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Information on current UK national aviation issues of interest to Airport Consultative Committees. 

White Paper -The Future Air Transport
- 2006 Progress Report 
- Judicial Review
- Removal of Movements Limit - Stansted
- Advisory Group
- UK air passenger demand and carbon dioxide forecasts
- Adding Capacity at Heathrow
Airport Master Plans
Civil Aviation Act 2006
Future of Transport
The Eddington Report
Barker Review of Land Use Planning
Planning for a Sustainable Future: White Paper
Planning Bill
BAA Market Investigation
Price Controls at BAA's London Airports and Manchester
Sustainable Aviation Strategy
Aviation and Climate Change
  - A Hot Issue
  - 2003 Stakeholder Discussions
  - Emissions Trading
  - Emissions Cost Assessment
Ambient Noise
Control of Noise from Civil Aircraft
Attitudes to Noise from Aircraft Sources in England (ANASE)
Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - consultation
Assessment & Management of Aircraft Noise Disturbance - Northern Ireland
Public Service Obligations
Route Development Funds
UK Regional Airports - Fifth Freedom Passenger Services
Airspace Change Process
Airport Security
Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS)
Longer Queues at Immigration
Aviation Duty
Wind Farms
Access to Air Travel for Disabled People
  - Code of Practice
  - Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - Part III
  - Charges for Wheelchairs at Airports
  - People with Reduced Mobility - Work at EU Level
  - ACCs Progress Report

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White Paper - The Future of Air Transport

On 16th December 2003 the Government's issued it's White Paper - "The Future of Aviation"  - which sets out a strategic framework for the development of airport capacity in the United Kingdom over the next 30 years [White Paper and associated documents].  See also the Department's press release on the White Paper and the list of supporting reports issued by the Department in February 2004. 

Apart from the impact on individual airports throughout the UK - click here 2003 DfT Regional Press Releases about the White paper and search among the December 2003 for regional DfT Press Releases giving the details - the White Paper outlines a number of environmental and other measures of more general application:-

Chapter 3

• Noise Amelioration/Acoustic Insulation - see paras 3.10 to 3.27 and also the information below on the Control of Noise from Civil Aircraft.
• Climate Change - see paras 3.35 to 3.43
• Local air quality - see see paras 3.28 to 3.31

Chapter 4

• Regional air services to London - see paras 4.39 to 4.48

Chapter 12

• Airport master plans - see paras 12.7 to 12.9
• Safeguarding Land -see paras 12.3 to 12.6
• Blight - see paras 12.13 - 12.17
• Delivering surface access improvements - see paras 12.18 - 12.24

Attached is a three page summary of the White Paper prepared for the Liaison Group

The White Paper follows a major consultation on the future of aviation, launched in July 2002, which attracted around 500,000 responses. On 3/4th July 2003 the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting considered a paper outlining the issues (MS Word - 24kb) and resolved to submit a number of general points for consideration by the Government in drawing up the White Paper - see paragraphs 4-8 of the Minutes the Meeting .

Following the publication of the White Paper consultative committees have been considering the implications of its proposals both locally, and more widely on the industry as a whole, and getting ready to watch over the implementation by the Government and individual airports.

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2006 Progress Report

On 28 June 2005 Transport Minister, Derek Twigg, made a speech in which he reviewed the progress made on the Government's Aviation White Paper. This promised that a progress report on the White Paper would be made at the end of 2006 and this was published on 14th December 2006 [The Progress Report].

The progress report reaffirms the Government's commitment to the strategy set out in the White Paper, that is, support for the development of the aviation sector across the UK, predominantly through making the best use of existing capacity, and ensuring where new capacity is required its provision is in line with environmental obligations.

As part of this, the Department announced a new mechanism to help inform decisions on major increases in aviation capacity. The 'emissions cost assessment' will consider whether the aviation sector is meeting its external climate change costs. The Department of Transport launched a consultation about this in August 2007.

Other achievements detailed in the report include:

• Progress within Europe on including aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme.
• Royal Assent of the Civil Aviation Act, strengthening powers over the control of aircraft noise and local air quality.
• Industry progress in reducing the noise of the airline fleet and in addressing local air quality issues
• Improvements to passenger facilities at airports across the UK .
• Establishment of better dialogue between local communities and airport developers as a result of the publication, for the first time and after local consultation, of airport 'master plans'. These documents provide a basis for ensuring that measures to address noise, air quality, impacts on biodiversity and heritage, and issues of blight are properly considered, clearly set out and taken forward in an open and inclusive way.
• Launch of a Government scheme for offsetting all official flights.

The Government also said it would bring forward proposals to make it simpler for air passengers to offset the carbon emissions arising from the flights that they take by setting out a government standard for how such schemes should operate.

More Information: [DfT Press Release]

Attached are papers:

• on the Progress Report prepared for the Annual Meeting at Stansted on 13/14 June 2007.
• on surface access issues (MS Word 55kb) submitted to the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting at Manchester Airport on 21/22 June 2006 along with a surface access update (.pdf 38kb) considered at the 2007 Stansted meeting in 2007.

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Judicial Review

Groups opposing various aspects of the White paper have been active.  In June 2004 groups opposing the proposals of the White Paper in the South-East won permission for a judicial review of the Government's proposals.  The case came to Court in December 2004 and judgement was given on 18th February 2005 [Copy of Judgement].  In brief the Court found that the plans in the White Paper for additional runways at Stansted and Heathrow were lawful.  However, there were two qualifications:

• "While policy support for the development of a second runway at Stansted as the first new runway in the South East was a fair outcome of the consultation exercise, the statement that it "would be the wide spaced runway option presented in the Consultation Document" was not. Having regard to the basis on which the consultation exercise was conducted and the role of the Government policy in the planning and EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) process the final sentence of paragraph 11.40 of the White Paper was, to mix the transport metaphors, 'A bridge too far'.
• "The White Paper could fairly support the growth of Luton up to the maximum use of a single full-length runway, but it unfairly managed to convey the impression that LLAOL's proposal to extend the existing runway at Luton had been consulted upon, and that it (in addition to the southern runway option) was supported in policy terms, when fairness required a clear acknowledgement that since it had not been consulted upon, any decision as to whether or not it should have policy support would have to be the subject of full consultation."

Click the link to see BAA's reaction to the Judgment. See also ress release issued by London Luton Airport - click "Latest news" and look for the item dated 18/02/05

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Removal of Movements Limit - Stansted

The following month in July 2004 the Government gave effect to another proposal of the White Paper by making an Order removing the statutory limit of 185,000 take-offs and landings by passenger aircraft at Stansted each year. Thus limits on the numbers of air transport movements at Stansted will now be controlled by the local planning authority, Uttlesford District Council. In 2003, as part of its grant of planning permission for the airport to expand to 25 million passengers per annum (mppa), the Council set a limit of 241,000 annual air transport movements. This covers both cargo and passenger movements and comes into force once the terminal at Stansted airport has been developed to handle 25 mppa. Work has not yet begun on this development. [DfT Press Release]

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Advisory Group

In September 2004 the Department set up an External Advisory Group to maintain a formal channel of communication between the Department for Transport and external stakeholders implicated in the implementationof the White Paper.  It would be informed of progress of the programme and will be used as a sounding board to identify, discuss and where possible resolve issues that impact on the programme. The Group does not seem to have met since July 2006   [More Details and Minutes]

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UK air passenger demand and carbon dioxide forecasts

The White Paper was supported by forecasts of demand for air travel at UK airports which were reported in Air Traffic Forecasts for the United Kingdom in 2000.  Further supporting analysis of demand and carbon emissions forecasts from UK aviation were set out in Passenger Forecasts: Additional Analysis and Aviation and Global Warming in 2004.

The 2006 Progress Report on the White Paper included updated passenger demand forecasts and committed the Government to publish in 2007:

• a technical note on our passenger demand forecast methods and results; and,
• revised UK aviation emissions forecasts.

The 140 page Report was published in November 2007. It sets out the Goernment's latest demand, CO2 forecasting, and appraisal methods; gives updated passenger demand and CO2 forecasts; and updates its economic appraisal results.

The headline findings are:

• If unconstrained by airport capacity, air travel demand at UK airports is forecast under the central case to grow strongly from 228 million passengers per annum (mppa) in 2005 to 495mppa in 2030 (within the range 460-540mppa).
• UK aviation CO 2 emissions are forecast to grow from 37.5MtCO 2 in 2005 to 59MtCO 2 in 2030 (within the range 55MtCO 2 to 63MtCO 2) . After 2030, the growth in emissions is projected to slow, partly due to capacity constraints slowing demand growth. By 2050 emissions are projected to flatten and reach 60MtCO 2 , within the range 53MtCO 2 to 67MtCO 2 .
• An updated analysis shows that the development of a new runway at Stansted, and at Heathrow (subject to noise and air quality conditions), supported in the Air Transport White Paper, would deliver a net economic benefit of £21-22bn (net present value, 2006 prices). The development would have a strong Benefit-Cost Ratio in the range 2.8-3.0.

The DfT say that since 2004 there have been a number of developments relevant to their forecasts of passenger demand and CO2 emissions, and appraisal results:

The Department adds it has updated its airport capacity assumptions in line with the latest plans indicated by airport operators, and the Department's process of continual development has delivered a number of incremental improvements to their forecasting methodology.

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Adding capacity at Heathrow

The White Paper promised further work and consultation on a number of issues relating to Heathrow Airport. In the light of that work, the Department in November 2007 launched a consultation on how Heathrow could be developed over the next 20 years or more. The ideas for development included:

• adding a third runway north of the A4 with associated passenger terminal facilities and access to the road and rail networks. Potentially this might allow the airport to handle around 700,000 air transport movements (ATMs) a year, nearly 50 per cent more than today.
• introducing mixed mode working on the existing two runways, either with or without additional ATMs, as an interim measure ahead of a third runway. Runway alternation would have to cease during mixed mode operations. It was an important aim of the consultation to gain a better understanding of the importance attached by local communities to the benefits of runway alternation, and the time of day it is of most value, so that this can be taken into account in the decision-making process; and to understand the wider benefits of the various options.

The White Paper's support for these developments was conditional on:

• a noise limit - no increase in the size of the area significantly affected by aircraft noise (as measured by the 57dBA L eq noise contour in 2002);
• air quality limits - being confident of meeting European air quality limits around the airport, in particular for nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) which is the most critical local pollutant around Heathrow; and
• improving public transport access to the airport.

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Airport Master Plans

The White Paper Future of Air Transport, also recommends airport operators to maintain a Master Plan detailing the development proposals relating to the Airport. Such plans would not have development plan status, but would be produced at a level of detail sufficient to inform the content of the Local Development Framework.

To assist airports in producing these plans the Government in July 2004 issued Guidance which outlines the Government's view on what it would like to see in master plans and offers good practice advice on their production. [DfT Guidance][DfT's Press Release] .

The Government believes that about 30 airports should prepare master plans and one or two more have added themselves. These airports were asked to produce outline master plan statements by the end of 2004, to be followed by fully worked-up master plans by December 2005. It is understood that the Government Offices for the Regions will be in the lead in interacting with Airports on these master plans and steps have been taken by the Department for Transport to ensure they are fully briefed on the policy background.

Attached also is a report on the progress being made with Master Plans at a number of airports (MS Word 62kb) - this was prepared for the ACC's Annual Liaison Meeting at Manchester Airport on 21/22 June 2006. At that meeting David Hart of the Department for Transport said that draft Airport Master Plans had been published by 15 airports namely Aberdeen, Belfast City, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, London City, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, Nottingham East Midlands and Southampton and Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle were expected to publish a draft very shortly. Still to publish drafts were Belfast International, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Robin Hood, Durham Tees Valley, Glasgow Prestwick, Humberside, Inverness, Newquay and Norwich.

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Civil Aviation Act 2006

The Civil Aviation Act 2006, which received the Royal Assent on 8th November 2006, implements important Future of Air Transport White Paper commitments to sustainable aviation and protection of passenger interests. Thus the Act:

• Clarifies and strengthens the measures available to airports for dealing with aircraft noise. This includes a greater ability to introduce and enforce noise amelioration measures beyond airport boundaries and an ability to take economic measures to reflect aircraft straying from routes designed to minimise noise. [See paras 3.10 to 3.27 of the White Paper and Control of Noise below]
• Provides explicit powers for airports to set charges which reflect local emissions from aircraft. The Secretary of State also has powers to direct airports to levy such charges. [See paras 3.28 to 3.31 of the White Paper]
• Provides powers for a levy to replenish the Air Travel Trust Fund, the purpose of which is to benefit customers of failed tour operators. This removes the need for the Government guarantee in place since 1992, and ensures the Government meets its obligations under EU law.
• Authorises local authority airport companies to undertake specified activities - such as making their expertise available to other airports and taking part in joint ventures - which are at present outside their powers. It thus makes a modest contribution to enabling local authority airports to compete on a more level playing field with privately owned airports.
• Enables the Civil Aviation Authority to recoup the costs of its Aviation Health Unit - which offers advice to air passengers, the aviation industry and to Government - by a levy from the aviation industry. This will save the taxpayer approximately £200,000 a year.
• Removes airlines' existing right of appeal to the Secretary of State in aviation route licensing cases decided by the Civil Aviation Authority thereby eliminating a layer of bureaucracy and speeding up the process.
• Clarifies the responsibilities of airport managers and police in relation to the protection and policing of airports which have been designated by the Secretary of State under section 25 of the Aviation Security Act 1982. This provision was added as an amendment to the Bill in November 2005

In the Commons stages of the Bill there were unsuccessful amendments to make the local authority responsible for setting up airport consultative committees rather than the airport operator.

The text of the Act can be seen on the OPSI website - there is a range of further information on the Act on the Department's website

In the DfT's December 2006 Progress Report on the White Paper The Future of Air Transport it is recommended (on page 32) that airport consultative committees should monitor how well the new powers in the 2006 Act are being implemented by airports. The Department wrote to all committees about this on 8th April 2008 (MSWord - 160kb)

Attached is a report on the Bill (MS Word 50kb) submitted to the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting at Manchester Airport on 21/22 June 2006 and report on the new Act (MS Word 50kb) prepared for the Annual Meeting at Stansted on 13/14 June 2007.

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Future of Transport

The Government's long-term strategy for a "modern, efficient and sustainable transport system backed up by sustained high levels of investment over the next 15 years" was unveiled by Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, on 20th July 2004.  According to the Government's Press Release the White Paper "looks at the factors that will shape travel and transport over the next thirty years and sets out how the Government will respond to the increasing demand for travel, maximising the benefits of transport while minimising the negative impact on people and the environment".

The White Paper covers transport by road, rail, sea and air.  Click here for the Chapter on Aviation and Shipping. 

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The Eddington Report

In the 2005 Budget Sir Rod Eddington was jointly commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Transport to examine the long-term links between transport and the UK's economic productivity, growth and stability, within the context of the Government's broader commitment to sustainable development. The study was issued 1 December 2006 to accompany the 2006 Pre-Budget Report [The Eddington Report and related material]

The Report includes ideas for the significant reform of the planning process for strategic transport infrastructure schemes to improve efficiency and predictability without compromising fairness.

On 30th October 2007 the Department for Transport published Towards a Sustainable Transport System which is their response to both the Eddington Transport Study and the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change. The Department also issued a press release.

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Barker Review of Land Use Planning

The Government announced in the 2005 Pre-Budget Report that Kate Barker had been asked to lead an independent review of land use planning, focusing on the link between planning and economic growth.

The final report of the review was published on 5 December 2006 and is available on the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government along with a link to a statement made that day by the Secretary of State. [Barker Report and statement]

The report included recommendations for Introducing a new system for dealing with major infrastructure projects, based around national Statements of Strategic Objectives and an independent Planning Commission to determine applications.

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Planning for a Sustainable Future: White Paper

This White Paper, published on 21st May 2007, sets out the Government's proposals for reform of the planning system. It builds on recommendations from the Barker Review of Land Use Planning and the Eddington Transport Study and aims to improve speed, responsiveness and efficiency in land use planning.

Among other things it proposes reforms on how decisions are taken on nationally significant infrastructure projects, including energy, waste, waste-water and transport - including airport projects for a new tarmac, runway or infrastructure which increases an airport's capacity by over 5 million passengers per annum (mppa). It is propoised that decisions on such projects will be taken by a newly created independent commission “within the framework of the relevant national policy statement”.

The White Paper, and associated consultation papers and research reports, can be accessed from this page on the Department of Communities and Local Government website.

The Government's response to the many thousands of comments made in response to the White Paper was published on 27th November

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Planning Bill

The Planning Bill was introduced on 27th November 2007. It builds on the proposals set out in the Planning White Paper and introduces a new system for nationally significant infrastructure planning, alongside further reforms to the town and country planning system. The draft Bill can be seen on Parliament's website.

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BAA Market Investigation

On 12th December 2006 the Office of Fair Trading signalled its intention to refer the supply of airport services by BAA to the Competition Commission (CC) for more detailed investigation. It also made a recommendation that the airports regulator advise the Government on the case for the de-regulation of Manchester airport.

BAA owns Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Southampton in South East England, and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland. These airports have an annual turnover of £2 billion and handle over 60 per cent of all air passengers in the UK.

The OFT market study found:

• in the South East, BAA's airports handle ninety per cent of passenger trips, and these airports could under separate ownership compete to attract air passengers
• evidence of poor customer satisfaction
• significant investment at airports in the South East of England is planned. Without competition - investment could be inefficient - costly for air passengers and for the UK
• BAA's Scottish airports which carry over 80 per cent of Scottish air passengers, are not price regulated, and charges to airlines are higher than Gatwick and Stansted
• Glasgow, which faces some competition from Prestwick, has had the largest price decreases of BAA's airports in Scotland, and
• the study also found further evidence that competition between independently owned airports - such as Liverpool and Manchester - leads to improved value for air travellers.

The OFT Market Study can be downloaded from their website [OFT Market Study (pdf 2.8mb)].

Having studied the results of the consultation, the OFT on 30th March 2007 referred to the Competition Commission (CC) for further investigation the supply of airport services by the BAA in the UK [More Information]. The Competition Commission also issued a press release. The CC said it would like to hear from all interested parties, in writing, by 27 April 2007.

Following an initial period of information gathering, including visits to airports and holding hearings with interested parties, the Competition Commission in August 2007 published an Issues Statement which identifies the key questions to be addressed. [Issues Statement and Press Release]

The outcome of the CC's investigation is awaited. There has been a good deal of speculation in the media some of it linked to reports that Ferrovial is having problems in the current financial climate in renewing loans acquired for its purchase of the BAA Group. It is said they will need to sell assets in order to reduce its burden of debt.

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Price Controls at BAA's London Airports and Manchester

Under the Airports Act 1986, the CAA is charged with setting price controls every five years at the BAA's London Airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead) as well as at Manchester. The next set of price controls for the London Airports, covering the period from April 2008 to March 2013, are due to be set early in 2008. On 20th December 2005 the CAA published a consultation paper on its policy for this review and describing also the regulatory policy likely to be relevant to the subsequent Manchester Airport review where the next set of price constrols will cover the period April 2009 to March 2014. The consultation document can be obtained from the CAA's website along with an Executive Summary and a 4 page non techncial guide. The closing date for consultation responses was Monday 20 March 2006

On 5th December 2006 the CAA published, for consultation, its initial regulatory proposals for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. There are separate proposals for the regulation of each airport grounded in the market circumstances of each:

Sustainable Aviation Strategy

This Strategy, unveiled in June 2005, is the work of UK airlines, airport operators, aircraft manufacturers and NATS, the principal air navigation service provider. It is billed as the first national sustainability strategy ever produced for the aviation industry and establishes the mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on progress towards the goals and detailed commitments it sets out. The key elements are:

• Limiting climate change impact by improving fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions by 50 per cent per seat kilometre by 2020 compared with 2000 levels;
• Improving air quality by reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 per cent over the same period;
• Lowering the perceived external noise of new aircraft by 50 per cent by 2020 compared with their 2000 equivalents;
• Establishing a common system for the reporting of total CO2 emissions and fleet fuel efficiency by the end of 2005, and pressing for aviation's inclusion in the EU emissions trading scheme at the earliest possible date;
• New airport plans for community-related noise limitations, including landing and take-off restrictions where necessary.

For more information see the DfT Press Release on the Strategy, the Sustainable Aviation Website and this Summary of the Strategy

The signatory companies agreed to publish a progress report every two years measuring progress towards the Goals. The first progress report was published in December 2006. The key points include:

• Significant progress on emissions trading, supported by strong industry representations to the EU Commission – draft legislation expected later this month
• Carbon offsetting offered to BA and Monarch passengers – more schemes about to be launched 
• Support for scientific research into aviation's ‘non-CO2' effects
• Significant progress towards the targets of 50% reduction in fuel burn and noise, and 80% reduction in NOx emissions, for new aircraft in 2020 compared with the equivalent aircraft in 2000.
• Support for the Single European Sky project, with prospect of considerable efficiencies in aircraft routing across Europe
• SA signatory Airlines have published fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions - a major step towards public information on CO2 emissions from British airlines
• Creation of climate change and noise abatement Task Groups, designed to accelerate measures to reduce or mitigate the climate and noise impacts of aviation
• Continued investment in air transport and aerospace manufacturing, creating jobs and supporting business investment and tourism in the UK . (Direct air transport employment 186,000, £11.4bn contribution to UK economy. Direct aerospace manufacturing employment 124,000, £30bn of new orders in 2005.)

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Aviation and Climate Change

A Hot Issue

Over the past year there has been a huge escalation in public awareness and concern about climate change and the issue is now centre stage in the media. Against this background aviation is firmly in the spotlight and given the coverage it receives it would be surprising if emissions from aircraft were not perceived as already the primary cause of climate change! Looking back through the output of the UKACCs news service media:

• In December 2006 the Chancellor doubled Airport Passenger Duty. Environmental protection was cited as the justification for this although many in the industry are not so sure – they believe this was a convenient excuse for what was essentially a tax gathering measure. The tax has certainly been controversial. It applied to tickets already purchased and gave rise to litigation and there was another challenge on the basis that the tax infringes human rights (i.e. the right of people to leave the country)
• In January 2007 the Conservative Party joined the fray suggesting that domestic flights should be taxed heavily with the money used to improve the railways so that in five years' time everyone is choosing to go by train within the UK . And in March the Party announced proposals to levy VAT or fuel duty on domestic flights, or a per-flight tax on airlines, and also a green air miles scheme under which passengers would be issued with a 'green miles' allowance and forced to pay more if they took extra flights.
• “Carbon offsetting” has become one of the most popular means of attempting to neutralise CO2-generating activities such as flying. It allows consumers to contribute to projects such as tree planting to negate the effect of their flights. As mentioned in the paper on the Air Transport White Paper Progress Report, the Government will shortly be bringing forward proposals to make it simpler for air passengers to offset the carbon emissions arising from the flights that they take by setting out a government standard for how such schemes should operate.
• A Government standard is important. At the end of April EasyJet said that the carbon offsetting market is riddled with 'snake oil salesmen' determined to make excessive profits from green-minded air travellers.
• There is a new focus among the airlines on newer aircraft, better engines and bio fuels.

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2002 Stakeholder Discussions

But the new focus on the climate change issue obscures the work going on to deal with the issues which started some long time ago. In his 2002 pre Budget Report the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government would discuss with stakeholders the most effective economic instruments for ensuring that the aviation industry is encouraged to take account of, and where appropriate reduce, its contribution to global warming, and local air and noise pollution.

These discussions took place in mid 2003. For more information please see the attached paper (MS Word - 31kb) considered by the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting in Birmingham on 3/4 July 2003 and also the Department's website which includes copies of the consultation document and the note prepared by the Departments of the Stakeholder meetings. 

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Emissions Trading

The Government's conclusions are included in their White Paper "The Future of Air Transport" issued in December 2003 - see above.  Chapter Three of the White Paper deals with Environmental Impacts - paragraphs 3.35 to 3.43 refer.  See also Government's Response to the Environmental Audit Committee's Report on Budget 2003 and Aviation.  The headlines are:

• The Government believes that the best way of ensuring that aviation contributes towards the goal of climate stabilisation would be through a well-designed emissions trading regime. For an international industry, an international trading regime is the best solution. The Government is pressing for the development and implementation through ICAO of such a regime. The ICAO Assembly has already endorsed the development of an open emissions trading system for international aviation.  For details of the latest discussions - at the ICAO Assembly at Montreal in October 2004 [see DfT Press Release about the ICAO Assembly]
• Meanwhile, the Government intends to press for the inclusion of intra-EU air services in the forthcoming EU emissions trading scheme, and they made this a priority for the UK Presidency of the EU in 2005. They want the aviation industry to join the scheme from 2008, or as soon as possible thereafter. This is supported by the European Region of the Airports Council International - see the January 2005 ACI Press Release and ACI Position Paper.
• As a matter of principle, any additional action to tackle the environmental impacts of aviation will take full account of the effects on the competitiveness of UK aviation and the impact on consumers.
• The Government recognises that because of its blunt nature, Air Passenger Duty is not the ideal measure for tackling the environmental impacts of aviation - although this did not stop the Chancellor using enviornmental arguments to justify a doubling APD late in 2006 - see above.

In the light of the Government's Aviation White Paper - see above - the in March 2004, published a follow-up report pointing out that if international aviation emissions are included in national greenhouse gas inventories as part of an emissions trading system, there is no possibility that the UK can meet the 60% carbon reduction target which the Government set last year. [Follow-up Environmental Audit report] [Summary in press release]

Meanwhile, the European  Commission has been working on possible ways of limiting the effect aviation has on climate change and on 20th December 2006 they published proposals for including aviation emissions in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. This is part of a comprehensive approach which includes research into cleaner air transport, better air traffic management and the removal of legal barriers to taxing aircraft fuel - visit our European page for details including information on the UK Government's March 2007 consultation paper seeking views on the draft Directive which will inform the DfT's position in European negotiations on the subject.

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Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee

On 23rd July 2007 the UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee pubslihed The Voluntary Carbon Offset Market

This says the airline industry must engage with the Government and accept that it needs to do more now to mitigate emissions from its planes and to encourage uptake of offsets amongst its customers as a matter of priority.

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Emissions Cost Assessment - consultation

This consultation, launched by the Department for Transport on 7th August 2007, sets out our proposals for the aviation emissions cost assessment which was announced in The Future of Air Transport progress report in December 2006. The consultation documents can be seen on the Deaprtment's website. The closing dates for comments was 30th October 2007

More Information

At the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting held at Liverpool John Lennon Airport in June 2005 members considered a progress report on emissions trading (MS Word 58kb). See also the updating report (.pdf 533kb) prepared for the 2007 Annual Meeting at Stansted. This includes a paper drawn up by the Technical Adviser to the Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee, Ros Howell, for the committee's April 2007 meeting. This paper was drawn up on the basis that in the present atmosphere is difficult sometimes to sort fact from hype and, more importantly, what can be done at a local level to make a real contribution in dealing with the climate change issue.

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Ambient Noise

Attached is a paper on ambient noise (.pdf - 40kb) prepared for the ACC's 2007 Annual Meeting at Stansted outlining the progress made with the following linked initiatives:

• The National Ambient Noise Study (NANS) which the Government (DEFRA) announced in its 2000 Rural White paper.
• The implementation in the UK of European Directive 2002/49/EC - Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise - often referred to as the European Noise Directive (END). For more information visit our European page

The earlier ambient noise paper, received by the ACCS Annual Meeting at Birmingham in 2003, provides more detail

In June 2006 DEFRA told us that in February 2006, Ben Bradshaw as Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Commons) with responsibility for local environmental quality had agreed to a joint Noise Strategy covering both environmental and neighbourhood noise. The Department went on that work on this was underway and that they Department would shortly be consulting and engaging with stakeholders. On the environmental noise side the strategy was likely to include: noise mapping and action planning; planning policy and research into the effect of noise on people. The work would embrace that planned under the earlier National Ambient Noise Strategy while ensuring the UK meets its commitments under the Environmental Noise Directive. The Department said it had commissioned reports to assess the scale of neighbourhood noise, attitudes to it, and how other countries tackle this issue, to help develop the evidence base for the Noise Strategy and inform their thinking. According to the Department's website the Government plans to issue a combined National Noise Strategy covering both environmental and neighbourhood noise by the end of 2007.

Meanwhile, the END should have been transposed into law by the Member States of the EU by 18 July 2004. However, because of the large number of complex technical details which had to be resolved, DEFRA found it impossible to comply with this deadline in the UK and it was not until September 2006 that the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2238) were laid before Parliament. They came into force on 1 October 2006 - for more information visit our Euro Roundup page. The END is being separately implemented in Scotland and Wales but the impact is much the same as in England .

Attached is a useful Note produced by the Department of Transport (MS Word - 74kb) for the Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee Airport (GATCOM). The technical guidance referred to can be seen on the Department's website.

In December 2007 DEFRA published the noise maps for 18 airports in England - these can be seen on the Department's website

The next step is the formulation of action plans which are required 18th July 2008. It will be noted that Defra will be consulting on their proposals for the action plans. One area for consideration is the format of the plan - for example rather than a free standing document, the action plan could form part of an airport operator's master plan.

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Control of Noise from Civil Aircraft

Among the package of papers issued with the White Paper was the Government's conclusions on the ideas it issued for consultation in July 2000 aimed at tackling operational aircraft noise from civil aircraft. Click this link for a summary of the response prepared for the Liaison Group.

The key message is that the Government would seek powers for airports to establish noise amelioration schemes. The new powers would –

• not apply to airports designated for the purposes of s.78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 – currently Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted – where noise amelioration is the responsibility of the Secretary of State.
• be voluntary - there will be no powers to compel an aerodrome to prepare a noise amelioration scheme. (If in a particular case the voluntary arrangements prove to be unsatisfactory the Secretary of State’s has powers to apply s.78.)
• not be used to unpick existing arrangements (including any planning permissions/conditions and s106 agreements).
• will not specify in detail the sanctions for non compliance but there will be Government guidance setting the minimum and maximum sanctions that aerodromes should adopt.
• operate within and immediately outside the aerodrome’s traffic circuit and beyond to include the full extent of noise preferential routes.

Amendments would also be sought to:

• make it clear that airport charges can be directly related to compliance with noise mitigation procedures;
• strengthen the powers available at airports designated under section 78, so that, for example, controls such as night restrictions can be set on the basis of noise quotas alone, without a separate movements limit. Thus controls could be related more directly to the noise nuisance, providing a more effective incentive for airlines to acquire, use and develop quieter aircraft. Other amendments will allow the Government to direct take-offs and/or landings onto a particular runway and to stipulate fines to be levied by the courts for s.78 violations.

Most of these proposed new powers are contained in the Civil Aviation Bill now before Parliament - see above.

It was as part of this exercise that the Department conducted a review of the Guidelines for Airport Consultative Committees and in fact new Guidelines were issued as part of the White Paper package on 16th December 2003 - see our Guidelines page.

Click here to see a copy of the original consultation paper.  A full summary of the responses to the consultation was issued in March 2002.

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Attitudes to Noise from Aircraft Sources in in England (ANASE)

This long running study was launched in May 2001.  Its aim was to research how people feel about aircraft noise and especially how they perceive the relationship between noise levels and annoyance, or sleep disturbance at night, and how they would value lower noise levels relative to other environmental factors.

Attached is a detailed paper describing the progress made with the ANASE study (.pdf - 44kb) as at the middle of 2006. It will be seen that Phase 1 of the Study was further extended to address a number of technical issues which had emerged during the pilots. (The object of Phase 1 was to ensure that the methodology to be used in Phase 2 - the main social survey - for valuing subjective annoyance from aircraft noise is robust).  By July 2004 this further work had been completed and that month the Study's Steering Group met to discuss the findings of Phase 1 and to consider whether to proceed with Phase 2.

The Group concluded that although Phase 1 had provided valuable insight into the methodological issues there was a need to gain further knowledge on the expected participation of respondents. A particular concern was whether a procedure which requires respondents to travel to local venues for interview (possibly with monetary compensation for doing so) would introduce unacceptable bias or whether home based interviews could provide a satisfactory alternative despite its acoustic disadvantages. The novel nature of the proposed main survey meant that there was no evidence on which to base decisions on these participation issues.  Thus the Steering Group decided that prior to making a commitment to proceed with the main survey there should be an extra phase of work (in effect a Part 1 of Phase 2) which would be in the nature of a 'comparative performance trial' of the alternatives. This work was completed and in April 2005 the Department took the decision to proceed with Phase 2 of the Study.

The Phase 2 national survey took place during the second half of 2005. It involved a survey of a representative sample of some 2500 of the population affected by exposure to aircraft noise around the 20 largest airports in England . The sample choice involved randomly selecting households in each of 76 Common Noise Areas (CNAs) around the 20 airports. Each CNA comprised 1 or 2 Census Output Areas (each of about 100 households) with a variation in aircraft noise exposure of less than 3.5 dBA.

The same selection process involved first classifying the 13,000 Census Output Areas (OAs) around the airports into broad groupings according to their mix of average aircraft noise levels and average number of monthly movements. A sample of these was then selected randomly from each classification, with the selection carried out separately for areas around Heathrow and elsewhere to avoid the possibility of Heathrow OAs being predominantly chosen for the survey.

The non-Heathrow airports were Birmingham , Bournemouth, Bristol , Coventry , East Midlands, Exeter , Humberside, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London City, Gatwick, Kent International, Luton, Stansted, Manchester , Newcastle , Norwich , Southampton and Teesside. There were 4 airports around which no OAs were chosen by the random selection process.

Respondents in all OAs were asked questions on annoyance to aircraft: the questions were compatible with the previous UK study carried out on this topic in the 1980s and with those used in studies abroad. For some OAs, the survey additionally asked respondents to choose their preferred option from a set of options, each describing different numbers of different types of aircraft and money. The purpose of this part of the survey questionnaire was an attempt to estimate the (hypothetical) 'willingness to pay' to reduce the annoyance from aircraft noise and provide a better understanding of the monetary valuation of aircraft noise.

The results of the Study were finally published by the Department early in November 2007 - the consultants' report, together with peer reviews and Departmental statement papers, have been placed on the DfT website. See also the DfT's press release.

The Department say two key conclusions emerge from the study. First, that people are more annoyed by all levels of aircraft noise than they were in 1985, when the last major study in this field was carried out. Secondly, there is no identifiable threshold at which noise becomes a serious problem. Even relatively low levels of noise can cause some annoyance, which rises as the noise increases.

The Government say they will take these findings into account in developing air transport policy. However, as the peer review makes clear, the study could not provide a reliable way of attaching a monetary figure to the impact of aircraft noise. Pending the availability of a better alternative, the Government will apply the existing valuation for road and rail noise when assessing the economic impact of noise in the cost-benefit analysis of future aviation projects. This, they say, is in line with the procedure introduced for road and rail last year.

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Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - consultation

In July 2004 the Government launched a Stage I consultation exercise in relation to proposals for the next night noise restrictions regime for these Airports which would apply for six years, beginning in October 2005 and continuing until the end of the summer season in 2011.  The closing date for comments on Stage 1 was 29 October 2004.  [DfT Press Release] [Consultation Documents].

The Stage I consultation process was challenged in the High Court by the London Boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth on the grounds that the Secretary of State had relied on inaccurate aircraft noise statistics. After a hearing in the High Court on 13th December 2004 the case was resolved by a court order. This recorded that the parties had agreed that the Secretary of State is entitled to have regard to the operational noise of aircraft (and not merely to ICAO certification data) in formulating operating restrictions, provided that, in respect of performance-based operating restrictions at any given airport, aircraft with the same ICAO certificated noise levels are treated in the same way.

Stage 2 of the consultation process was launched on 10th June 2005 [DfT Press Release][Consultation Paper]. It had been hoped that the Stage 2 consultation could be completed in time to have a new night noise regime in place by 30 October 2005. However, the timing was affected by the General Election in May 2005 and the Government concluded it was impossible to complete the process by October while still allowing reasonable time time for consultation and analysis of the responses. Thus it was announcd in December 2005 that the present night restrictions regime would continuefor a further year from 30 October 2005 until 29 October 2006

The Stage 2 consultation paper, which took account of the responses to Stage 1, set out detailed proposals for night restrictions covering the six-year period from the end of the summer season 2006 to the end of the summer season 2012. The closing date was 16 September 2005.

The Secretary of State's decision on Stage 2 was announced in June 2006. The new regime, which lasts until 2012, recognises both a night period, 2300-0700 hours, and a night quota period, 2330-0600 hours. During the whole of the night period, the noisiest types of aircraft may not be scheduled to land or take off and they are effectively banned from doing so (other than in exceptional circumstances) in the night quota period. The next noisiest types (QC/4) may also no longer be scheduled to operate in the night quota period. In addition, during the night quota period movements by most other types of aircraft (including the new QC/0.25 category) will be restricted by a movements limit and a noise quota, which are set for each season. The seasons change with the clocks.

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Assessment and Management of Aircraft Noise Disturbance around Northern Ireland airports

This ‘Good Practice Guide’ was published in July 2003.  It follows the completion of a review of noise pollution at Northern Ireland airports undertaken for the Department for Regional Development by Professor Callum Thomas of the Centre for Aviation Transport and the Environment at Manchester Metropolitan University.

In carrying out the review Professor Thomas met with residents’ groups, elected representatives and the Airport Forums as well as the airport authorities. The ‘Good Practice Guide’ incorporates local, national and international best practice on noise assessment and management.

Announcing the Review the Minister of State, John Spellar MP said "It is clear from Professor Thomas’ findings that although noise pollution at Northern Ireland airports is not as severe as at many airports elsewhere, there is scope for improvement in the management of noise. The ‘Good Practice Guide’ published today will provide the necessary framework for delivering improvements in the assessment and management of aircraft noise at Northern Ireland’s airports.

"My Department now intends to contact each of the Northern Ireland airports to encourage them to convert the published guidance into firm action plans. We will also wish to work closely with the airports to ensure that more meaningful and transparent monitoring arrangements are introduced for the benefit of local residents and other interested parties.

"In addition, the Department will be reviewing the existing airports legislation with the aim of strengthening it where necessary.

"The completion of the review and the publication of the Guidance therefore does not mark the end of this matter. I am committed to ensuring that an appropriate balance is struck in relation to airport growth, the wider economic benefits of air travel, and the need to minimise the impact of noise pollution within local communities."

Follow this link to see the Department's press release in full .  The 97 page report can be downloaded from the Department's website.

Professor Callum Thomas spoke at the July 2003 meeting of the Liaison Group at Birmingham - follow this link to see his presentation "Getting the Balance Right".

A review is under way of the 1997 Planning Agreement which governs many aspects of operations at Belfast City Airport including the number of seats for sale, operating hours, air transport movements, noise and flight paths. The Airport has sought an increase in the number of passenger movements, through a review of the seats for sale restriction

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Public Service Obligations

The White Paper Future of Air Transport, talked about the protection of regional air access to London. It proposed clarification of the circumstances in which the Government is prepared to intervene in order to guarantee a minimum level of scheduled air services on these routes.  Specifically it proposed:

• The introduction of a voluntary early warning system whereby airlines would agree to give notice of their intention to withdraw services from a route. This would give regional bodies and the Government time to consider whether and how the route concerned could be protected.
• The clarification of criteria, which are set out, but not defined in European Regulations governing mechanisms to protect regional air services. This will allow airlines, regional bodies and the Government to make better-informed decisions when considering their policy towards air services from regional airports to London.
  

In connection with the clarification of the European criteria the Government on 7th July 2004 issued a consultation paper seeking views on the interpretation of EU Regulation 2408/92 which deals with the imposition of Public Service Obligations for the protection of such services. Specifically it asks for views on the interpretation of the following terms:

"peripheral region";
"development region";
"thin route"; and
"adequate provision of services"

Additionally views were invited on how the case for the economic necessity of imposing a PSO should be judged.

The consultation period was extended and finally closed on 8th November 2004. 

[2004 Consultation Paper][DfT Press Release]

On 21st February 2005 the Department published a report on the responses to the consultation paper - which it said would be very helpful in informing the Government's thinking on this policy. (Note: On 2nd March 2005, in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the Department published copies of the individual responses).

Apart from detailed comments on the various definitions proposed by the Department a recurring theme among the responses showed that concern in the regions is focussed not just on air services to London generally but, more specifically, on services to Heathrow (and to a lesser extent Gatwick) as a major international hub - this is a particularly sore point for those regional airports which have lost their connections to Heathrow where the number of domestic destinations over the last decade has declined from 11 to 8. The proposals described in the consultation paper did not fully address these concerns. As the consultation paper made clear, according to European case law, if a region has services to any one of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City or Luton airports, it will be considered as having a service to London. The withdrawal or reduction of a service to Heathrow would not be enough to trigger the consideration of a PSO if together the services to other London airports were considered to be adequate. Nor would questions of interconnectivity or the final destination of passengers be part of the consideration of what is deemed an 'adequate' service.

For very similar reasons there was regret in the regions that the proposals dealt only with the protection of existing services and did not include the creation of new London services, particularly to and from Heathrow.

At the other end of the spectrum there was a feeling, typified by the response submitted by the BAA, that the imposition of PSOs might “lead to the benefits to the particular region being significantly lower than the losses to the South-East region and to the UK as a whole. The understandable desire for air access to the UK regions had to be balanced by the desire to maintain and strengthen access from the UK as a whole to the rest of the world.” The submission concluded“…a better solution would be to focus on providing sufficient capacity so that the choice between domestic and international services does not have to be made. Where such a choice does have to be made, then it would be better to consider transparent financial support for those air services which are needed and for which a clear case can be made.”

The Government's formal Guidance on PSOs was finally issued on 15th December 2005 along with a Press Release. Sadly the constraints of the PSO arrangements meant that it was not possible to address some of the key concerns outlined in the responses to the consultation.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that at European level:

the Government has recently supported a suggestion of the European Commission to allow regional bodies to participate in slot trading at airports. If agreed this might be an alternative mechanism for protecting a regional air service.

the European Commission on 18th July issued proposals for a new Regulation which among other things would change the rules applicable to PSO's "to diminish red tape" . The new rules says the EU's press release "will avoid excessive recourse by Member States to PSOs as a pretext for closing certain markets from competition" - see our Euro page for more details of the proposals and the UK Department for Transport's consultation about them launched in October 2006. 

Attached is a report on developing and preserving regional air services (MS Word 91kb) prepared for the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting at Manchester Airport on 21/22 June 2006.

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Route Development Funds

In the White Paper Future of Air Transport the Government said it believed the establishment of further RDFs in Wales and in English regions (outside the South East and East of England) could play a valuable role in establishing new direct business links from both primary and secondary airports in these areas, thus stimulating inward investment and tourism. It therefore asked the Welsh Assembly Government and the relevant English Regional Development Agencies “to consider whether they would wish to set up a route development fund to encourage the establishment of new services at airports in their respective areas, and to consider what priority they would attach to such a fund.”

RDFs already opeatre in Scotland and Northern Ireland although in December 2007 there were reports that the Scottish scheme might be scrapped. The Scottish Government says European rules mean the scheme, introduced in 2002 by the previous administration to help secure new and enhance existing direct air services to Scotland , could not continue in its current form. It promised to honour existing contracts but will not provide any new subsidies.

BAA Scotland, a private sector body, operates a route development fund worth about £14m per annum. This offers discounted airport charges and financial support for route marketing and promotional campaigns -see March 2004 BAA Press release.

The European Commission has issued new Guidelines on the financing of airports and start-up aid to airlines departing from regional airports - again see our Euro Page for details.   The Guidelines above have an impact on the way in which Route Development Funds (RDFs) are operated at national level, in particular in relation to the size of airport eligible for start-up aid, and the restriction on ex-EU routes and carriers. The UK Government has obtained state aid approval from the Commission for the UK's RDF scheme and on 30th June 2006 it published rules and principles governing the operation by devolved administrations and regional development agencies of funds to provide start-up aid. The BAA Scotland scheme operates in the private sector. It is not, therefore, “state aid” and the new EU guidelines do not apply to the BAA's fund.

Attached is a report which includes an up-date on Route Development Funds (MS Word 91kb) prepared for the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting at Manchester Airport on 21/22 June 2006 which includes .

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UK Regional Airports - Fifth Freedom Passenger Services

In June 2005 the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) published a report the impact of granting "fifth freedom" passenger services to foreign (i.e. non EU) airlines at UK regional airports.

Fifth-freedom rights are the rights of an airline of one nationality to pick up and drop passengers and cargo between airports in two other countries on a flight that originates in its own country.

The Report finds that the balance of benefits to the UK from greater liberalisation of fifth freedoms to and from regional airports is likely to be positive. This assessment is based on seven representative case studies. The report was undertaken with the agreement of the Department for Transport, which is now considering it.

The report recommends that the Government adopt a new policy presumption that favours the granting of fifth-freedom rights at regional airports subject to their impact on certain key issues. These include the UK's bilateral negotiating position with the country in question and the viability of more economically valuable UK-originating direct services.

The report also recommends that, so as to increase certainty for the airports and airlines involved, there should be a streamlined and transparent five-week procedure to make decisions about regional fifths.

The Government's response was announced on 17th October 2005. In future there will be a general presumption in favour of allowing such services, for both passenger and cargo services

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Airspace Change Process

In 2006 the CAA's Directorate of Airspace Policy completed a consultation about the procedures to be followed to ensure effective consultation on proposals to change the use or classification of airspace in the UK.

The consultation documents can be seen and downloaded from the CAA's website along with the DAP's responses to the issues raised by those who responded during the consultation period which ended on 7th July 2006.

On 30th March 2007 the CAA issued an Airspace Change Process Guidance Document (CAP 725) which provides guidance on the various stages of the change process

See also the report on the proposed new Airspace Change Process considered at the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting at Manchester Airport on 21/22 June 2006.

Redrawing London's Terminal Control North

The new procedure is now being used in the consideration of proposals by the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) to re-draw the routes taken by aircraft in London's Terminal Control North. This is one of the most complex areas of airspace in the world, with routes in and out of major airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and London City as well as smaller airports such as Southend and RAF Northolt.

Full details of the proposals can be seen on a special website set up by NATS for the purposes of the consultation. The consultation period closes on 22nd May 2008.

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In 2002 Sir John Wheeler published his Review of Airport Security. His findings and recommendations were accepted by the Government and work has been going on to implement them.

Among the recommendations was greater joint working between all security stakeholders including both the regulatory authorities and the industry. Working together he felt they could produce the most accurate assessments of the threats to airports from crime and terrorism; identify any gaps and overlaps in the existing security regimes; and plan for management of the risks involved.

Following trials at Heathrow, Birmingham, East Midlands, Newcastle and Glasgow the MATRA (Multi Agency Threat and Risk Assessment) concept was rolled out across the country in 2003. Very simply the aim is to arrive at a security plan which is jointly-owned and which can be routinely revisited to take into account future developments. These could be a change in the type, volume or profile of services operating at that airport, or responding to new or differing crime trends or threat intelligence.

However, in November 2005 the Government announced it had decided to amend the Civil Aviation Bill then before Parliament to clarify the responsibilities of airport managers and police in relation to the protection and policing of airports that have been designated by the Secretary of State under section 25 of the Aviation Security Act 1982. There are currently nine airports designated for policing purposes - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester, Prestwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The primary responsibility for policing activity at these airports lies with the Chief Constable and the airport manager must make such payments in respect of policing the airport as the manager and the relevant authority may agree. If they cannot agree, the Secretary of State may be required to determine the amount to be paid to the police by the airport manager (section 26(3)).

The Secretary of State said it had become clear that the relationship between the responsibilities of airport managers, aircraft operators and others carrying out security activities directed by the Secretary of State under Part 2 of the Act (sections 10 to 24) and of the Chief Constable whose officers police a designated airport under Part 3 (sections 25 to 31) is uncertain and also that the scope of the Secretary of State's power under section 26(3) of the Act is unclear. Given the importance of this issue to the UK's aviation security programme the Government had decided to use the Civil Aviation Bill to seek to amend the Act, to clarify the relationship between the activities of the airport manager and other directed parties at an airport, and policing activities in order to prevent disputes on this point and to provide a more independent method for settling any disputes that may arise in future. The aim of the amendment was to acknowledge that designated airports require both directed parties and police to perform activities, but that in making policing decisions the Chief Constable should be aware of the role of the directed parties and deploy his resources so that they complement those of the directed parties.

The Bill finally received Royal Assent on 8th November 2006 and the changes to the 1982 Act have taken effect.

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Review of Airport Policing

In its November 2005 announcement the Government also said it had decided to commission an independent, wide-ranging review of policing at airports. The review aimed to identify a sustainable approach to the policing of airports which takes account of the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in protecting an airport and in particular addresses the need for funding arrangements that are objective and transparent. The review was asked to compare the present method of policing airports with that of other modes of transport to establish any differences or similarities in policing approaches, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities that may apply. The review also considered whether the principle of designation could be made to work. If not, the review was asked to propose alternative options.

The report of the Review Team was submitted to the Department for Transport in July 2006. For security reasons was not published but some aspects of what it says are contained in a statement by the Secretary of State. A follow-up statement was promised and this was received by Parliament on 14th June 2007. The statement concluded:

"Two key areas of work have been identified to be tackled nationally:

"Firstly, MATRA remains strongly recommended best practice for all airports. We maintain that such joint agency consideration of threat and risk should be the cornerstone for current and future security activity at airports. BAA and the Metropolitan Police Authority are working together at Heathrow Airport to enhance their MATRA and to develop a shared multi-agency airport security plan. More generally for all airports, work is already underway to deliver national threat assessments to airports so that all suitably security cleared MATRA members can evaluate the security situation from the same knowledge basis. It is acknowledged by all stakeholders that an enhanced MATRA process may identify improved options for tackling particular security issues. Some of these may need to be delivered by the police but it is recognised that a dedicated and permanent police presence may not be required at some airports.

"Secondly, existing legislation is being reviewed to clarify the current responsibilities of stakeholders for security at airports to assist in resolving areas of disagreement. We are taking that work forward as quickly as possible with the agencies concerned.

"Separately, complementary legislation has been introduced requiring aerodrome managers and police at designated airports to agree necessary dedicated policing resources and to clarify what the cost to the aerodrome manager should be. This is then set out in a Police Services Agreement (PSA). Some airports already have, or have had, service level agreements in place and it may be deemed by the parties to them that they remain fit for purpose and contain the requisite information to comply with the Civil Aviation Act 2006. 

"All this work is being drawn together to clarify the security responsibilities of all stakeholders at all airports and create the clear and transparent funding process recommended by the Review. No legislative changes can be made until that work is complete but we are working to identify a suitable parliamentary opportunity for this.

" Although the Review did not focus on airport security, it was an examination of a key element in the protection of our airports against a range of threats. It is naturally not a report for public disclosure, however I will make another statement providing further updates in due course."

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Funding

Within the EU there has for some time been concern that Regulation (EC) 2320/2002 lacks any clear policy as to the financing of the additional security. As previously reported this prompted the Commission to employ the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to carry out a study to gain a clear picture of the various security systems across and within EU Member States, and to investigate the funding of civil aviation security. The IAA's Report, expected in 2003, did not emerge until the end of 2004 and it was not until August 2006 that the Commission finally responded via a Report to the EC Council (COM 2006/431) This said that security costs in transport can be significant and that currently they are largely borne by users. The report gives some insight into the different financing mechanisms which exist in the Member States and warns that the heterogeneity of approach may distort competition. It concludes that more transparency of security taxes and charges would benefit the users of transport services and that, in general, public funding of anti-terrorist measures in transport does not constitute state aid “as it is connected with the exercise of powers that are typically those of a public authority”.

Meanwhile, prompted perhaps by the increased requirement for security at airports following the aviation security alert of August 2006, there seems to be unrest among police authorities over airport funding issues. According to press reports at a meeting called by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) in mid-January 2007, representatives from the police forces and authorities which provide security at the airports agreed unanimously that operators should pay the full cost. Highlighting that there are now 16 airports in the UK with more than 2 mppa, the chairman of the meeting said: "We are still operating under a funding arrangement worked out back in the early 1970s. We are now living in a completely different world with far greater threat levels, and we need to come up with a national strategy for policing our airports and recovering in full the costs involved. It is unfair to expect taxpayers to have to bear the costs for policing what are commercial enterprises, often earning huge profits."

In a separate report it was noted that the policing of Heathrow costs the Metropolitan Police £48 million a year. Operator BAA pays £38 million towards the service. But at the end of February 2008 the Metropolitan Police Authority, the Metropolitan Police and BAA approved a police service agreement (PSA), which secured the future arrangements for how the airport is policed and how the cost will be met. [MPA Press Release].

The Metropolitan Police also provide policing at London City Airport and at its January 2007 meeting the airport's consultative committee heard that the MPA:

• had written to the Secretary of State seeking the designation of the airport under section 25 of the Aviation Security Act 1982 so that the Airport would pay the policing bill instead of taxpayers as at present; and
• had meanwhile asked for a voluntary contribution towards policing costs. This had been rejected by the Airport not least because the amount involved would have been four times the amount payable per passenger at Heathrow.

According to a February 2008 press release the MPA believes "every penny of the police budget should be used to prevent, deter and detect crime and keep people safe. But the moral and financial responsibility for keeping its business and customers safe rests fairly and squarely with the airport operator rather than with Londoners who should not have to fully subsidise a private moneymaking enterprise".

Airports, too, are concerned about the increased cost of security. According to news reports last December Liverpool airport was seriously considering a charge for passengers to cover its security costs. The scheme would require people to pay up to £2 to pass through a turnstile before boarding. Managers said the extra revenue would help meet the £3m cost of increased insurance and security.

More information

Please the report on Airport Security (.pdf 238kb) prepared for the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting at Stansted on 13/14 June 2007. See also the DfT's July 2007 Note on the Review of Airport Policing (MS Word 25kb) . This was a response to an enquiry submitted by London City Airport Consultative Committee.

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Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS)

This new system, introduced at Heathrow as a pilot project during 2005, now also operates at:

• Heathrow Terminal 1
• Heathrow Terminal 2
• Heathrow Terminal 3
• Heathrow Terminal 4
• Gatwick North Terminal
• Gatwick South Terminal
• Manchester Terminal 1
• Manchester Terminal 2
• Birmingham Terminal 1

The scheme allows enrolled passengers holding non-EU passports to enter the UK through a special automated immigration control barrier incorporating an iris recognition camera. The barriers, located in the Immigration Arrivals Hall, form part of Immigration and Passport Control.

Enrolment for the scheme is currently free and voluntary. Enrolment takes place in the airport departure lounge where Immigration Officers assess eligibility and enrol qualifying persons. Those who qualify to participate in the scheme have both their eyes photographed in order to capture their iris patterns. This data is stored securely alongside their personal details. The enrolment process takes about five to ten minutes.

There is more information about the scheme on the Borders and Immigration Agency website

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Longer Queues at Immigration

A number of Consultative Committees have expressed concern about the impact of the Government's new policy of requiring more thorough checks for EU passengers at border control. This has meant increased individual passenger transaction times and thus, in the absence at many airports of sufficient staff resources to carry out the new procedures, much longer queues for EU passengers.

Committees generally accept that thorough and robust checks are essential to protect national security but in many places the added delays are unacceptable and there have been many complaints. A number of Consultative Committees have taken up the issue with the Government try to to secure improved performance by the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA). At London Gatwick it has been suggested that key performance indicators relating to queuing at immigration should agreed and published, so that all concerned are aware of the standards which BIA are seeking to achieve and the Consultative Committee has a yardstick against which it can measure performance.

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Aviation Duty

In the pre- Budget Report in 2007, the Government announced that it intended to replace air passenger duty with a duty payable per plane, rather than per passenger. The idea is that this reform will take effect on 1 November 2009 and have the objective of sending better environmental signals, and “ensuring that aviation makes a greater contribution to covering its environmental costs, while ensuring that a fair level of revenue continues to be raised from the sector in order to support public services”.

In January 2008 the Government launched a consultation on this proposal. The consultation paper which set out options for the detailed design of the new per plane duty, put forward a number of proposals for how it would operate, and sought views on the proposed options. The design issues to be considered included the basis of the duty, exemptions, general aviation, impact on the freight and transit/transfer industry and administrative details. The consultation closes on 24th April 2008.

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Wind Farms - Effect on Radar

At the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting in 2002 the Glasgow Prestwick International Airport Consultative Committee tabled its correspondence with the DfT concerning the impact which wind farms have on the operation of radar installations and thus on the safety of aircraft.  It was agreed that the Secretariat should explore the issue and their findings were presented to the 2003 meeting in the attached paper (MS Word - 71kb). 

At the meeting attention was drawn to press reports concerning £1m be paid by Scottish Power to equip the radar system at Glasgow Airport with filters to reduce the effects of the proposed new wind farm at Whitelee Forest on Eaglesham Moor, 15 miles south of Glasgow.  The details of this were to be explored by the Secretariat.

In their White Paper "The Future of Air Transport" issued in December 2003 - see above - the Government acknowledges there are concerns about the effect of wind farms close to airports, both civilian and military, on airport radar - see par. 12.6. They add that this is sometimes "difficult to reconcile with our aim to increase renewable energy, and we are working on this with industry and the research community".

At the ACCs Annual Liaison Meeting held at Liverpool John Lennon Airport in June 2005 members considered a progress report on wind farm issues (MS Word 51kb).

In July 2006 the CAA issued CAP 764 which sets out its policy and guidelines on wind turbines. The aim is to provide assistance to aviation stakeholders when addressing wind energy related issues, thereby ensuring greater consistency across the whole aviation industry in the consideration of the potential impact of proposed wind turbine development [CAP 764]

Also in 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government published Planning Policy Statement 22 (PPS22): Renewable Energy to which planning authorities should have regard in preparing local development documents and when taking planning decisions – note in particular paragraphs 90-98 to the Technical Annex starting on Page 156

The growing emphasis on wind farms as a source of renewable energy has renewed worries about their impact on airports and thisis something to which the Annual Meeting of consultative committees will need to return before long

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Access to Air Travel for Disabled People

Code of Practice

This Code was finally issued in March 2003. Electronic copies of the code are available on the DfT's website. It took a long time to appear. There was consultation about a draft between March and June 2001 but airport consultative committees were not among those asked for their views.

The code is aimed at all those involved in air travel including travel agents, tour operators, UK airlines, UK airports (including the architects and designers who are involved in their design), ground handling companies and retailers. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC – the Government’s statutory advisers on the transport needs of disabled people) has provided a companion guide for disabled people to explain what they can expect from the code.

The Code is complementary to the European Voluntary Commitments on Air Passenger Rights (see our Euro round-up page) which include a special protocol on meeting the needs of people with reduced mobility. In the UK consultative committees