Aviation Strategy

Written evidence from the London Medway Airport Group (AS 05)

Summary

 

· The South East of England is already critically short of airport capacity; costing the UK economy millions - potentially billions - of pounds a year. With politicians deliberating whether Heathrow needs a 3rd runway, it is clear that this would be just a short-term, quick-fix solution.

· Heathrow is now redundant, and will become increasingly useless in future years. Expansion does not make sense.

· The answer lies away from Heathrow; London, the South East and indeed the UK, needs a new, state-of-the-art hub airport that will fulfill the aviation needs of Britain for centuries to come.

· A site in the North Kent Marshes, north of Cliffe, is perhaps the most prime piece of land for development in Europe. We believe it is already in public ownership.

· Easy connections and transport links. Up to 100,000 new jobs for Medway. A new multi-modal road/rail/air/sea transport hub powering the UK economy.

1 The importance of Aviation

1.1 With the level of globalisation increasing around the world, an international airport able to meet the needs of both business and leisure travelers is vital to the UK economy. Providing a crucial link between the UK and the rest of the world, a good international airport can bring massive benefits to the UK. The impact of aviation on the economy cannot be underestimated, encouraging companies to locate in the UK and making it easier for UK businesses to expand into foreign markets. These links are already very significant, but over the next few years, the role of an international airport will becoming increasingly important. With a lack of air links with the emerging economics, such as Brazil and India, the UK economy will start to suffer.

1.2 As the gateway to the rest of the world, an international airport supports billions of pounds of exports, thousands of jobs and gives the UK a crucial advantage over other countries when businesses decide upon where to locate. With 52% of Europe’s Top 500 companies considering transport vital when deciding to locate, the access to markets is vital. The services sector, which contributes 70% of UK GDP has been heavily dependent on the air transport links provided by an international airport. Connectivity is especially significant in London, with the City’s financial, insurance and banking companies reliant on air services; requiring on average six times more air travel than other businesses. Without these international links, companies will consider locating elsewhere, and investment will be given to other countries, meaning that the UK will lose out. Foreign direct investment is worth more than £52 billion each year, worth 27% of London’s economy, has brought more than 500,000 jobs to the area. Although the companies choose London and the UK for a variety of reasons, transport has been seen as essential to attracting the multinational corporations as well as the small and medium enterprises. Links to places like the United States and India, the leaders in numbers of inward investment projects in London, are very important, and a lack of these will mean that the UK could lose out of future investment.

1.3 Capital and and labour can relocate quickly, especially given the single market of the European Union, allowing these factors of production to move if the UK infrastructure is seen as inadequate. With an effective hub airport, travelers can access a massive number of destinations making the UK very attractive, but this advantage is being eroded by the progress of other countries. Other competing cities, including Paris, Amsterdam, Dubai, Frankfurt and Berlin, are all investing in new capacity, hoping to gain from some of the benefits that the UK has enjoyed from Heathrow over the past few decades, including that seen with the growth of the financial services industry. This means that they have been able to increase the number of destinations they serve significantly, while the number served by Heathrow has decreased over the past twenty years. Therefore, the UK is in danger of losing its status as a world leader, losing the direct benefits of inward investment and increased exports, as well as the indirect benefits seen from the jobs and tax revenue supported by these transactions.

1.4 Economic growth and development at a regional level is also reliant on the UK having a global hub airport. As a trading nation, businesses both large and small rely on a hub airport to be able to reach worldwide destinations from their local airport by that can only be served by connecting at a hub airport. This means that a strong aviation policy not just affects London, but also supports jobs and benefits the rest of the country. No other form of transport can match aviation in speed, efficiency and the level of connectivity that a global hub provides. In business, the Department for Transport states that "faster and more reliable journeys in the course of work represent a productivity gain." A lack of connections to a hub airport then harms businesses, as it takes longer for them to reach destinations. This has been seen recently, with Heathrow falling behind Paris and Amsterdam in terms of flights to UK regional airports, thus leading to a productivity loss and harming GDP. In the short term, the regions will start to lose out due to higher costs due to the lost productivity, while also seeing wider long term disadvantages. With problems accessing international markets, businesses will then see lower exports, leading to lower growth. Less jobs will then be created, leading to lower tax revenue and increased regional inequality as London benefits from the hub airport, leading to wider issues. A strong international hub airport connecting the rest of the UK to the rest of the world is important not just locally, but for the whole of the UK.

1.5 It is clear that aviation can clearly benefit the whole of the UK economically if there is a strong airport with wide international links. Domestic businesses will find it easier to access emerging markets, bringing the increase in export, along with international multinational firms supporting the UK with inward financial investment, supporting jobs and benefitting the wider economy. Without this, the UK will start to lose out to its international competition, having a massive economic impact that cannot be understated, with the importance of aviation going everyday due to increasing globalisation.

2 The Problem with Heathrow

2.1 Heathrow Airport has served the United Kingdom as a principle hub airport for the best part of 60 years, growing year on year to reach its busiest ever year in terms of passenger traffic in 2011; handling almost 70 million passengers (69,433,230). 2011 was also Heathrow’s busiest year in history in terms of cargo; it processed over 1.4 million metric tonnes of freight. The continued growth of Heathrow shows the demand for air travel, and spare aviation capacity in the South East.

2.2 Unfortunately, Heathrow has no spare capacity. This has been apparent for some years, although the airport continues to see small single digit increases in passenger traffic each year, with the advent of larger aircraft. The ‘fight for flights’ at Heathrow, regarding the lack of capacity and landing slots, has pushed aviation prices up dramatically for consumers. Flights from Heathrow are regularly seen to be significantly more expensive for travellers than at rival ‘hub’ airports, such as Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt. Indeed, the media recently reported that a direct flight in Business Class from Heathrow to Los Angeles would cost on average £5,777. They found that it would actually be cheaper to fly via connecting flights at European hubs, costing just £3,421 when going via Amsterdam. These prices are unfair on British consumers, damaging to British business, and completely uncompetitive in a growing aviation market. Such extortionate prices at Heathrow are almost completely down to the high expense of landing slots.

2.3 The location of Heathrow itself, is frankly bizarre. Major hub airports should be within easy reach of the city they serve, but not within the actual city limits. Heathrow’s position has ruined the day-to-day lives of millions of people; it’s congested flight paths are directly over the City, and it’s runways are nestled amongst built-up, urban areas. The noise from aircraft experienced in some residential dwellings has been recorded as a breach of basic human rights and residential law in the United Kingdom.

2.4 It is argued that point 2.2 can be easily rectified with a 3rd runway. Any 3rd runway at Heathrow would require the complete destruction of the villages of Harmondsworth, Sipson, and potentially Harlington too. Thousands of residents would have their homes bulldozed, only to be relocated elsewhere against their will. This is an abhorrent measure that could severely affect their livelihoods. Moreover, an even bigger problem would be yet further increases in the number of flights landing at and taking off from Heathrow, due to the much needed extra capacity brought by a 3rd runway. The West of London would have their misery compounded by even more unjust aircraft noise. Perhaps an even bigger problem, is that the planned 3rd runway would most likely only be a maximum of 2,200m long, which pales in comparison to the 3,900 and 3,600m length runways currently in use at Heathrow. While this would undoubtedly be beneficial in taking smaller aircraft onto the 3rd runway, allowing larger aircraft to use the original 2 runways, it would be of no use long-term, as more flights use bigger aircraft.

2.5 While a 3rd runway at Heathrow could be a quick, easy and (relatively) cheap fix to the problem of aviation capacity in the South East, it will not be able to fulfill the needs of future generations. In 30-40 years, we could quite easily be having the same consultations; a 4th runway will be needed, as demand continues to grow. So what would be the answer then? Continue to knock down residential areas to continue the expansion of an aged, creaking hub airport? It doesn’t make sense, long-term, to expand Heathrow any further.

3 The Future Lies at Cliffe

3.1 The UK simply needs a long-term, state-of-the-art international hub, capable of meeting the demand of air passengers for decades and indeed centuries to come. It should be multi-modal, and act as a melting pot for road, rail, air and sea logistic networks, in terms of both passengers and cargo.

3.2 As outlined by section 1 of this evidence, the economic importance of aviation to London (and the entire UK) is vast. With Heathrow increasingly losing out to the likes of Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam, action needs to be taken immediately by the Government, and the answer lies in a new location, East of London, with fast connections to the City.

3.3 Our proposal is ‘London Medway Airport’ (LMA). A 4 runway multi-modal gateway to the World, this airport has the potential to transform London, the UK, and Europe. It will totally replace Heathrow, and be located on the Hoo Peninsula, just to the North of the village of Cliffe in Medway, Kent. Being an onshore location, construction costs would be dramatically reduced in comparison to offshore and partially offshore proposals, such as ‘Boris Island’ and Foster’s ‘Isle of Grain’ airport respectively. We believe the total cost of the project, including all the related infrastructure, would be around £25bn, significantly less than almost all other Estuary proposals. Additionally, the vast majority of this would be funded by private investment, overseas sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and corporate partnerships. Only a small amount of tax-payer capital would be needed to directly fund the project.

3.4 The Heathrow site will be closed. The site is prime for development; 3,000 acres with extensive rail and underground links to central London, next door to the M25, and in the relatively wealthy West of London. £Billions could be raised from the sale/development of the land, creating the thousands of affordable, sustainable houses that London is crying out for, alongside one of Europe’s largest business developments. Light industry and office space could cover a large proportion of the land, creating thousands of jobs, and covering the loss of jobs suffered due to the closure of the airport. Heathrow can become a sustainable, futuristic garden city, and raise significant funds for LMA at the same time.

3.5 London Medway Airport would feature 4 fully operational runways. This automatically brings a doubling of Heathrow’s capacity, although unlike Heathrow, our new hub airport would not be restricted during the night. Heathrow can not operate large aircraft overnight due to nearby residential areas, but the wilderness of the Hoo Peninsula would allow 24/7 operation. 24-hour operation, coupled with 4 full-length runways, and a vast passenger terminal would give capacity for up to 140 million passengers per year. This would be around twice the amount that Heathrow can currently handle. In terms of cargo, an extensive logistics village with warehousing and terminals, would allow the airport to handle up to 3.5million metric tonnes of cargo per annum (in comparison to 1.5m at Heathrow). The importance of cargo at the airport is vital, as a means of British businesses exporting to new markets, and also due to the proximity to the under construction London Gateway Port, directly opposite our proposed site. By 2016, it is estimated that around 70% of the UK’s container traffic will be processed through ports within 40 miles of our proposed airport location.

3.6 Amongst the most important parts of supporting infrastructure with regards to LMA would include the construction of a new local road network and - crucially - a new Lower Thames Crossing. Ideally a bridge, but potentially a tunnel, this would not only ease the current congestion seen on a daily basis at Dartford, but also provide direct access onto the airport site. The new crossing would be the focal point of a new local road network connecting the M25 with LMA, London Gateway Port and the M2. These new roads would enable swift access by road to the airport site, as well as good connectivity with the London Gateway Port and Logistics Park, just a 5-10 minute drive away from LMA via the new crossing - this is vital for the cargo sector of the airport.

3.7 The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1), would be extensively upgraded as part of the plans. With a new branch leaving the main line south of Ebbsfleet, and going directly into the passenger terminal building, the airport would be reachable from Stratford International (zone 3) in 18 minutes, and St Pancras International (zone 1) within 25 minutes, via a regular and fast express shuttle service between these London stations and the airport. The new branch could potentially be built into a cutting, to avoid any visible destruction of the landscape as it passes relatively close to some homes in the Medway area. We would anticipate that up to 70% of LMA passengers would travel to the site by this new rail link, with the airport station capable of handling up to 80 million passengers a year. St Pancras meanwhile, will form a new national and local rail hub, along with nearby Kings Cross and Euston stations - within walking distance. The extensive availability of different London Underground lines at Kings Cross St Pancras tube station and Euston/Euston Square tube station would make the St Pancras area an ideal connectivity hub for the new airport. It is also more than possible for continental trains on HS1, such as Eurostar (Potentially also Deutsche Bahn) to call trains at the airport from cities such as Paris and Brussels.

3.8 Heathrow is redundant because of the local area; it can not expand without destroying villages. It cannot continue to operate in its current state because it causes misery for thousands. There are no current homes on the proposed LMA site, or indeed any buildings whatsoever. There are very few homes under the closest aircraft approaches. LMA makes sense because it would affect very few people. Our core objective is to ‘significantly improve the lives of Medway residents, without directly affecting them on a day-to-day basis". This can be achieved by creating the world’s first community airport. The airport operators, airlines, on-site hotels and businesses would be required to take on significant numbers of staff from Medway where possible. Additionally, work- experience/apprenticeships for North Kent students will be of paramount importance, with all components of the airport having close relationships with local secondary schools, utilising the educational potential of a major international airport, in the fields of science, engineering, maths, business and tourism. The airport shall also have a large scale charitable programme, donating almost exclusively to local charities, community groups and sporting clubs.

3.9 Medway has serious pockets of deprivation in its larger towns, and a higher than normal unemployment rate. It may not automatically be considered as a deprived area by the uninformed from elsewhere in the country, but the failure of planned regeneration projects has continued to drive down average wages and employment rates during the economic downturn. The region is now suffering, and needs a huge investment to turn it around. London Medway Airport is that investment. The Thames Gateway corridor of redevelopment projects has (largely) stalled, but that would no longer be the case if LMA was to be constructed. The region would become highly desirable, vibrant and cosmopolitan. Developers would be keen to invest in stalled projects, an eventually the entire area could be regenerated into one of the most desirable parts of the UK.

3.10 Heathrow is currently the home of around 75,000 on-site jobs. In addition to this, it is estimated that it indirectly supports around 115,000 further jobs off-site, in the local area and throughout the South East. London Medway Airport would be far bigger than Heathrow, and we estimate that around 90,000 jobs would be created on-site upon opening. Of course, this would grow substantially when more passenger and cargo capacity is utilised, up to around a maximum of 120,000 employees eventually. All current Heathrow employees would be offered the chance to transfer their jobs to the new site, although it is expected that only around 60% would wish to do so. This means that in total, around 45,000 new directly supported jobs would initially be created at LMA, and priority would be given to Medway and Kent residents. At the time of writing, the latest unemployment figures show that 135,000 people are unemployed in the South East, including almost 40,000 in Kent itself. The impact of the airport on the local area would also be great in terms of indirectly supported jobs.

3.11 Wildlife on the North Kent Marshes remains of vital importance. Wildlife is a great passion of the founders of the London Medway Airport movement, although it is totally possible that an airport could be built here without a single animal being harmed. A long-term wildlife management strategy could be implemented to encourage the natural migration of the thousands of local bird species away from the site, to a new nature reserve. It is our ambition to create one of Europe’s largest conservation areas elsewhere in the South East through sizeable investment, creating up to three times the land lost by the development of the airport. Due to this long-term programme, the eventual risk of bird strike once the airport was operational, would be no higher than other major UK airports.

Further Information

 

Extensive details of London Medway proposals can be found on our website, as well as a useful Map, outlining our specific airport plans. The map can be seen here: http://www.londonmedwayairport.com/map/

25 September 2012