Making the best use of existing capacity Short and medium term measures

1. Making the best use of existing capacityShort and medium term measures Oliver Mulvey - Airports Commission Secretariat 17 March 2014

2. Overview Whatever option we recommend will take years to deliver. So we need a strategy for the interim. We looked at areas including: changes to airspace and airport operations; changes to the regulatory environment; new incentives for the redistribution of capacity; and improvements to airport surface transport links.

3. Key Message • One key message: There is no “magic bullet” solution for solving the UK’s long term capacity needs using existing infrastructure.

4. Constraints • UK airspace and airports are already very efficient compared to international comparators. • the Government’s levers to redistribute traffic are weaker than generally understood; but • Government can invest in surface transport

5. Optimisation Strategy • Nature and scale of the challenge already well understood • The challenge is PACE • So the industry needs to sharpen its leadership

6. Redistribution of traffic • We examined whether traffic could be redistributed between airports, but found that: • Government levers are weak • Airlines cannot be compelled to fly routes that aren’t commercial • APD changes would have produced some undesirable results • And aviation is a global industry, meaning that the UK cannot make decisions in isolation

7. Surface Transport • Government does have one lever that we think could encourage the use of currently unused capacity – surface transport investment. • Better surface transport links make airports more attractive to passengers – and hence airlines. • Not just about journey times; passenger choice and experience also matter, as do reliability and cost. • Need to balance airport user’s interests with those of commuters, freight and intercity passengers. • And can’t just think about the situation today – but also about what things might look like in the future.

8. Surface Transport – • Surface transport CAN drive changes in behaviour • Passengers care about a range of things: journey time, cost, reliability, service frequency etc • The challenge is to produce wins for both airport users and others • Our recommendations tried to balance the needs of all users of the network

9. Independent aviation noise authority • Striking how little trust there is between parties in the UK in discussions over aircraft noise. • Looked at international examples, for instance from France and Australia, which have independent bodies dealing with aviation noise. • Think that such a body could be useful in the UK, to act as an arbiter, to commission research and to provide advice (on a statutory basis) to the Secretary of State and CAA as appropriate. • Did not recommend giving it formal enforcement powers due to concerns over “double jeopardy” issues. • This will take some time to implement – it requires legislation – but hope to see Government take this recommendation forward.