Funny isn't it
LHR and NQY were both mentioned today
NEW HEATHROW COMMITMENTS WILL HELP CONNECT CORNWALL TO GLOBAL GROWTH | Newquay Cornwall Airport


cs

Just a thought....... I believe that the airfield licence is no longer. Now I am not an airfield licensing expert but. Would the CAA issue a licence for scheduled operations? I would expect that they would look at any application as a new licence and not a resurrection of the previous one. Therefore what are the requirements for scheduled service use. Would this need a renewed and extended runway with the latest ICAO RESAs etc. Over too the airfield guys for the answer.

C'mon, people, get real. Even the Connectivity Task Force understood the big problem;

The word is "If".

There has been no Government policy whatsoever on increasing runway capacity at London hub airports, particularly Heathrow, and/or on building an alternative in the Thames estuary, since 2000, and there wasn't one before then either.

The 2003 study cost £100m and provided a way forward of sorts; the problem is that the conclusion of the study could have been written on a fag packet before the consultants got involved, although I'm personally very grateful to the tax-payers for the generous income that study provided for 4 years.

But the report was shelved by the Labour Government the day after it was published, for all practical purposes.

Successive announcements have been made about studies into the problem, as though the 003 study did not exist. I think there's one being planned even now, although I don't bother to keep up.

The 3rd short runway at LHR was a good solution when Charles Stuart launched it in the mid '80s; I was proud to have helped him with it. But it got nowhere in the face of stupidity, commercial and operational incompetence and competing vested interests.

That lethal combination means that no real addition to London airports' runway capacity is actually going to happen.

And that, in turn means that any hope of slots being allocated at a viable cost to routes from Plymouth to London is a pipe-dream.

If anyone is interested, the solution to the problem proposed in 2003, and shot down by BAA and NATS working together, was the 2000m parallel (to LGW) runway at Redhill, dedicated to regional services, with an 8-minute overland monorail transfer to Gatwick and a dedicated rail spur to central London from the terminal. When you see Gatwick promoting its own parallel runway, remember that in order to kill off Redhill as a competitor, BAA/NATs declared that a parallel runway could not operate safely without severe movement limitations. It was a lie, of course, but the DfT believed it.

To meet the RESA requirements the runway thresholds would have to be displaced to 1,167m (code 2) to provide the 90m areas that were not present before? I also think that moving the car park was mentioned to meet the necessary safety distance from the terminal building.

I don't see how a 19 seat aircraft to STN/MAN would work (VIABLE's plan), aircraft would be limited due to the runway length anyway - so not many contenders if the airport did reopen (D328, ATR42, J41)? Viable even list the Twin Otter as a potential aircraft!

Another major income for the airport was the Royal Navy and FOST which apparently generates £600,000 per year.

The report also mentions over £9 million to reopen the airport up to standards.

Haven't fost relocated to NQY ?


cs

In a nutshell
 

So Plymouth could have an airport if it had somewhere near London for them to land?Also if the aircraft used were big enough to make a profit? I guess Newquay were lucky having that big runway!
There was an article(Plymouth Herald) last week where the A38 Plym to Exeter was going to be transformed into a mini motorway,that should do it then!!

They may as well just open it up as a GA airfield, at least get some profits going, cheap landing fees & parking, I'm sure some of these business types would afford a small turboprop taxi service to operate if they were really that desperate. They don't need to have all the fancy equipment for a GA facility (It helps), but if they want to keep aviation going at Plymouth, logically they need to take baby steps and build on it - will take years, but they need to get profits going first :)

so not all the airfield then has succumbed to the bulldozer yet? Is runway 13/31 still relatively intact then?

Already done

Don't you remember the glorious day when they unveiled a road sign on Haldon Hill calling the A38 the 'Devon Expressway'

A cheaper alternative to doing any actual work

I think Runway 13/31 is relatively intact, the other runway isn't useable as some of the end was sold so now it is not long enough now.

The Viable plan does mention opening the aerodrome just for GA with basic fire cover - surely the costs of doing this would be quite low (compared with re opening properly).

In the words of Martin Luther King......:rolleyes:

Wasn't that the plan for what has recently been referred to as the "northern" runway option as opposed to "north west"? That being the case, and the process was started in 2003, it would be up and running by now.


IIRC, didn't Labour approve it in 2009 after 6 years of dithering, just to have the Conservatives scrap it a year later?



Looks that way regretably.


Yes, it's probably the case, any potential West Country link to LHR would be EXT and NQY and PLH would be squeezed, unless an add-on to some EXT-LHR flights or a stop on some NQY-LHR flights. But this all conjecture.



This is dafter than daft. "Heathwick" comes to mind here! Who the hell would pay for a monorail from Redhill to Gatwick (and what would it do to fares!) and what use is it if people need to go to Heathrow?

If there has to be a satelite for "regional services" (think this means "thin domestic routes" (?)), it has to be at Northolt, which is also not particularly suitable but better than Redhill, and it has to be a stopgap till Heathrow is expanded.

Of course it could be a very long stopgap.

Plymouth Herald
 

Local paper today states that"Heathrow"to give 10 million towards the airport opening as this is what they would like to see!!Sutton harbor trust has replied with much negativity ,of course!!

The saga of Plymouth's flirtations with various airport projects post-war is littered with missed opportunities, lack of economic vision and (local) political ineptitude.

But perhaps the biggest mistake ever made was the sell-out to Sutton Harbour for short-term financial gain with disastrous consequences for the City and its hinterland.

The best thing the City could do at present is to take the airport, or what remains of it, back under its full control and banish Sutton Holdings forever.:ok:

"Local paper today states that"Heathrow"to give 10 million towards the airport opening as this is what they would like to see"

don't wait up to see the cash arrive.............

"Heathrow" would promise anything to anyone to try and get that third runway

Plymouth city council
 

Judge 11,the councils lack of flirtations with so many things that could make Plymouth a great city instead of just a mediocre one .

The good people of Plymouth and the surrounding area have proved over the years that theyare only interested in the airport if flights are heavily
subsididised by either the taxpayer or the long suffering shareholders of the airlines

A very small number of people would like a connection to LHR for personal business reasons - everyone else is happy using the train and (god forbid) the bus

The council can sell of the land it and it can be used for development with only a tiny amount of opposition (especially if the alternative is an airport)

Face it Plymouth has gone, Manston will be gone and places like Carlisle, Teeside, Dundee & Newquay are on the edge for the same reasons

I will be arriving this week
 

Yes in the UK and heading for Plymouth,been a while but my options are take the bus to Reading and catch a train and if like last time stand all the way,Thai wife not impressed .Or stroll to the bus station and catch a bus that takes five and a half hours,oh what fun!!!
Heathrow Harry ,have you any idea how much money the government could rake in if they paid more attention to tax avoidance schemes?Tax laws made by the very same accountants that work for big business!!!Why should Plymouth not get subsidies?See what G4S got at the Olympics?!!!!

You CAn book seats on the train........ in fact for cheap fares you HAVE to book a seat

I am aware of the money stolen by tax-avaoidance schemes but

1. in general those who have the cash, have the cash to pay people who are a damn sight clever than any government and they can (and will) always be a step ahead of that game

2. any extra cash will not necessarily be spent on airports but on fripperies such as defence, old people, the NHS and even roads