British-Irish EXPO

Robert Courts MP, Aviation Minister, spent some time at the British-Irish Airports EXPO at ExCeL London last Thursday (23 June).

ExCeL itself was busy hosting a number of other exhibitions, the Elizabeth Line clearly the most popular access means.  When coming from central London be in the rear of the train or otherwise it can be a long walk.

Courts toured the exhibition and visited most of the near-90 exhibitors before appearing on stage to address the entire EXPO alongside senior stakeholders of RABA Group (42 UK and Dependency regional airports), Heathrow, and the British Aviation Group (200+ UK airport suppliers).

Dominating the show entrance, was a pair of Yutong buses, fully electric, and able to run for several days with the air conditioning working.  Passenger coaches are amongst the worst polluters in public transport. In hotter climates the drivers tend to leave diesel engines running the whole time regardless of whether there are passengers on board or not. (See COMMENT: The Willie & Akbar show in this week’s BTN.)

A presentation that caught the eye at one of the three stages was by British company Skyports who have recently acquired the Isle of Dogs Falcon Heliport (Skyports London Heliport) for use by eVTOL machines from 2024.  CEO Duncan Walker spoke passionately about the future of these machines which he claims are quieter, greener and cheaper than traditional helicopters.  Skyports is teaming up with Brent Cross South Ltd Partnership, a joint venture between Argent Related and Barnet Council, for the development of a passenger air taxi vertiport at Brent Cross north London.

www.airports-expo.com

https://skyports.net

www.pelican-eng.co.uk

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