Extracts from supplementary memorandum
submitted by Belfast International Airport
WHY THE
WHITE PAPER
LOGIC IS
FLAWED IN
RESPECT OF
BELFAST CITY
AIRPORT
— BCA stated in their letter to the
Planning Service of 25 August 2004 (requesting a review of their
planning limits) that the mix of aircraft using the airport in
1995 yielded an average of 39 seats per Air Transport Movement
(ATM).
— Due to the introduction of larger
aircraft, including the bmi A321 to Heathrow, average seats per
ATM had increased to 59 by 2003.
— If BCA were to achieve the 4 million
passengers per annum throughput envisaged within the Aviation
White Paper, while honouring their commitment not to exceed the
existing 45,000 ATM per annum limit in existence, they would need
to average 89 seats occupied per movement.
— To compound this statistic, on the
assumption of an average 70% load factor, this would mean that
average seat capacity per ATM would have to increase to 127—significantly
more than double the figure reported in 2003.
— To place this in context, Birmingham
and Edinburgh, both substantial international airports with a
full range of air service mix, including widebody, long haul,
currently average 78 and 77 passengers per ATM respectively.
|
