Manchester Airport 'to be as busy as Heathrow'
According to the official forecast, there will be 449,000 take offs and landings at Manchester by 2050 – up from 213,000 in 2005. It would mean a flight taking off or landing on average every 70 seconds.
The forecast was published in a report to the Committee on Climate Change and has been described as ‘shocking’ by opponents of the airport’s expansion.
Campaigners warned that the surge in air traffic would lead to another terminal being built at Manchester, although airport chiefs denied the claim.
The Department for Transport put forward the predictions as part of efforts to determine Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions. They predict Manchester will be the fastest growing of the four biggest airports in Britain and will overtake Gatwick to become the second busiest. By 2050, it is predicted to handle as many flights as Heathrow does now.
But Heathrow is also forecast to expand, albeit at a slower rate than Manchester, and will still be the country’s busiest airport, with just over 700,000 flights.
Lib Dem councillor Martin Eakins, who has campaigned against airport expansion, said: “Nobody I’ve spoken to was aware of the extent to which Manchester Airport hopes to expand, indeed those I’ve told are both shocked and stunned by the news. The wider community should be consulted as homes under or near flight paths will surely lose their value due to the increased noise and pollution.
“Manchester council, which jointly owns the airport, should come clean and assess the impact these extra flights would cause before pressing ahead.”
Robbie Gillett from the Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport pressure group said: “It’s time to update our thinking about airport expansion. We need to create jobs in low carbon industries and move away from this ‘all-growth-is-good-growth’ mentality.”
The figures are included in a report by the Committee on Climate Change. It warns that Britain’s aviation demand could grow more than 200 per cent over the next 40 years and the number of passengers could rise from 230m to 695m per year.
That would threaten the government’s aim to keep carbon dioxide emissions at or below 2005 levels and put Britain 600,000 take-offs and landings over the target limit.
A shocking plan to turn Manchester Airport into the 'Heathrow of the North' has been exposed today by local campaigners.
The report warns that should such capacity expansion go ahead, the UK will be 600,000 ATMs over the maximum limit. It says:
“Our analysis suggests however total ATMs need to be restricted to a maximum of about 3.4 million in 2050, about 0.6 million below the level modelled in the Likely scenario.” Pg 27
The report says that this target can be achieved by restricting the capacity of certain airports:
“This restriction could be achieved through a range of different policies relating to taxes, capacity expansion or slot allocation at specific airports.” Pg 28
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Some of the information from
Table ES.2b Projected runway capacity, utliisation and target compatible ATMs
in 2050 (Likely scenario assumptions)
(These figures assume new runways by 2050 at Heathrow and Stansted)
Airport Maximum runway Planned capacity, ATM
capacity (ATMs, ‘000s) distribution (‘000s) Heathrow 702 702 Gatwick 260 260 Stansted 480 317
London City 120 120
Luton 135 135
Bristol 226
127
Birmingham 206 206
Manchester 500 449
Glasgow 226 198
Edinburgh 450 224
Other UK Airports 4,000 1,227
Total 7,304 3,965
Target compatible
ATMs 3.418
Difference between
the Likely scenario
and target compatible
ATMs 547 |
Robbie Gillett, SEMA (Stop Expansion Manchester Airport) spokesperson: 0774 6711 667
This target-compatible demand growth of around 60% compares with the growth of over 200% which might result in a world where there were no capacity constraints and no carbon price.
(8th March 2010)
Copyright AirportWatch, 2004