Council to bus air passengers

Following on from my previous post Cornwall County Council are rightly going to pay for the busing of passengers unable to use Newquay Airport over the next three weeks. In the case of those booked with Ryanair this could mean taking passengers to and from Bristol or Bournemouth because that company doesn't use Plymouth or Exeter airports. I recall that it wasn't so long ago that Ryanair were bitterly complaining about some airport taxes being applied at Newquay and, in their usual forthright fashion, they have spoken out about this fiasco, comparing Cornwall County Council to "the Keystone Cops".

Cornwall have said that there might be grounds for compensation to those affected by the Newquay Airport shutdown. I'm not quite sure how that can be assessed mind you but I fully approve of their organising buses or taxis to the other local airports. As it us i.e. the council tax payers who will ultimately be paying the extra costs of the next three weeks then the Council need to come clean and explain what has gone wrong. Obviously safety is paramount and if three weeks are now needed to get systems in place so be it. But somebody needs to do some explaining about why the transfer from the military to the new owner has got fouled up.

Embarrassment at Newquay Airport hitch

Next Monday is December the First, the day the RAF withdraw from RAF St Mawgan and Newquay Airport becomes a standalone entity. Well this was the script and, although the RAF are leaving, the other part of the plan has hit a snag. From December 1st to the 19th of the month all intended flights will be grounded. Why? New airport owners Cornwall County Council can't obtain the necessary Civil Aviation Authority licence because the new traffic control system just isn't ready. There was a hope that perhaps RAF personnel could stay for this interim period to keep the thing going but they have already been committed elsewhere.

This is all very embarrassing for the Council, it's not as if they haven't had plenty of time to make the necessary changes to the operation of the airport (I think that previously the military were responsible for all air traffic movements). Airlines using Newquay will have to bus their passengers to other airports from which they operate such as Plymouth and Exeter.

The unhappy start to the new chapter in the life of Newquay Airport reminds me of the chaos that occurred when Heathrow's Terminal Five opened. Terminal 5 doesn't seem to be in the news of late so presumably all is sweetness and light there. Did everyone get their luggage back in the end? Frustratingly we don't seem to get long term media follow ups on these types of story. In fairness of course the subject might have been revisited but I've just not been around at the right moment.

Ryanair expands Newquay services

I've written before about Newquay Airport and how these days things seem to be on the up there - no pun intended. The latest news is that low cost giant Ryanair is to expand their services at Newquay. This might come as a surprise because airline and airport had a spat not so long ago because of the £5 levy on passengers flying out of the airport. Evidently they have now kissed and made up because the five times a week service to Stansted is being increased to two flights a day plus there will be new routes to Spanish destinations, Girona and Alicante, three times a week.

It's difficult to make a balanced judgment on this business of more flying I find. As a basic principle we should curtail the amount of flying that goes on but it's not that simple. I've had one overseas holiday, to the island of La Palma in the Canaries, which I thoroughly enjoyed but, for various reasons, don't have any imminent plans to take to the air again. However I fully appreciate just how much some folk want their two weeks in the sun and also how much business has a global dimension these days so that there is a (questionable) need for more business travel. And of course many families now live in different countries, on different continents even, and would like to meet up occasionally. Now add to that potent mix the increasing size of the World's population and it can be seen just how difficult it is to restrict the growth of aviation.

My hope would be that people from Cornwall currently using Gatwick as their departure point for Spain might now consider Newquay. If those taking advantage of Ryanair's new services are the same as those who would have used another airport anyway then I wouldn't be too upset because Newquay has plenty of spare capacity and would become a more viable operation but more likely the upshot would just be more flights such is our insatiable appetite to take to the skies.

Interestingly some of the most environmentally aware people I know, with for most of the year a very light carbon footprint, are happy to go on a long haul flight. They are not package holiday junkies but have good valid reasons for doing this. And as I think I've stated before if there is a disaster in another part of the world then we need successful airlines to transit men and equipment as quickly as possible.

The whole debate about the growth of aviation is sure to hot up in the months and years to come.

Air Southwest on the up

One of our local low fare airlines, Air Southwest has announced that starting from next year it will be increasing the number of its services from Newquay and Plymouth. In particular both airports will now connect with Newcastle and with Glasgow. Additionally the Irish connection will develop with the Company's flights to Cork and Dublin and , for skiing enthusiasts, Chambery described as the "Gateway to the French Alps" will be in the itinerary.

On more than one occasion I've expressed concern about either more airports being built or of additional runways developed at existing facilities. But the great thing about our local airports in the two counties is that they can absorb more air traffic without devouring more countryside and Air Southwest's plans will make these two airports a little more viable , something they very much need.

New flights to Newquay from Dusseldorf

Commencing from next summer there is to be a new airline service from Newquay Airport to Dusseldorf in Germany. I've expressed opposition before to the ever increasing number of flights but in this case we are talking about Newquay not Heathrow and it's a fact that Newquay Airport is currently underused.

Apparently part of the demand for this service from those in Germany derives from the love affair of those people for the TV dramatisation of the works of Rosamunde Pilcher, many of whose stories are set in Cornwall. The following for novels set in England is absolutely amazing, who would have thought the writing of novels would influence the decision to open a new route.

These visitors will be quite high spending I guess so overall this is a good boost for the Cornish economy. Will other foreign airlines follow the example of Lufthansa in connecting with Newquay?

New money for Newquay Airport?

On 12 December I reported that the South West Regional Development Agency had given £8 million to Newquay Airport which is shortly to lose some support structures when the MOD closes RAF St Mawgan. It now seems that under the Objective 1 scheme the airport might be in line to receive another £12 million for their expansion plans.

I have to say I do have a problem with the stance to take with regard to our love affair with the aeroplane. Without a doubt we and the rest of the world need to look seriously at the number of transport movements that are made, not just at a personal level but in jetting in out of season food from abroad as an example. So far as flying is concerned improving facilities at a peripheral airport such as Cornwall's Newquay is OK by me but building an additional runway at somewhere such as Stanstead is a definite no-no and Ryanair's Mike O'Leary can bleat as much as he likes about that! What we need to do is put a lid on the amount of air travel in the UK particularly regarding London's airports. The government seems happy to let passenger numbers explode - so much for their green credentials!

It is the case that air travel and its ancillary services plays a very big part in the UK economy particularly regarding employment but we have to strike a balance which means halting or even reducing the total number of airplane movements right NOW.

Grant for Newquay Airport announced

Yesterday the South West of England Regional Development Agency announced it was making a grant of £8million in support of Cornwall's Newquay Airport. One of the problems the airport is facing is the removal of the military presence there in the form of RAF St Mawgan. I think I am right in saying that the military provide such things as air traffic control and emergency fire cover which the civil airport will now have to provide. So no doubt this dollop of money is very welcome.

My normal reaction to airport expansion, particularly in this country, is a negative one. I'm strongly against another runway being built at Stansted for instance; that is where many of Ryanair's flights depart from of course and I really don't see a case for any further expansion there. With the worries about climate change we should not be encouraging the ever expanding numbers of cheap holiday flights. Similarly with the technology of tele-conferencing is it really necessary for so many business men to need more facilities at Heathrow?

But here in Cornwall the situation is rather different. Newquay, if it's to remain open, needs more passengers to pass through and there's also scope for freight traffic to be built up. These are just economic facts. It is no good if the airport just stays an albatross around the neck of Cornwall County Council. With increasing numbers of short breaks being taken in Cornwall one can see a lot of potential benefit from a degree of development. That is not to say that there should ever be another runway, which I would totally oppose, but improvement of facilities would help to put it on the map. I understand that the grant from SWRDA is only part of what promises to be a larger funding package. So with the ever developing Eden Project mid Cornwall should get a boost to counter in part the losses in china clay country.