London Stansted Airport Infrastructure Developments

[Aviador]

London Stansted proposals for a second runway and terminal development.

London Stansted is the only place in the London area that can realistically accommodate significant growth for the future.

The Idea of an entirely new airport in the Thames Estuary is floored and as far as I am concerned it is a complete waste of money. Estimates put the cost of Boris Island at between £50bn and £80bn. The cost would almost certainly have to be foot by the UK taxpayer. Boris Island needs to remain consigned to Sim City where it was dreamed up in the first place.

The London Stansted airport proposals for a second runway and new terminal development is sustainable and it would provide a significant amount of additional capacity with room for further growth if necessary. Looking at the plans you can see where there is potential for a third runway and additional terminals if the need arises.

What do you think?

 

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Re: Infrastructure Developments

Runway case start stalled

Plans for a second runway at Stansted Airport are at risk as it emerged that a public inquiry into BAA's application is unlikely to conclude before a general election.

Communities secretary Hazel Blears has delayed the inquiry, due to begin on 15 April. She cited the problem of starting before the result of Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE)'s High Court appeal on passenger numbers (Planning, 27 February, p2) is known.

She also flagged up the implications of the Competition Commission's impending report on the future ownership of Stansted, due later this month.

SSE welcomed the inspector's recommendation that the inquiry should not have concurrent sessions and that it will last around 18 months rather than just six.

It is now unlikely to finish before the end of 2010, which means that a government decision could not be made until mid 2011 at the earliest. A general election must be held by June 2010 and both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties are against airport expansion.

Blears will announce a new date within four weeks of the publication of the Competition Commission's report, which is expected to confirm its provisional view that BAA must sell Stansted. Blears will then provide at least eight weeks' notice of the runway inquiry's start.

Source

 

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Re: Infrastructure Developments

SSE beaten in latest bid to block Stansted Airport expansion

CAMPAIGNERS from SSE still plan to plead their case before a court – despite another judge throwing out their latest attempt to block expansion at Stansted Airport.

Yesterday (Thursday, April 30) spokesman Peter Gowan confirmed the organisation wanted an oral hearing to give evidence against BAA’s permission for plans to expand from 25m to 35m passengers a year.

On Wednesday (April 29) SSE was informed its written application to the Court of Appeal - seeking permission to appeal the High Court’s decision to uphold expansion approval –had failed.

The Right Honourable Lord Justice Laws ruled the appeal should not be allowed because there was no real prospect of success.

In March, High Court Judge Sir Thayne Forbes dismissed SSE’s legal challenge to the Government’s decision to allow expansion from 25m to 35m passengers a year following a six-month public inquiry. He said campaigners’ criticism of the way the decision had been handled was "unjustified and without substance".

But SSE pressed on with further legal action on basis that his judgment failed to provide the clarification it wanted. Its primary concern was that the wording of the Government's decision could compromise its case at any future public inquiry to consider a second runway at Stansted.

Source

 

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Re: Infrastructure Developments

BAA still pushing for Stansted runway

BAA said it remained committed to building a second runway at Stansted even though it could be forced to sell the airport and could face planning inquiry delays, New Civil Engineer reports.

BAA Stansted commercial and development director Nick Barton said he was confident the £1.66bn proposal for a second runway would go ahead, despite a 12.6% fall in passenger numbers in April. Speaking at New Civil Engineer’s ‘Airport Design & Engineering Conference’, he said: ‘There is a general growth pattern in aviation, despite periodic dips [due to things like 9/11, wars and economic downturns]. Supply will never exceed the demand. We expect a second runway will open around 2017/18.’

Source

 

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Re: Infrastructure Developments

Stansted runway inquiry to be delayed until after election

The public inquiry into a second runway at Stansted Airport is to be delayed by at least 9 months, increasing the chances that the project will eventually be scrapped, the Times reports. John Denham, the Communities Secretary, said the start of the inquiry would be delayed until after the outcome of BAA’s appeal against the Competition Commission ruling that it should sell Stansted, Gatwick and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport.

The ruling is expected in February 2010 but if BAA loses it could appeal to the House of Lords. This means an inquiry is unlikely to start before the next general election, which must take place by next June, and certainly would not be finished given that it will last up to a year.

BAA had originally hoped to open the Stansted runway in 2012 but the earliest possible opening date has slipped to 2017, in part because of big falls in passenger numbers at the airport during the current recession. The Conservatives have ruled out a new runway at Stansted, but hinted that they might allow Luton to be expanded.

Nick Barton, Stansted’s development director, told the Times that Mr Denham’s announcement ‘does not alter the fact that new runway capacity is urgently required if the UK is to preserve its global economic competitiveness, and the case for a second runway at Stansted remains a strong one’.

Source

 

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Re: Infrastructure Developments

Campaigners lose fifth Stansted appeal

A fifth appeal by campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) over increasing the cap on passenger numbers at Stansted Airport was dismissed by a High Court judge yesterday.

SSE lodged the oral appeal in relation to the first stage of a planned expansion of the airport, a decision that increased its passenger cap by 10 million passengers a year from 25 million to 35 million, using its current single runway.

Following the judgment SSE said that it will now have to consider whether to apply to the House of Lords to overturn the Government decision to allow the increase in passenger numbers. Earlier this week a spokesman for the airport said that SSE had had 'more appeals than Blue Peter.'

Source

 

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Re: Infrastructure Developments

Stansted spend £90m buying ‘runway houses’

BAA, which is planning a second runway at Stansted Airport, has spent £90m buying up properties around the site in Essex, the BBC reports. It has now bought all but six properties within the proposed boundary for a second runway. Homes threatened by noise blight from the new runway are also being purchased, giving BAA ownership of about 270 properties.

BAA has so far spent £180m on its second runway proposal - half to buy homes, commercial buildings, farms and land up to several miles from the airport. In the village of Takeley, close to Stansted, about 100 homeowners, within a 66 decibel noise zone, have sold up to BAA.

One of the latest properties bought by the airport operator is the historic thatched Three Horseshoes pub at Molehill Green, where campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion protesters meet. Landlord Paul Holmes, who has a new five year lease with BAA, told the BBC: ‘I am really looking forward to the future. I can sympathise with the people in the Stop Stansted Expansion now there is a compulsory purchase order on them and the uncertainty of when it is going to happen. That is taken away if you sell to BAA.’

That runway development is currently mothballed. A planning inquiry due to take place in the spring was postponed because BAA was ordered to sell the airport by the Competition Commission. It is appealing this order, with a decision expect this year.

Source

 

[News Guru]

O’Leary calls for second runway at Stansted
The Government must plan for a second runway at Stansted, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said after the Chancellor George Osborne’s third Budget this week the Herts & Essex Observer reports.

Addressing the Institute of Directors in Manchester, Mr O'Leary said: ‘The current UK Government has no aviation policy and no regional development policy, since APD is crippling regional traffic, tourism and jobs. The Government must now scrap APD and also plan for additional runways in the south east at both Stansted and Heathrow.’

However his demands were rubbished by Stop Stansted Expansion’s economics advisor Brian Ross. He said: ‘The existing runway has been open for 70 years and is barely half full so why would anyone want another one at this stage.’ Recent figures show Stansted is operating at 61% of capacity.

For more information on this airport news story visit: http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/ ... 032012.htm

 

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Boris Johnson backs new runway at Stansted airport
Boris Johnson has given his support to plans to build a second runway at Stansted Airport, the Standard can reveal.

The Mayor said another runway at the airport would be a “fantastic step in the right direction” to solving the South-East’s air capacity crisis before building a new hub in the Thames Estuary.

And he launched a blistering attack on the Government after David Cameron refused to rule out reconsidering expanding Heathrow following the next election in 2015

Full story here

A very positive step forward for Stansted airport. Building a second runway at Stansted is by far the best option for London as far as I am concerned. The idea of building an entirely new airport seems ridiculous when airports such as Stansted have the room to increase capacity significantly.

 

[flashgordon1952]

Forget about heathrows 3rd runway (its not needed) expand stansted with a new passenger terminal bigger freight capacity and that second runway.
there is the infrastructure for it and it would be great forthe area. more jobs better communications and roads and quicker connections tothe world and europe too

 

[Aviador]

Forget about heathrows 3rd runway (its not needed) expand stansted with a new passenger terminal bigger freight capacity and that second runway.
there is the infrastructure for it and it would be great forthe area. more jobs better communications and roads and quicker connections tothe world and europe too

Well if they must go ahead with a new runway Stansted would be the most sensible option for the long term because of it's development potential. Heathrow would be my second choice as the infrastructure is already there. The Thames estuary would be my last choice. Governments tend to never listen to anybody so they will no doubt plough ahead with a Thames estuary airport when the smoke has cleared and they've come out of the closet with their aviation strategy.

 

[News Guru]

Boris Johnson supports Stansted hub as 'easiest' solution
Stansted airport emerged as Boris Johnson’s favoured option for a new international hub for the South-East today.

Sources close to the Mayor admitted he accepted expanding the Essex airport would be “the easiest” way to increase aviation capacity.

It comes after a major report claimed yesterday his proposal for an airport in the Thames Estuary was not “commercially viable”.

Today Mr Johnson criticised the “panda-like pace” at which the Government was coming up with a solution and again rejected Heathrow expansion.

He said: “I urge leaders of UK business now to look at the extraordinary potential of the alternatives either at Stansted or at the two estuary sites that, with sufficient political will, could be delivered on roughly the same timescale as the third runway at Heathrow and would be very largely financed by some of the international investors at Davos today.”

Full story: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transpor ... 67020.html

 

[News Guru]

NEW FOUR-RUNWAY PLAN FOR STANSTED AIRPORT

London’s Stansted Airport could be transformed into a four-runway hub – replacing Heathrow Airport as the UK’s hub – according to leading architect Make.

The scheme would cost £18 billion to deliver, according to the firm, making it one of the most affordable solutions to the UK’s hub capacity crisis.

Ken Shuttleworth, founder of Make said: “Everyone now recognises the need for new airport capacity in order to maintain the UK’s position in the global economy.

“The question remains as to where. The location should be such that it can serve the whole country efficiently for the next century.

Full Story: http://www.airport-world.com/home/gener ... ed-airport[/textarea]

 

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Stansted could double passengers without new runway
Stansted airport could double its number of passengers without a new runway and start offering intercontinental links, a local authority-backed report has said.

In evidence to the Airports Commission’s review of south east capacity, the London, Stansted and Cambridge Consortium said the airport had the potential to be a strong driver of growth and important alternative to expansion elsewhere.

Stansted was bought earlier this year by Manchester Airport Group, which has said it wants to expand the facility, which could double its current 17.5m passengers a year without any new runway.

The report said: “The focus of Manchester Airports Group, is about filling the airport’s unused capacity.

Read more: http://www.publicsectortravel.org.uk/20 ... ew-runway/[/textarea]

 

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Former Manchester Airport boss Geoff Muirhead did not bias Airports Commission

Campaigners have lost the latest legal battle against possible expansion at Stansted Airport, bought by Manchester Airports Group for £1.5bn earlier this year.

A High Court judge rejected their accusation that the key criteria being applied to decide on potential options for new runway sites in England were "infected by apparent bias".

The Stop Stansted Expansion group (SSE) had asked Mrs Justice Patterson, sitting in London, to order the Government-appointed Airports Commission, which was set up last year to address the issue of aviation expansion in the UK, to delay the publication of any options shortlist until the criteria have been looked at again and consulted on.

SSE said there was apparent bias because of the conduct of Geoff Muirhead, a recently resigned member of the Commission.

Read more: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ff-6363236[/textarea]

 

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Stop Stansted Expansion delay bid fails in High Court
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) argued criteria used to decide options for runway sites was "infected by apparent bias" and asked for a delay.

It claimed Geoff Muirhead, a recently resigned member of the Airports Commission, had a conflict of interest.

The judicial review was contested by the Airports Commission and the Department for Transport (DfT).

The judge ruled both Mr Muirhead and the commission might have acted in a way that was not "the most wise" and their conduct could have been regarded by a fair-minded observer as "less than ideal".

But the apparent bias accusation was not supported by the evidence, Mrs Justice Patterson said.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-25185273[/textarea]

 

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Stansted Airport Response To Treasury's National Infrastructure Plan Announcement

A Stansted Airport spokesperson said:
"Today’s announcement by the Treasury is a big step towards delivering the faster and better connections between London, Stansted Airport and the region that millions of passengers and commuters have been calling for.

“There is a strong and compelling case to deliver these improvements quickly, not only to benefit passengers and commuters but also to support economic growth to the east of London and the vibrant and growing London-Stansted-Cambridge Corridor - home to many of the UK’s most dynamic, global companies.
“We’re delighted that Sir Howard Davies and the Airports Commission recognise the vital role Stansted will play in making best use of existing capacity over the next 10 to 15 years and more than double its economic contribution to UK economy.

“With the centre of London’s economy shifting eastwards, Stansted has the long-term potential to drive economic growth and boost the competitiveness of London and the East of England – which is just one of the many reasons why Stansted should be on the Commission’s shortlist of options for new runways.

“It is vital that no time is wasted in delivering these improvements, and to that end we will work closely with Network Rail and others to ensure these plans become a reality as soon as possible.”

Source: http://www.stanstedairport.com/about-us ... nouncement[/textarea]

 

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Stansted owner 'to challenge Airports Commission figures'
The owner of Stansted is reportedly planning to challenge figures used by the Airport Commission to rule it out of contention for a new runway.

Heathrow and Gatwick were shortlisted for possible expansion last week in the commission’s interim report while Stansted’s plans were omitted.

Read more: http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/ ... gures.html[/textarea]

 

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The Manchester Airport Group has announced plans for a new Hilton hotel to be built at London Stansted Airport.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT) has signed a franchise agreement to bring Hampton by Hilton to the UK’s fourth largest airport. The agreement has been signed with developers Urban&Civic (LSE:UANC), who secured planning permission to build a new £45m 357-bed hotel next to the terminal of London Stansted Airport, following a deal to acquire a two acre site from MAG Property.


he hotel forms part of MAG’s £260m investment plan to attract more passengers, airlines and long-haul services to Stansted, the fastest growing airport in the UK.

Lynda Shillaw, MAG Property CEO, said, "We are pleased to confirm the completion of the deal with Urban&Civic to create a 357-bed Hampton by Hilton hotel at London Stansted Airport, supporting the increased passenger growth at the UK's fastest growing airport. "At MAG Property, we know airport property and we know how to help our occupiers and partners to get the most out of our unique airport locations. Our deal with Urban&Civic is another great example in action."

Work is due to start on the stylish new hotel by the end of the year and Hampton by Hilton Stansted Airport is set to open with direct terminal access in summer 2017. It will be the largest Hampton by Hilton in Europe with 357 guestrooms.

Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development, Hilton Worldwide said, “The introduction of Hampton by Hilton to London Stansted Airport is consistent with our strategy of developing focused service properties sufficiently close to the airport that guests can access the terminal without a shuttle bus. This strategy has proven successful for our hotels in a number of locations, including properties at airports in Gatwick, Exeter and Liverpool, and is integral to our developments in Bristol airport and here in Stansted. With more scheduled European destinations than any other UK airport, Stansted is an ideal location at which to develop our economy brand.”

Robin Butler, Managing Director of Urban&Civic said, “We are delighted to have signed the franchise agreement with Hampton by Hilton and look forward to providing a warm welcome to travellers using Stansted Airport. This is a key site for us as we continue to invest in the growth potential of the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor. Good design in the right location is a touchstone for Urban&Civic and this hotel will be no exception.”

Situated 45km from central London, Stansted Airport is easily accessible to the UK’s capital, with direct trains to London Liverpool Street. Passenger numbers passing through Stansted Airport increased to more than 22 million this year, making it the UK’s fastest growing major airport. Attracting passengers from a large catchment area, encompassing much of London and east England, Stansted Airport has an extensive route network that serves 170 destinations.

Offering travellers high quality amenities, including complimentary Wi-Fi and hot breakfast, Hampton by Hilton - Europe’s fastest growing hotel brand - is developing rapidly in greater London. Hampton by Hilton London Stansted will join Hampton by Hilton Waterloo and upcoming hotels in Ealing, Croydon and London Docklands. Hampton by Hilton has a total of 16 hotels currently operating in the UK & Ireland with a further 17 under development.

Phil Cordell, global head, focused service and Hampton by Hilton brand management, Hilton Worldwide said, “Hampton by Hilton is committed to providing guests with a great night’s sleep, friendly service and modern amenities, all for a reasonable price. This combination has captivated guests and helped propel Hampton by Hilton into more than 2,000 locations globally.”

Hampton by Hilton Stansted Airport is set to become Hilton Worldwide’s largest Hampton by Hilton in Europe, surpassing Hampton by Hilton Warsaw City Centre which opened in 2014.

Manchester Airport Group Press Release

 

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McAleer & Rushe Lands £26m Contract With Urban&Civic to build and construct the new Stansted Airport Hampton by Hilton Hotel.