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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0088.PDF
Birmingham International Airport will be the subject of heavy investment as its role grows (ADD), is widening the scope of influence of its airports by means of feeder routes from the regional airports and by transit move ments through Charles de Gaulle airport. The Trains a Grand Vitesse (TGV) high speed trains and the eventual completion of the Channel Tunnel may provide additional competition for many regional airports within Europe, but it has been argued that the TGV will serve to generate interest in regional airports because access will be made easier. Governmental reluctance A complaint made by British Joint Airport Committee of Local Authorities (Jacola) spokesman Bob Bird, and echoed by many European regional airport authorities, is that the respective governments appear reluctant to maximise the use of regional airports. Bird says that the well intentioned words of successive UK Governments' have not been converted into action. "We are concerned that the establishment in the form of the British Airports Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, and the major airlines are pursuing a well-worn path, and adhering rigidly to the view that everyone wants to travel from and to London," he says. Figures for 1987 collected from Belfast, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow, Birming ham, Cardiff, and Bristol airports by the UK Aerodrome Owners Association show that there is a total surplus terminal capacity of 3 • 5 million passengers at these airports. This indicates an under-utilisation of runway capacity by air transport movements at UK regional airports. One of the continuing success stories in the development of regional airports in the UK concerns Birmingham International Airport. While massive development plans are undertaken by the regional airport leaders, Manchester and Glasgow, the focus is now starting to include Birmingham, which seems set to play a major role in the UK's growing regional airport market. Planning for the 1990s is under way at the airport. Birmingham expects passenger levels to increase to 3-4 million by 1990/91, with cargo throughput increasing to 44,000 by the same year. A development plan aimed at matching capacity to demand has been incorporated in a £35 million investment programme. More external airport invest ment will be made over the next three years. Birmingham Airports services, and is wholly owned by, the local West Midlands area, taking in seven district councils. The successful summer results, showing a profit of more than £1-9 million, are indicative of the increasing focus of the industry and passengers towards regional airports. The airport now has 16 scheduled airlines operating to 38 destinations (24 of which are international). Tour operators have demon strated their continued support by increasing the number and range of inclusive tours available through the airport. More than 140 tour operators now have Birmingham pro grammes. Air Canada recently announced that it will start twice-weekly flights between Birmingham and Toronto, beginning in April this year. In addition to £ 1 million first-phase work already under way to extend the arrivals hall and concourse, an £11 million programme of improvements to the passenger terminal will add two further developments. In phase two, the existing operation of the building will be revised. This will include the provision of improved facilities for domestic travellers with airbridge links to aircraft on these services. The final phase involves extending the existing buildings and aprons to complete the increase in passenger facilities capacity by about one million passengers a year. Regionals offer capacity Cardiff-Wales Airport director Ian Cran supports the Jacola's concern over the Government's apparent lethargy towards regional airports. He says that, as UK author ities have acknowledged that the London Terminal Control Area cannot handle all the traffic to make efficient use of a developed Stansted together with Luton, the growth in the national air transport movement figures "can only take place at the provincial airports over the next few years". Cran says that more and more regional airports in Europe are realising their poten tial as European gateways. Figures showing that more than 30 per cent of London's passengers come from the provinces reveal an untappped market for regional airports. "The regional airports are pressing home to the air transport industry, the public, and the Government that there is no capacity limitation in the provinces. "Success is already being achieved in locally induced traffic growth, to the point where government must realise that regional airports are no longer the sleeping partners of the bigger ones," he says. West Coast problem Capacity (or the lack of it) is the single most serious problem facing both hub and regional airports on the USA's West Coast. The area is experiencing a population expan sion which threatens to overwhelm much of the region's transport and service infra structure. The problem is particularly acute in southern California, where congested free ways, rocketing house prices, and prolifera ting construction projects are all visible signs of an economic boom which has attracted more than two million new residents to the Los Angeles area alone since 1980. Projections of future growth indicate that the population of Greater LA will soar from the present 13-7 million to 18-3 million by the year 2010, or one in 15 of the US population. This rapid expansion is affecting the region's air transport system. In terms of runway shortage and air traffic control congestion its infrastructure is beginning to show signs of impending saturation. There are no new runways under construction, but the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) forecasts that the total number of passengers handled by the area's five airports will escalate from 58 million in 1987 to 90-3 million by the year 2000, and reach 118 million by 2010. Los Angeles International (LAX), the region's busiest hub, handled 44-85 million passengers during 1987, the last year for which figures are available. SCAG predicts that this number will rise to more than 60 million by the year 2000, despite the fact that the airport will not be able to provide 30 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 14 January 1989
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