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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 1878.PDF
IWUA V1LLW Business aviation Gatwick's missing slots in runway SIR—In recent statements in the press, Michael Bishop, chairman of Airways of Britain, has advocated that British Midlands' planned new opera tions out of Heathrow should take slots allocated to private and executive aircraft. Mr Bishop claims that about 32,000 slots a year are used by business aircraft, and he believes that scheduled, passenger-carrying, airlines should have priority. This statement by Mr Bishop must not be allowed to pass uncorrected. In 1987/88 business aircraft used 21,000 slots at Heathrow (not 32,000 as reported). Sched uled airline flights have had priority, and no slots allocated to business aircraft resulted in the displacement of a scheduled carrier. As the authorities at Heathrow have confirmed, business aircraft use slots not allocated to scheduled carriers when planning their flights, and endeavour to pick out those discarded on the day of the schedule. 56 No one sector of the aviation industry has a monopoly of service to the nation. Business aviation produces much for Britain and demands little. The members of this Association alone generate more than £20,000 million in export earn ings annually, and provide more than 70,000 jobs in the UK. Today's business aircraft is a high performing, sophisticated machine that is as essential to its owners as the company computer system. In their own interests, companies owning business aircraft ensure that they are operated at a high level of discipline and profes sionalism, without causing disruption to other traffic. They have a right to a fair access to the nation's airports and airspace. D. C. LEGGETT Chief executive Business Aircraft Users Association PO Box 29 Wallingford Oxon OX10 0AG SIR—BAA Pic is reported to have reassured the local UK authorities concerned that it has every intention of standing by the 40-year term Section 52 Agreement (Town & Country Planning Act 1971) not to build a second runway at Gatwick Airport. Despite the fact that Govern ment agencies are urgently reviewing, at the Government's request, the entire question of airport capacity, runway capac ity, and air safety in south-east England, BAA prefers to pay lip service to local politics in respect of an agreement which was ill considered and unneces sary. This agreement should never have been entered into, what ever the politics of obtaining planning consent for the devel opment of Gatwick Airport. Recent incidents at Gatwick, and problems arising from the use of the single runway have highlighted the runway capac ity problem and aroused public concern. Should the Civil Aviation Authority decide that, for air safety or for traffic reasons, there should be an additional runway at Gatwick Airport, then there should be no reason to prevent BAA Pic or another body seeking agreement with the local authorities in order to Met matters SIR—From the debate about the Airmet service (June 18), I infer that general-aviation access to Met data has been curtailed. This is utterly shock ing. Both Flight and recent questions in Parliament have shown that general-aviation accidents are increasing, and that pilot error and weather are the most common causes. These two factors are known to be so inter-related that it is often hard to distinguish them. Met training is a mockery if the raw data is not freely avail able. This should flow as free as water, as it does in the USA. Now, as never before, satellite and high-tech aids supply a deluge of Met data that can be tapped by the desktop furniture found in most offices and many homes. What a time for the Government to cause the Civil Aviation Authority to "rationalise [read 'cut'] the fore- modify or annul the existing agreement. Similarly, while consid erations of public safety and air transport are paramount, the local authorities concerned should stop playing politics and put the interests of the travel ling public before the interests of the local voters and the ballot box. It is difficult to understand the motives of BAA Pic in seek ing to reassure the local author ities and reasserting its obli gation to this agreement at a time when the whole future of air transport operations in south-east England is under serious review. Both BAA Pic and the local authorities concerned should accept the fact that Gatwick Airport is here to stay, not only as an airport, but as a substantial employer and creator of local wealth. If, as a result of these blink ered policies and ill-considered agreements, much of the traffic (and jobs) is forced away to other airports, they will have only themselves to blame. HENRY M. BERNEY Specialist aviation consultant Henry Berney Rowland & Partners 34 Brook Street Mayfair London WIY1YA cast services for general aviation in the face of staff and cost reductions", as it now tells us. The dogma that the CAA must pay its way receives too much uncritical acceptance. Why should it? The CAA's primary function is to serve an industry whose lifeblood is tourism—the nation's second- largest source of trading income. In this more telling context, the CAA pays for itself tenfold, and more. Keeping two separate sets of books may be respectable among politicians, but we should not allow them to fool all of us all of the time. Enforcing economies in the maintenance of air safety when we enjoy the ample earnings of a successful tourist industry needs to be shown for the humbug it is. PATRICK FORMAN 25 Devonshire Road Cambridge CB1 2BH FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 16 July 1988
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