LATEST NEWS

Time is running out to attend the free legal advice seminars for residents in third runway demolition area (see below).

The Wave - join the tidal wave of climate protesters through Central London this Saturday.

Events in the pipeline

Former Dft boss gets top job at Gatwick

Date : Monday 24th November 2009

The former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Transport Sir David Rowlands, who oversaw proposals for a third runway, has found himself a nice new job as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Gatwick Airport.

He'll slither into his big boardroom chair once new owners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) finally take over from BAA in December.

Funny how senior civil servants get appointed to plum jobs in the industry for which they have been responsible - after a respectable two-year gap, of course.

The Daily Telegraph reported in April 2008 that Rowlands had attended meetings with BAA during his time at the Dft and had accepted, in principle, the role of non-executive director at BAA.

Rowlands, who only retired from the Dft in 2007, apparently didn't take up the post after it was deemed politically sensitive.

Instead he kept himself busy as a Senior Adviser to GIP and Chairman of High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd. That's the company the Government set up after it announced the go-ahead for a third runway - and shortly after the Conservatives said they preferred to invest in high speed rail rather than airport expansion.

Gordon Brown wants to consider high speed rail as well as another Heathrow runway, not in place of it.

High Speed Two is due to report on the possibly of new rail services from London to Scotland by the end of the year.

Another lucky "old boy" from the Dft has a new job; Sir David Rowlands' predecessor, Roy Griffin, has been appointed Director of ACT, the international airports lobby group.

Apple orchard planted on Sipson Airplot

Date : Friday 13th November 2009

Airplot, the piece of land bought by Greenpeace as a focus for the fight against a third runway at Heathrow, now has an apple orchard after some high-profile supporters came along to help with the spadework.

Thespians Alison Steadman and Richard Briers took centre stage to launch the event and tucked into some of the English apples that were displayed to show the wide variety of apples that have been pushed off supermarket shelves by imported fruit.

As the rain started to fall, everyone gathered for hot drinks, pastries, cakes and even freshly-pressed apple juice, before hearing from speakers who oppose another Heathrow runway.

After Anna Jones of Greenpeace, Kaye Brennan of The Woodland Trust and local historian Philip Sherwood, Alison Steadman gave a marvellous reading from Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy's book "Mrs Scrooge". This entertaining poem specifically mentions the battle against a third runway and carries a message about caring for our environment before it's too late. (A must for Christmas stockings!)

With the rain easing off, it was all hands to the muddy spades to plant the 13 apples trees, including the famous Cox's Orange Pippin - the creator of the variety, Richard Cox, is buried in nearby Harmondsworth.

Incidentally the Cox's Orange Pippin, which Cox bred in the mid-1800s, now accounts for more than half of all UK-grown dessert apples.

Each tree is dedicated to a group of supporters including one for local campaign groups, one each for the Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Green Parties, one for the 57,000 Airplotters who are beneficial owners and others for writers and artists who support the Greenpeace action.

Perhaps an unlikely supporter is Heathrow writer-in-residence Alain de Botton, who now has a Langley pippin tree planted in his name. He says, "I love airports and air travel" but also recognises that "if our society is to tolerate them, we're going to have to learn to fly a lot less."

To highlight the fact that the fight is not just a local or even UK issue, one of the trees has been accepted by Reverend Tafue of Tuvalu, the Pacific nation which is already feeling the effects of climate change.

Heathrow's Terminal 5 given award for worst airport design

Date : Tuesday 10th November 2009

BAA may have crowed that Terminal 5 was designed "around people, not just planes" but it gets the prize for worst airport design in The 2009 Oldie Travel Awards.

Architect Richard Rogers must travel first class if he still thinks his design has improved the travel experience for Heathrow passengers.

While the lounges for premium payers appear to have considered stress reduction (most of us will only see these on websites) the areas for cattle class are simply aimed at pushing them through the sausage machine to the shops as quickly as possible.

For a souless experience, Terminal 5 is hard to beat. It's best feature is the huge glass window in departures where, for the price of a coffee, you can sit and take one last look at distant leafy villages that BAA plans to bury under more concrete.

Airport architects should be ashamed of their part in the violation of our environment - these days even airline passengers revile their work.

More Oldie 2009 Travel Awards winners

Another 1,200 jobs to go at BA after massive drop in profits

Date : Friday 6th November 2009

British Airways has announced plans to cut an extra 1,200 jobs, after reporting a pre-tax loss of £292 million for the six months of the year until September 2009.

The struggling airline had previously announced plans to cut 3,700 jobs by next March and has already cut nearly 2,000 posts through measures such as voluntary redundancy and reduced overtime.

It is the first time that BA has made a loss in the first half of the year, as this is usually their strongest period, because it incorporates the traditionally busy summer season.

BA made a £52 million profit during the same period in 2008, although it lost £401 million overall that year.

The airline's Chief Executive Willie Walsh is following the old formula for coping with reduced profits: cut pay, cut jobs, cut services to customers.

Asking people to work for nothing, getting rid of trained employees and making loyal customers pay extra for items that other premium airlines freely provide doesn't sound like a solution worthy of Willie's £650,000 plus salary.

No wonder cabin crew are furious at plans to increase their workload and freeze pay for the next two years. Strikes around Christmas look inevitable.

BA claims that changes on jobs and pay are essential for the company to survive so presumably it isn't just using the recession to push through radical changes and shed employees.

Yet while BA says it is struggling to survive, it has apparently set aside money for buying homes to demolish for the third runway - a project that seems increasingly unlikely to get off the ground.

Staff and shareholders should ask Willie if he is putting his own obsession with expanding his Heathrow empire before ensuring that BA retains loyal customers and staff, essential for the airline's prosperity.

Stuck for a gift idea? Buy a tree for Airplot

Date : Thursday 5th November 2009

What lasts longer than a bunch of flowers and makes you feel good for longer than a bottle of bubbly?

A £20 apple tree on the Airplot in Sipson.

Greenpeace bought the land as part of its campaign to prevent the building of a third runway and is now about to plant an orchard of Cox's apple trees, a variety that originated in the Heathrow area.

The land has already been put to good use, with raised beds growing vegetables, and as a focal point for many anti-runway events. Climate Rush activists even camped there in September.

So supporters of Airplot who gift a tree get to help fight the third runway, boost the spirits of villagers under threat, do their bit to fight climate change - and ultimately save the planet. All for £20! What a bargain!

Find out more about supporting the Airplot orchard

Increases in Air Passenger Duty could reduce flights through London airports

Date : Sunday 1st November 2009

The first of two increases in Air Passenger Duty (APD) comes into effect today.

Under a new four-tier banding system (based on the distance from London to the destination's capital city), the duty in economy class will rise from £10 to £11 per person on short-haul flights, from £40 to £45 or £50 on medium-haul flights, and from £40 to £55 on long-haul flights. A second increase will is planned for next November.

The tax was intended to raise funds to tackle climate change but opponents of the tax, especially the aviation industry, are predicting a reduction in the number of people taking flights and fear the impact of this on tourism and the economy.

One criticism is that anyone travelling on a low-cost airline from the British regions to Europe via a London airport will have to pay the increased tax on both UK flights.

This is likely to result in many travellers from the regions picking up their long-haul connections in Amsterdam to avoid the tax in London.

Even before the tax increase, travellers have reduced their flying. The International Air Transport Association states that, globally, airlines lost $17 billion last year.

Time will tell if the tax has an impact on other industries. Currently it generates £2 billion a year, with the new system expected to bring in £3.5 billion by 2012.

It should be remembered that the UK's aviation tourism deficit was around £17 billion in 2008. According to "Airport jobs: false hopes, cruel hoax", published by the Aviation Environment Federation, economist Brendon Sewill calculates that the deficit costs Britain around 900,000 jobs.

Read the AEF report