COMMENT: The case for Northolt

Speaking to the BBC in Indonesia during his Far Eastern tour last week British Prime Minister David Cameron reconfirmed his objection to Heathrow’s third runway.  “It will not happen,” he said.

So where are we?

Were you aware dear reader that whilst up to 22 United Kingdom airports are served by Amsterdam only six are linked to Heathrow.  The British Airways takeover of bmi will eliminate competition on these remaining domestic routes into London’s main airport with dire results for the Provinces.  Whilst BA may well be forced to offer some slots to competing carriers the sheer cost of Heathrow and difficulties with interlining will eliminate any real interest.  When bmi dropped Glasgow, Virgin suffered.  This will be replicated.  Virgin has a dilemma.  It is a fine long haul carrier.  Does it want to involve itself in the specialised skills required of short haul services?  All it will say is “we are reviewing all options.”  The investment would be heavy.

AERBT believes that the short to medium term answer for the Heathrow capacity problem is to resurrect what was once Europe’s busiest airport, Northolt (NHT), as a point to point operation.  Perhaps at a later date a monorail system could be introduced for hub traffic.  The four-mile (say six minutes) distance is just about practical for connecting passengers.

A parallel can be drawn with London City Airport (LCY).  It was a brown field site in a rundown industrial and port area 30 years ago.  Brymon Airways, landing on Herons Quay, Sunday 27 June 1992, changed all that.  The idea of an airport was opposed by some, led by Ken Livingstone.  Mr Livingstone later, in an about turn, was to open the highly successful DLR extension to the airport.  Take away London City today and there would be uproar. 

LCY as an enterprise has worked for three reasons. 

The political requirement (LDDC)
The airline (Brymon)
The developer (Mowlem)

All three (more or less) worked together as a team for the common good.

This should be the way forward for Northolt.

Very briefly, from a political position NHT satisfies the ‘no new runway’ policy, deals with the Defence cost problem, involves no houses being knocked down, supports the regions with routes into London, and of course relieves Heathrow.  It also adds revenue to the local community and council.  Just like Stansted no government cash is involved either.  Yes there will be very limited additional noise but the Embraer 190 and Bombardier Q400 are even quieter than the Dash 7 that opened up London City.  The technical problems can be overcome.

From an airline point of view it would be (initially) a West London version of LCY, point to point, with strong inbound traffic (and European airports within one hour’s flight time) and outbound routes to the UK regions.  There is an Underground/Overground station (Ruislip Gardens) close by the present entrance/guardhouse and the A40 runs parallel to the runway.  Several market analyses have indicated strong market potential.

For the investor/developer half the land could be turned over to housing and either the existing runway used (1687m), or part of it as per London City (1199m) limiting the aircraft types somewhat.  A more ambitious project for a 2,500m strip with an Airbus A330/Boeing 777 capability is possible, but it would be much more expensive and take a great deal longer to go through the planning process.  However the longer runway construction could be undertaken at night time with normal operations during the day.

In financial terms turning the military operation into a civil airport is not mega money.  Yes, the aerodrome rules are different, but given enthusiasm to drive the project forward none of the technical problems are insurmountable.  Stobart has proven how quickly you can put up a 2m-passenger terminal at Southend and the other infrastructure work is minimal.  Yes, NATS will initiate all sorts of air traffic difficulties, but there is plenty of separation in the technological age.  Just take a look at Los Angeles International with its four parallel runways. 

The Prime Minister has said no to Heathrow’s third runway.  He has also acknowledged that something needs to be done urgently regarding airport capacity in the South East.  Northolt could be the answer.  It will give the UK breathing space whilst the future of our worldwide air connections is properly sorted out.

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Airbus A350 production

Final assembly of the first A350 XWB is now underway at a brand new final assembly line in Toulouse.  This latest step in the A350 XWB’s progress was achieved as Airbus started joining the 19.7 metre long centre fuselage with the 21 metre long front fuselage.
 
This initial A350 XWB airframe will be used for the static structural tests that all new aircraft undergo as part of their certification process.  The assembly of the first flying A350 XWB, MSN1, will start during summer.

The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer.  It will carry 270 to 350 passengers in three-class seating, depending on variant.

As seemingly with all new large commercial aircraft programmes the engineers have again proved to be too optimistic with the design schedule.  The A350 was first announced at the Paris Air Show of 2005, Qatar Airways coming in with an order for 60.  As things stand airline service is now anticipated for 2014.  Airbus currently has 561 firm orders. www.airbus.com

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bmi losses are £3m per week says British Airways

British Airways confirmed last Thursday (12 April) that consultation with trade unions had begun on proposals to integrate bmi mainline into its Heathrow operations.  However yesterday (Sunday 15 April) Virgin Atlantic announced that it will appeal the European Commission’s decision to pass the takeover after waving through the deal in just 35 working days.

The acquisition of bmi by British Airways owner, International Airlines Group (IAG), was given regulatory approval in late March.  bmi is claimed to be losing more than £3m a week and, without this acquisition, was facing closure with the potential loss of all 2,700 UK-based jobs.

Keith Williams, British Airways Chief Executive, said: “bmi is heavily loss making and is not a viable business as it stands today.  Our proposals would secure around 1,500 jobs that would otherwise have been lost.”  

BA says “business as usual”.  An entirely new flight schedule will be published for October but assuming the deal goes ahead which of bmi’s solo routes will remain, and from which terminal?

The acquisition of bmi mainline will give BA an additional 56 daily slot pairs at Heathrow, of which up to 14 will be available to other carriers.  Discussions with potential buyers for bmibaby and bmi Regional are continuing. www.ba.com

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Hong Kong Airlines private jet

Want to hire an Airbus A330 with a two-class, Club Premier (34 seats) and Club Classic (82 seats) layout?  It can take you non-stop to Beijing in one direction or Los Angeles in the other.  Or perhaps Nice for the Monaco Grand Prix.  Hong Kong Airlines is adding a third aircraft, all 'J' Class, to its fleet in June as a back-up for its successful daily Gatwick – Hong Kong flights.  The aircraft will be available for charter.

The airline says it is pleased with the response to the new UK service launched on 8 March.  Traffic is originating around 50/50 at both ends.  In London the City sales office is in Tower 42.  “Whilst we don’t expect our business travel clients to actually visit this 10th floor suite,  what we are demonstrating is our commitment to that market,” said General Manager Gerard Clarke, a long time Emirates stalwart.  He points out that whilst a chauffeur car service is available for Club Premier passengers within 45 miles of Gatwick (or the London postal region) London Bridge/First Capital Connect offers a 40-minute frequent one stop service to Gatwick.  At Hong Kong the airline serves 15 cities in China. www.hongkongairlines.com

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Rex Smith OBE 1922-2012

In the nineteen sixties, seventies and eighties Rex Smith was Mr General Aviation.  He was instrumental in the creation of GAMTA (now the British Business and General Aviation Association) and in the development of the Oxford Air Training School, the first educational establishment to gain the Queen's Award for Industry.  He was Chief Executive of CSE Aviation, distributors of Piper Aircraft, Bell Helicopters, Learjet, and, as the agent for Embraer, responsible for the introduction of the Tucano trainer to the Royal Air Force.  He was a member of the Airworthiness Requirements Board and, with the certification of Concorde, the ARB insisted that for once they ought to fly as passengers. 

Rex was a ‘stay at home type’ and his only other major overseas trip was to Japan to collect an award for the training of ANA pilots.  Rex chaired the British Civil Aviation Standing Conference (now BATA) for many years, establishing it as the principal interface between UK aviation and the government.  It was then a natural progression for him to join the CAA as a non-executive Director.  Rex was a warm soul whose counsel was sought by many and always enthusiastically given.  He was predeceased by his wife Di.

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Singapore goes all A380 from London

As its last Boeing 747 made its final revenue flight on 6 April, Singapore Airlines announced that from 1 June all its three Heathrow daily departures will be by Airbus A380.  Replacing a 777-300, this third rotation represents a 17% capacity increase on the route.

It was on 25 October 2007 that Singapore Airlines made the first commercial A380 service.  Besides London the A380 serves routes from Singapore to Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Zurich.

Singapore Airlines has configured its A380s with 12 First Class Suites at the front of the main deck (1+2+1) and 311 Economy (3+4+3).  Upstairs there are 60 Business Class seats (1+2+1) with, in the rear cabin, 88 seats (2+4+2), clearly the ones to go for if travelling in Economy.  The airline has 16 A380s in service with another three due. www.singaporeair.com

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UK border controls “a national embarrassment” say airlines

In a very stark press release the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), calls the latest forecast by the Immigration Services Union that passport queues to enter the UK could regularly extend to three or four hours “a national embarrassment and a serious blow to the UK economy”.

Mike Carrivick, Chief Executive, said: “The efforts of the Border Force to handle peak periods such as bank holidays and the Olympics are well-recognised but cannot be sustained without necessary changes.  The airline community already co-operates by providing advance access to the passport data of approximately 90m travellers each year, all of whom can be checked against a watch list to identify those who pose a threat or who should not be in the UK.”

Carrivick added “Allied to that, airlines would also like to see an increase in the number of smart gates, that permit automated entry through the use of chip-enabled passports, and the re-introduction of smartzones.  Collectively, huge improvements can be made to the queues to enter the UK without compromising the Government’s need for full border controls.  We call upon the Government to speed up entry into the UK by investing now in the technology.” www.bar-uk.org

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ON TOUR: A family holiday to Spain and Gibraltar

Sharon Ross reports

We had friends who had just moved out to Gibraltar and thought this would be an excellent opportunity to check out this small British overseas territory that is not part of the European Community.  Indeed British is the only way to describe Gibraltar as it seemed more British than multi-cultural diverse Britain; it has one main high street with no empty units (the out of town outlet stores are in Spain – it is an inconvenience to shop across the border.  Since few Gibraltarians have a car one needs to hire on the other side and then carry the  purchases across the border, or drive through and then return the vehicle. 

Crime rates are low and Gibraltarians were very friendly and made us feel most welcome to what for practical purposes is an island with a causeway.

What to wear?  The weather never drops below 60°F or goes much over 80°F.  We give these details in the traditional style, which sums up Gibraltar.  The weather too is very British.  Rain in the winter and mostly sun in the summer.

Gibraltar was ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.  Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and again in 2002.  Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.  Spain blows hot and cold regarding the territory. 

Whilst the airport, which sits on reclaimed land, is supposed to operate in a similar manner to Basle with dual exit, and a new terminal has been built, the way out to Spain is made difficult and the border crossing can be protracted.  Spain is the loser as it could do further business with the Gibraltar community and in terms of tourism.

From London getting to Gibraltar by air is very easy with British Airways offering a daily service from Heathrow, easyJet at Gatwick and Monarch coming in from Luton.  EasyJet provides services from Liverpool whilst Manchester is Monarch’s northern gateway.  bmibaby flies from East Midlands.

Several years back flights from Gibraltar to Madrid were launched by both BA and Iberia but they proved unviable. 

Cruise ships are now a steady business with the town square an easy walk from the terminal.  Even here, from time to time, Spain can make life difficult, occasionally finding a reason to ban ships from Spanish ports that have visited the enclave.

Gibraltar is a fine place for a long weekend type break or two-day stop, part of a longer tour of Spain or Morocco.  It is in total 2.4 sq miles in area with 30,000 permanent inhabitants.  Activities are limited.  But those one or two days can be jam packed. 

A trip to the Upper Rock is a must.  On the Rock are the amazing defensive tunnels, further strengthened in 1940 when Winston Churchill believed that an attack on Gibraltar was imminent.  The Fascist dictator Franco proved pragmatic and desisted.

Also on the Rock are the famous rock apes which will be amazing for those children not scared by animals.

Finally there is Europa point – the southernmost tip of Europe with its breathtaking views across the Strait to North Africa – a recent addition, it now has a fantastic play park. 

Hotel selection is limited but we must mention The Rock, very colonial, overlooking the town; The O’Callaghan Eliott, central, and Caleta, Gibraltar’s only ‘beach hotel’.

Without a young family, we might have ventured from Gibraltar to Morocco but instead we decided to go to Seville – a 2½-hour drive away.  We opted for a self-catering villa.  These are brilliant for holidays with kids – they usually come equipped with a washing machine, plenty of space for the kids to run around and a separate room for you to enjoy once the kids have gone to bed. 

The history of Spain is fascinating, much under the influence of the Moors for 500 years until 1492 when both the Moslems and Jews were expelled followed by the Inquisition.  Both have left their mark all around the Iberian peninsula particularly in the south west.  For the Jewish tourist it was fascinating and slightly unsettling to visit Seville’s Jewish quarter.  The church of Saint Bartholomew was originally built as a synagogue 800 years ago.  We also went to Cordova, where famous doctor and scholar Maimonides was born in 1135.  Again apart from the old synagogue, statute of Maimonides and the Jewish museum there were no obvious traces of Jewish life.

Today Spain has a small but vibrant Jewish community and recognises Israel.

As for the rest of Seville, Alcazar, a Moorish palace, was the main attraction – it was indeed pretty enough if you like that kind of thing.  Another tourist favourite is the Isla Magica theme park – but look at their website before a visit to find out when it is open.  Seville is getting on for 150 miles north of Gibraltar but you can also stop in Cadiz either way, an interesting fortified port city with plenty of history.

Seville was a great base to drive to Spain’s undiscovered beaches.  We went to three – Matalscanas, Barbate and Escopona.  Some of the drives were an adventure in themselves – the views were picturesque and the roads were great to drive on.  And when we got to the beaches they were empty (OK it wasn’t height of season but it wasn’t cold either), clean and beautiful.  Altogether, a holiday to Spain/Gibraltar is certain to captivate any tourist. www.gibraltar.gov.uk www.spain.info www.islamagica.es/?idioma=en

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