would plan to use the 15 new planes ordered by Aer Lingus for their new transatlantic route and are also in talks regarding acquiring some of the new Boeing 787s, now cheaper to lease than before due to the problems in the industry.

The deputy chief executive of the airline has said that many of the smaller European carriers are unlikely to survive and feels that the European Commission should let the “grossly inefficient and polluting airlines” such as Alitalia and Olympic Airways go under, rather than allow governments to help them keep their heads above the water.

At a time when the rising cost of fuel and airlines going bust right left and centre has heralded misery for travellers, the prospect of cheap flights to New York is an interesting one. Many will no doubt hope, however, that Ryanair will ditch their plan to allow mobile phones to be used on flights from this month!

Pilots angry over Ryanair's "thinly veiled threat"

2008-09-25T16:39:39Z

Ryanair has been heavily criticised for taking advantage of the current problems in the aviation industry and making what some have described as “thinly veiled threats” to its 1700 pilots.

With the recent collapses of airlines such as Zoom, Futura and the giant XL, Ryanair may be forgiven for thinking that they have the upper hand but pilots are furious over a memo sent to them recently. The leaked memo said that the airline had imposed a recruitment freeze after having been swamped with applications from pilots who have recently found themselves without a job and from those who are afraid that their current employers are set to go bust, and the memo asks for volunteers to take unpaid leave over the winter.

According to the memo, if insufficient numbers are willing to put themselves forward by the end of the month, then the airline will allocate unpaid leave to some of the pilots based at Stansted and Dublin starting from November. The strike at Boeing has also been blamed by the airline for delays in the delivery of aircraft resulting in fewer pilots being required.

In July, Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, announced that net profits for the first three months of 2008 had dropped by 85% but he was in bullish mood and expressed his confidence that the airline would not only survive the credit crunch but that he would continue to cut fares. Success would come, he said, not only by reducing fares but by cutting winter flights and profiting from the demise of his competitors.