APPENDIX 24
Memorandum submitted by the Civil Aviation
Authority
INTRODUCTION
1. The Committee sought views on a number
of issues in connection with the current state of plans to provide
appropriate transport for 2012. The CAA welcomes the opportunity
to contribute to the Committee's inquiry and offers the following
responses to the Committee's specific questions:
What level of funding will need to be directed
at transport improvements? Will the Government's Spending Agreement
with the Mayor provide adequate funding? What role will the private
sector play in delivering this infrastructure? Will funding be
diverted from other transport projects?
2. The CAA has no view on the source and
level of funding. However, critical to the success, both actual
and perceived, of the safety standards applied to Airspace Management,
local airport related aspects, and associated surface transport
plans, will be the need to ensure that strategic and tactical
co-ordination of tasks related to aviation and transport links
are subject to the highest professional levels of project management.
How will the transport projects needed for the
Games fit into an integrated and long term transport plan for
London? Will the transport legacy be appropriate to the needs
of east London in the next two to three decades?
3. The CAA believes that to ensure the projects
for the Games are successfully integrated into the long term plan
for London and to provide an appropriate transport legacy, the
following need to be taken into account:
— It will be important to identify
separately the temporary or transient transport plans specific
to the support of the short-term needs of the Games, ie over (say)
six months in 2012, and the investment and infrastructure necessary
to support the longer term plans for London.
— Projects should be developed to be
complementary to, and integrated with, all other proposed or approved
aviation and surface transport arrangements. Preference should
be given, where practicable, to developing those projects that
will remain in place after the Games, ie the "legacy"
projects.
— Legacy transport plans should be
managed so as to ensure that they are indeed appropriate to the
needs of the South East, and East London in particular. These
should be reviewed to assess the extent to which, if any, particular
aspects of the legacy plans are critical to the successful running
of the Games. Any such aspects should be developed to timescales
that are appropriate to the Games.
— All the airports in the South East,
not necessarily only those identified in the Olympic Bid (Heathrow,
Gatwick, Stansted, London City), may seek to be used as gateways
for participants and visitors to the Games. Speculative developments
linked, or not, to airport and associated surface transport programmes
may be expected. London Luton, Farnborough, and nearby provincial
airports, such as Southend, Biggin Hill and Cambridge, in addition
to London City Airport, may also expect to serve as gateways.
However, these may perhaps be biased towards servicing VIP and
charter or corporate flights, with surface links or helicopter
services to and from the Olympic events.
— It is clear that short-term temporary
arrangements will be sought to support the Games such as, for
example, temporary heliports. Helicopter services may be offered
in the same manner that occurs now with special sporting events
such as Ascot, and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Several
UK operators have extensive experience of providing the airport
and air traffic control (ATC) facilities needed to service such
operations. Interestingly, in the case of the Athens Games, the
Greek Authorities limited the use of helicopter services for reasons
of unreliable weather and security demands.
— Not all the events will take place
in East London and due consideration will need to be given to
the transport provisions necessary to service "remote"
events such as South coast sailing.
— Proper coordination will be required
between parties with responsibility for transport, and those managing
interacting activities (eg local planning Authorities, those developers
seeking to capitalize on the regeneration plans for the Thames
Gateway, and Government Agencies such as the Department for Transport,
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Olympic Development
Agency and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). The Government's
oversight strategy has yet to be announced but the Olympic Delivery
Authority (ODA) will presumably have the key role to play, supported
by a number of Government Departments, local authorities, security
agencies, regulatory bodies, broadcasting companies and transport
service providers.
What effect will the Games have on security, congestion,
overcrowding, air quality and emissions in London? What impact
will there be on transport in the interim?
4. From an aviation perspective, there is
likely to be an overall short-term increase in the number of passenger
air transport movements using the principal London airports in
order to convey officials, competitors, spectators and the media
from the competing countries. There is also likely to be additional
helicopter and balloon activity and there may be proposals for
the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the immediate vicinity
of the event sites. This will have the effect of increasing airspace
activity over the South East of England, but it is thought unlikely
to have any significant incremental adverse environmental impact
on air quality over and above the current uncertain estimates
for air quality measures at the London airports.
5. Plans leading to these activities must
be clearly specified, with full safety case substantiation, managed
at the time by appropriate airspace design arrangements and controlled
by ATC. These plans must be developed well in advance of the Games,
with due account being given to the potential for air exclusion
zones, dedicated helicopter routes, and designated landing sites
to meet security demands and to protect the Games sites from extraneous
noise pollution and distraction.
6. It is considered that, provided there
is no significant adverse impact on London City Airport (LCY)
operations, then there is likely to be sufficient spare capacity
outside the peak hours to accommodate the additional demand. However,
the potential impact on LCY operations, subject to the restrictions
that might be required could be significant. In particular, operations
on the westerly runway could be affected if aircraft departing
runway 28 were required not to over fly the main Olympic park
on the grounds of security, safety or noise impact. One of the
potential options would be to re-route westerly departures to
the south, but this would have an impact on existing operations
in the rest of the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area (TMA) as well
as an environmental impact on those on the ground who are not
currently subject to departure traffic.
7. Security considerations, based on the
current security climate, will probably require the introduction
of some form of restriction of flying over the Olympic sites.
In order to minimise the disruption to other air transport movements,
these should be as small as possible in vertical, lateral and
time extent. In addition, there is likely to be some disruption
to helicopter operations on the route network that exists over
central London. This will need to be managed carefully to ensure
that there are no un-intended safety or environmental consequences.
Adequate provision will also need to be made for helicopter operations
(media, VIP, emergency service) and other aviation activities
associated with the Olympic sites.
8. All long term, legacy projects should
be implemented in accordance with the Government's policy on sustainable
development.
What lessons for transport can be learned from
the experiences of other Olympic cities?
9. The CAA will engage with aviation regulatory
bodies with oversight of other Olympic Cities in order to incorporate
lessons learned and relevant detailed proposals into UK plans
as they develop. Manchester's hosting of the Commonwealth Games
will also provide pertinent experience.
What might be in the Olympic Transport Plan?
10. The Plan should address all modes of
transport, including aviation. The current Olympic Bill appears
to be light in this area. Taking all of the above points into
consideration, the CAA considers that the Olympic "Master"
Transport Plan should ensure:
— long term, "legacy" projects
that either wholly or partly contribute to the success of the
Games are clearly identified and that suitable arrangements are
made to distinguish between them and short term "temporary"
arrangements dedicated purely to the period of the Games themselves;
— the needs of all interested parties
(eg Security Services, broadcasters, VIPs and competitors etc),
are identified in a timely manner, taken into account and given
appropriate priority according to clear criteria which must include
a full safety risk assessment of the proposed aviation arrangements;
— effective co-ordination between,
and where appropriate detailed integration of, surface and air
transport systems;
— legacy projects are implemented in
compliance with the Government's policy on sustainable development;
— significant security and safety issues
that may arise from any possible plans to use unmanned air vehicles
for the first time for such an event to provide enhanced media
coverage are addressed; and
— the impacts on LCY, other airports
serving the Olympic sites and other airports in the vicinity are
carefully addressed.
Will the Olympic Delivery Authority have the necessary
powers, funding and expertise to plan and deliver the transport
infrastructure and services required?
11. While this is a matter for Government,
it is the CAA's view that the ODA needs to have the authority
and resources necessary to ensure that all intended transport
plans can be integrated appropriately and are achievable in the
timeframe, while being sustainable for the longer-term. It is
unlikely that the ODA will have sufficient resources to deal with
every aspect of transport infrastructure, even if the draft Bill
were to be amended considerably. Consequently, the ODA should
be required to effect close liaison with other Government departments
and public bodies such as the CAA in order to ensure that aviation
requirements are given due consideration in the context of the
overall aim of delivering the Olympic Transport Plan.
12. By way of example, to ensure consistency
in delivery of the required transport arrangements, the principles
of existing legislation and procedures (eg the Aviation Safeguarding
consultation procedure contained in ODPM Planning Circular 1/2003)
must be fully enabled, especially if special planning powers were
to be given to the ODA.
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