H24 Abz ?
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Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
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H24 Abz ?
Airport officials apply to launch 24-hour operation
FRANK URQUHART
THE management of Scotland’s third largest airport is preparing to submit controversial proposals to lift the current curfew on landings and to turn the airport into a potential 24-hours-a-day operation, The Scotsman can reveal.
The application, expected to be submitted by Aberdeen Airport within the next few weeks, is certain to spark an outcry in communities beneath the airport’s flight path, but will be widely welcomed by business leaders who have been pressing for decades for extended opening hours at the airport.
Four years ago, Aberdeen city councillors agreed to a limited relaxation in the airport’s 10:30pm closure deadline, allowing delayed flights to take off and land until 11pm and for landings to continue until 11:30pm.
But a spokesman for the airport yesterday confirmed that the airport’s management was preparing a submission to the council to remove completely the current restrictions.
The spokesman stressed the proposed change in the airport’s operating hours would not result in aircraft taking off and landing at Aberdeen around the clock. He said: "The aim is to remove the perception that Aberdeen is restricted in its hours of operation and that it would benefit from the development of regional services in the future as well as eliminate the delays because of the current restrictions."
He claimed: "It is not the case that there will be aircraft flying all hours of the day and night. Apart from the fact that people don’t like to fly at night, there are natural constraints to the operation due to the size of catchment area."
The spokesman said there was a large amount of support for such a move from the local business community.
He added: "There have undoubtedly been comments, fed back to the airport, that restricted opening hours could affect the introduction of new routes and services in the future. The airport has reacted to all these comments by carrying out detailed discussions with the planning authority to look at ways in which the perception of Aberdeen’s restricted and constrained operation can be removed in the future.
"The way that can be done is by the airport submitting an application for a variation to the current planning consent to remove the current restrictions."
The latest passenger figures for Aberdeen airport show that traffic at the once-busy hub remains static.
Overall passenger numbers in February, including those at the heliport, were down 0.2 per cent from the previous month. Domestic flights were virtually unchanged. The number of passengers using the heliport fell by 7.8 per cent, but international traffic increased by 4.8 per cent.
The current relaxation was only made a permanent fixture four years ago, following a one-year trial of the new opening hours. The relaxation, during the 12-month trial period, allowed 16 late landings and eight takeoffs to take place before 11pm, and five planes to touch down before 11:30pm.
FRANK URQUHART
THE management of Scotland’s third largest airport is preparing to submit controversial proposals to lift the current curfew on landings and to turn the airport into a potential 24-hours-a-day operation, The Scotsman can reveal.
The application, expected to be submitted by Aberdeen Airport within the next few weeks, is certain to spark an outcry in communities beneath the airport’s flight path, but will be widely welcomed by business leaders who have been pressing for decades for extended opening hours at the airport.
Four years ago, Aberdeen city councillors agreed to a limited relaxation in the airport’s 10:30pm closure deadline, allowing delayed flights to take off and land until 11pm and for landings to continue until 11:30pm.
But a spokesman for the airport yesterday confirmed that the airport’s management was preparing a submission to the council to remove completely the current restrictions.
The spokesman stressed the proposed change in the airport’s operating hours would not result in aircraft taking off and landing at Aberdeen around the clock. He said: "The aim is to remove the perception that Aberdeen is restricted in its hours of operation and that it would benefit from the development of regional services in the future as well as eliminate the delays because of the current restrictions."
He claimed: "It is not the case that there will be aircraft flying all hours of the day and night. Apart from the fact that people don’t like to fly at night, there are natural constraints to the operation due to the size of catchment area."
The spokesman said there was a large amount of support for such a move from the local business community.
He added: "There have undoubtedly been comments, fed back to the airport, that restricted opening hours could affect the introduction of new routes and services in the future. The airport has reacted to all these comments by carrying out detailed discussions with the planning authority to look at ways in which the perception of Aberdeen’s restricted and constrained operation can be removed in the future.
"The way that can be done is by the airport submitting an application for a variation to the current planning consent to remove the current restrictions."
The latest passenger figures for Aberdeen airport show that traffic at the once-busy hub remains static.
Overall passenger numbers in February, including those at the heliport, were down 0.2 per cent from the previous month. Domestic flights were virtually unchanged. The number of passengers using the heliport fell by 7.8 per cent, but international traffic increased by 4.8 per cent.
The current relaxation was only made a permanent fixture four years ago, following a one-year trial of the new opening hours. The relaxation, during the 12-month trial period, allowed 16 late landings and eight takeoffs to take place before 11pm, and five planes to touch down before 11:30pm.
