Entries by HBM (492)
KIACC public meeting
The TDC Airport Working Party will be there. Infratil will be there. The Airport Consultative Committee will be there. The general public will be there. A rare chance to see them all in the same place at the same time. The mind boggles! There's even the possibility that something useful may come out of it.
Cargolux in international criminal conspiracy
It appears that Infratil's best friends Cargolux are getting their arses kicked for their part in an international criminal conspiracy. Two conspiracies, in fact.
The US Department of Justice has accused several airlines of engaging in a conspiracy to eliminate competition by fixing the international cargo rates they charged, from at least 2001 through 2006. Three of the airlines have coughed up fines to avoid the presumably more expensive rigmarole of going through the courts.
Location, location, location matters for airports too
Manston isn't Outer London. It's out of London.
Well, there are several airports that have leapt on the global branding bandwagon and smuggled the word 'London' into their name, with varying degrees of geographical accuracy.
(A special mention must go to "London Ashford Airport": 60 miles from London, 13 miles from Ashford, 1 mile from Lydd. It seems the greater the distance, the more prominent the billing - it's full title is actually "Jupiter Brazil London Ashford Airport".)
Curved approach flight paths
JFK vs KIA
Through selfless and diligent research I unearth nuggets of pure fact, which I can hurl at half-truths, shattering them into a myriad harmless fiblets.
For instance, from time to time I have heard it said that planes (or more accurately, their pilots) like to have a long straight approach to the runway when landing. Dear reader, this may well be true. I have also heard it said that a long straight approach is a necessity. Dear reader, that is bollocks.
Infratil's flawed bid
Seppuku Lite
As I mentioned recently, before getting revolted by Infratil’s selfishness, the pile of poo they presented to TDC was the carefully considered best efforts of a wealthy, globe-spanning organisation aiming to win support from a strategic partner at a key point in the development of its European operations.
It is a public declaration of commercial weakness; of ongoing and increasing failure; of a flawed business model; of narrow short-termism and strategic poverty.
The bid for BAWC night flights
CCC's Regeneration Department
Manston is a poor investment
No quarter? Manston's impending doom
Infratil executive Tim Brown would not comment directly on one analyst's suggestion that Infratil's other under-performing European airports could be next [to be sold] but said it was hard to run with a loss on a low-return asset in the current environment. Around 75% of Infratil's investments, including Wellington Airport and TrustPower, were performing well, Brown said. "You have to say to yourself, can you have 25% of the business not generating a return? In this type of environment you can't."Brazier's assertions
Telling it like it isn't
Following the horrifying revelation that one of our elected representatives has been misrepresenting us, I have unleashed the merciless Mrs Earplugs. Blessed with eternal youth, bionic implants and the ability to kick-box without scuffing her Manolo Blahnik's, Mrs E now has the bit firmly between her razor-sharp teeth. We're not at DefCon 5 (unbridled bloodlust), but she's getting that restless, questing look in her eyes.
Recycling Manston Airport
Rearrange Kent International Airport
Brazier's mistake
Support act
In his submission to the Transport Committee's review of the future of aviation in the UK, Julian wrote that "KIA has the benefit of strong local support for expansion. This local support expends [sic] to the Local Authority (Thanet District Council), the County Council (Kent County Council)." What makes him think that?Manston keeps failing. What next?
Controlled descent...
YES WE CAN: make it work
YES WE CAN: sleep
YES WE CAN: enjoy being awake
Yes we can: the story so far... To be commercially viable (let alone successful), Manston will have to be very busy; and night flights are undesirable on a number of counts. Top marks to those of you who have leapt to the conclusion that there will be a lot of daytime flights.
YES WE CAN: monitor
Yes we can: the story so far… Infratil need Manston to be very busy; night flights are a bad thing; and the daytime flight paths must be designed to be as people-friendly as possible. So what happens next? Step aboard the time machine of your imagination, and gracefully swoop into the future…
Better monitoring needs better radar
Altitude thickness
In the Olden Days (2005), Manston’s radar wasn’t good enough to tell them exactly where their planes were. They couldn’t tell the exact height because they only had Primary Surveillance Radar.
In the Modern Age (2009) they also have Secondary Surveillance Radar (they buy a feed from the MoD) so they can now tell the height of planes as they pass over Herne Bay. And elsewhere, presumably.
But they don’t record it.
Changes to airport master plan
Proposed amendments include more specific measurable targets on the airport’s environmental goals including sustainability, becoming carbon neutral, and emission control including proposals on airline offsetting measures.