Latest News

14th February 2011

A new study finds sleep deprivation can bring early death

A new study from Warwick University has found that sleep deprivation increases the risk of people suffering from a stroke or a heart attack - Sleep deprivation increases stroke and heart disease risk

18th January 2011

The Mayor calls for more capacity in the South East

On Tuesday 18th January Boris Johnson issued a report calling for more capacity in the South East. He argued that London needs a major hub airport so as to compete effectively for business with other European and world cities. HACAN issued a press release with figures which showed that London remains the best connected city in the world. In 2009, the last year for which full figures are available, over 130 million passengers used London’s five airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City). That is more than any other world city. Of London’s closest European competitors, just under 86 million passengers used Paris’s airports, with almost 51 million using Frankfurt, 48 million Madrid and 43 million Amsterdam. We argued that, to compare Heathrow with Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam is not a like-for-like comparison. The real comparison is between the total capacity there is when all the airports serving the cities are taken into account. These figures show that London remains ahead of the game. HACAN members have different views about an off-shore airport but are united in our concern that calls for extra capacity could, in time, result in renewed pressure for a new runway at Heathrow or the ending of runway alternation.

This is what the journalist and commentator Andrew Gilligan said in the Telegraph (19/1/11):

“In yesterday’s Standard Boris wrote that ‘twenty years ago Heathrow served more destinations than any other European airport. It has now slipped to seventh place, way behind Paris and Frankfurt.’ Well, it is true that Heathrow alone now offers fewer destinations – but there are five airports in London. And between them, they have direct international flights to more places, more often, than any other city on earth. In fact, they handle almost as many international passengers as Paris and Frankfurt put together.

Boris also claimed yesterday that London is being cut off from new tiger markets, claiming that our airports can “collectively muster” only “five flights a day to China, to Beijing and Shanghai” while “Paris Charles de Gaulle airport already sends 11 flights a day to four destinations in China and Frankfurt sends 10 flights to six destinations.”

Even if these figures were true, it seems unlikely that any Chinese businessmen would decide where to invest on the basis of whether a city has five or ten flights a day. Alas, however, Boris has been fiddling: he is not comparing like with like. His numbers for Frankfurt and Paris appear to include flights to Hong Kong. However, Hong Kong has been carefully excluded from his London figure – no doubt because it means that London in fact decisively wins this contest.

Frankfurt does have more Chinese destinations than London, though the smaller ones are served only by a handful of flights each week. But overall, London decisively outstrips the German city on frequency. Including Hong Kong, London has 92 flights a week to China, or an average of 13 a day. Paris has 73 and Frankfurt has only 69.

The biggest flaw in the Johnson argument, however (I’ll pass over his lovely idea of “a new generation of Prius planes”) is the view that a hub airport is a particularly important factor in a world city’s prosperity. Hub airports’ benefits to their host cities are only tangential – since transfer passengers, of course, never leave the airport. If achieving the business crown of Europe was about having a world-class hub airport, Frankfurt and Paris would have won it decades ago. Instead, even as they have streaked ahead of London in runway capacity, both cities have fallen further behind in their share of world commerce.

Read Gilligan’s complete article

17 December 2010

New Study: aircraft noise disturbs people at lower levels than previously admitted

A new report from Europe shows that people are disturbed by much lower levels of aircraft noise than previously thought. The report from the European Environment Agency indicates that over a million people are disturbed by aircraft noise from Heathrow, more than the three times the number admitted by the Department for Transport. It backs up what HACAN supporters have been telling us for years. The European Report says that people can get seriously annoyed when the noise over the day averages out at 50 decibels, as opposed to the Department for Transport’s estimate of 57 decibels. This suggests that noise can be a real problem for some people living over 25 miles from the airport.

Read the report.

Read the HACAN press release.

11th October 2010

Living under a flight path can give you a heart attack

A new study has found that living under a flight path increases the risk of a getting heart attack. The Swiss study discovered that people exposed to a daily average noise levels of at least 60 decibels are 30% more at risk of dying of a heart attack than those exposed to less that 45 decibels. Among those exposed to the higher decibel levels for 15 or more years, the risk was 50 per cent higher. Up to 200,000 people under the Heathrow flight paths experience noise averaging out at over 60 decibels.

To read more about the report: Living under a flight path 'can increase your risk of heart attack .

Read the HACAN press release

7th September 2010

Aviation Minister Confirms Mixed-Mode Ruled Out at Heathrow

In a written statement to the House of Commons (7th September), Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers confirmed that mixed-mode would not be introduced at Heathrow. That means that runway alternation – the practice whereby planes landing over London switch runways at 3pm to give residents a half day break from the noise – will be retained. She also confirmed that a third runway would not go ahead and that the Cranford Agreement would be abolished. The latter means that, for the first time in over 50 years, planes will be allowed to take off over Cranford (in Hounslow). This will mean a lot extra noise for Cranford but will allow runway alternation to be introduced when planes land over Berkshire, allowing those residents a half day’s break from the noise.

For the full written statement: Heathrow Operations

28th June 2010

Government Seeks a ‘Better Not Bigger’ Heathrow

The Government has set up a working party to look at ways of creating a better, not bigger Heathrow. It will look at how introducing more efficient ways to run the airport so that delays and queues can be cut.

HACAN has long argued that a ‘better not bigger’ Heathrow would work for both business and the environment. Read the latest HACAN report.

28th June 2010

Transport Secretary Says Domestic Flights Should Become a ‘Thing of the Past’

The Transport Secretary Philip Hammond told the Financial Times in an interview that domestic flights should become a thing of the past. He was attached in a very predicable way by sections of the aviation industry. Read the full story.

13th May 2010

New Government Pledges to Drop Third Runway

The new Government has pledged to drop a third runway at Heathrow. The pledge is contained in the environment section of the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats released today. The agreement also promises to block new runways at Stansted and Gatwick.

Read the environment section of the coalition agreement.

19th April 2010

Celebration of Silence

We have never had days like these. No planes. We have been inundated by emails and phone calls from people saying how much they have enjoyed the peace and quiet; how they had forgotten noisy the planes actually are. Soon we hope to publish noise and air pollution readings taken during these blissful days. We will also be looking at imaginative ways of reminding people of these golden days of silence once the airports re-open. Maybe a No Fly Day on Christmas Day?

19th April 2010

Heathrow Runway 3 will leave UK £5 billion worse off

A new and comprehensive report published today on 19 April, by the independent think-tank, New Economics Foundation concluded that a third runway at Heathrow would leave society worse off by £5 billion. This reverses the net benefit of £5.5 billion (spread over 70 years) claimed by the Department for Transport. The New Economics Foundation has included the full social and environmental costs of the runway. For more details click.

26th March 2010

Government Plans for a Third Runway in Tatters after High Court Ruling

High Court orders ministers to go back to the drawing board

The Government’s airport expansion policy is in tatters this morning (26th March) after a Judge ruled that ministers did not properly consult on a number of key issues before attempting to give consent to a third runway at Heathrow airport. The Judge ruled that a January 2009 statement to the House of Commons by Geoff Hoon giving the green light to Heathrow expansion had no legal substance. He dismissed the Government’s claims to the contrary as ‘untenable in law and commonsense’. The implications of today’s ruling are profound, not just for Heathrow but for airport expansion plans across the UK. The Heathrow decision is blown wide open, with the Government ordered to go back to the drawing board and consult on a number of key issues where the Judge found the Government’s position to be questionable. In a case brought by a coalition of organisations opposed to expansion, including HACAN, the judge The judge ruled that if the Government decides to push ahead with the runway project it must now review the climate change implications of Heathrow expansion, the economic case for a third runway, and the issue of how additional passengers would get to a bigger airport. He also ruled that the Government’s entire aviation policy must now be reviewed to take into account the implications of the 2008 Climate Change Act.

For more details read the press release

Latest: Lord Justice Carnwarth confirmed in a short follow up court hearing to apportion costs on 20th April that the campaigners against Heathrow expansion scored a significant win in the High Court. He said “Frankly you are entitled to say you have won substantially.” He ordered the Department for Transport to pay their own costs plus 60% of the opponents’ costs.

3rd December 2009

Celebrities and Politicians Plant ‘No 3rd Runway’ Trees

David Cameron and Nick Clegg both sponsor a tree

Left to Right front Carol-Ann Duffy Poet Laureate, Alison Steadman actress (Richard Briers, actor behind),Susan Kramer MP for Richmond Park, Nick Clegg Lib Dem Leader and Labour MPs Andy Slaughter and John McDonnell plant trees on the site of the 3rd Runway.

Read the full story

8th December 2009

Climate Change Committee Calls for Big Cutbacks in Aviation Growth

A murder has just taken place. The victim is the Government’s controversial 2003 Air Transport White Paper. The murderer is the government-appointed Committee on Climate Change. The Committee was asked to examine whether the Government’s aviation policy was consistent with its target to cut all CO2 emissions in the UK by 80% by 2050. It has concluded that, for emissions to remain on target, the number of passengers using the UK’s airports can grow by 60% instead of the 200% the Government was planning for. Dead: one Air Transport White Paper. The Committee was very careful not to say where expansion could take place. They say that decision must be taken at a political level. They say that a third runway at Heathrow, plus a couple of other new runways (possibly at Gatwick and Stansted), would not breach the 60% target but only if there was virtually no growth anywhere else. The message of the report is not that it endorses new runways but that it has killed of the Government’s programme of aggressive expansion of aviation.

Read the HACAN Press Release

Read the Committee on Climate Change Press Release

7th December 2009

Transport Select Committee Report ‘Outdated’

Heathrow campaigners have dismissed the aviation report by the Transport Select Committee, published on Monday, as ‘outdated’. The Committee supported a third runway at Heathrow and a new runway at Gatwick but rejected the case for a second runway at Stansted. HACAN said, “The Transport Select Committee simply comes across as a body which has failed to move with the times. It trots out the tired, old discredited arguments in favour of Heathrow expansion. The economic case for Heathrow expansion is just no longer accepted by the majority of decision-makers. And it skates over the impact on emissions.”

The Report was only endorsed by 3 members of the Select Committee. Two voted against and the rest abstained. Read the story

Read the Committee Report: UK Parliament - Transport Committee

15th October 2009

Cameron confirms Tories will drop 3rd Runway

Addressing a meeting at Christ Church School in Richmond the Conservative Leader was crystal clear about his Party’s policy on Heathrow last week (mid-October):

“The 3rd runway at Heathrow is not going ahead. No ifs; no buts.”

2nd September 2009

Campaigners Get Permission to Challenge 3rd Runway Decision in Court

Campaigners against the third runway at Heathrow have been granted a hearing in the High Court to rule on the campaigners’ complaints. In doing so the Judge recognised the “significant public interest element to the case” as well as the need for “clarification” of the Transport Secretary’s statement to Parliament in January giving the green light to expansion. The hearing is not expected before November.

2nd September 2009

Advertising Standards Authority Slates BAA and Future Heathrow over ‘Misleading’ Third Runway Noise and Pollution Claims

Following a complaint from John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, an advert placed by the pro-Heathrow expansion group Future Heathrow claiming a third runway at Heathrow will not make the airport dirtier or noisier has been ruled "misleading" by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA also decided that it was misleading for the advert to claim that the runway would not go ahead "unless local air quality meets stringent EU standards on concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2)". For further information click on the HACAN press release.

5th August 2009

Adonis Right on Rail but Wrong on Heathrow

HACAN has welcomed the remarks by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis in today's Guardian (5/8/09) that the Government plans to eliminate domestic flights through investment in high-speed rail. But we argue that Adonis is wrong to suggest that a 3rd runway at Heathrow would still be needed in order to cater for an increase in long-haul flights. The evidence is clear that investment in affordable fast rail services would be a viable alternative for at least a fifth of all flights currently using Heathrow. That would free up enough landing space for an increase in long-haul flights without any need to build a new runway. HACAN produced research almost three years ago which showed that 100,000 out of over 470,000 flights each year are to 12 destinations where rail would be a viable alternative - Short-Haul Flights: Clogging up Heathrow’s Runways

13th July 2009

A ‘Seriously Flawed’ Report

The British Chamber of Commerce Report, published on 13th July, is seriously flawed. It claims that a third runway at Heathrow would bring benefits to the UK economy of £30 billion over a 60 year period, considerably higher than the Government’s official figure of £5 billion spread over 70 years.

Why the discrepancy? The British Chamber of Commerce admits that it has not factored in the economic costs of the downsides of a third runway at Heathrow – climate change, noise, air pollution, community destruction and potential road traffic congestion. These costs run into billions of pounds. To have excluded them devalues the BCC report. It appears to disregard the real possibility of a steep rise in oil prices over the next 70 years. It makes no allowance for the fact that the current tax-breaks the aviation industry receives – such as tax-free fuel and an exemption from VAT – may well be phased out. It assumes there is an automatic link between the provision of new transport infrastructure and economic development – an assumption challenged by many leading economists. It focuses exclusively on Heathrow, thus failing to acknowledge that, if all London’s airports are included, London remains the best connected city in the world for both business and leisure travellers. These are fundamental flaws.

The report can be read at A third runway at Heathrow would add £30 billion to UK economy

Read the HACAN Press Release

16th June 2009

In its Noise Action Plan BAA admits for the first time that over 700,000 people are affected by noise from Heathrow
- more than double its previous estimate


But still denies there is any problem above in Vauxhall (Credit: Weedon/Hartleben )

The picture shows the actual planes – 33 – that went over in one hour. Nearly all over 70 decibels. Yet Vauxhall is 17-20 miles from Heathrow and just a stones throw from the House of Parliament.

In its Noise Action Plan for Heathrow published on 15th June for a 16 week period of public consultation, BAA has been forced too acknowledge for the first time that over 700,000 people are affected by aircraft noise from the airport, more than twice the number it previously admitted to. But the action plan, which the Government asked BAA to draw up on its behalf, is deeply disappointing by because it sets out no firm plans to reduce noise from the airport. The EU requires all member states to draw up noise action plans.

Read the HACAN Press Release

To read the Action Plan on BAA’s website

For further information about, and comment on, the Noise Action Plan click the attachment

4th June 2009

EURO ELECTIONS: LABOUR STANDS ALONE IN SUPPORT OF THIRD RUNWAY AT HEATHROW

Survey of candidates shows all other parties opposed

The Labour Party has become isolated in its support for a third runway at Heathrow. In a survey of candidates standing in the European Elections on June 4th, only Labour candidates refused to condemn the proposals to build a new runway. The campaign group HACAN wrote to all the leading candidates standing in the both the London and South East constituencies to ask their views on Heathrow expansion. No Labour candidate responded but the representatives of all the other political parties said they were opposed to the plans for a third runway.

Department for Transport Spies on Heathrow Critics

25th May 2009

The Daily Mail (25/5/09) revealed that the Department for Transport has spied on potentially tens of thousands of its critics ans passed the data on to the Police. For the full story

Read the HACAN press release.

The letter is signed by

Ian Cheshire, Chief Executive, Kingfisher

Russell Chambers, Adviser, Credit Suisse

Jon Moulton, Founder, Alchemy Partners

Charles Dunstone, Chief Executive, Carphone Warehouse

David Levin, Chief Executive, United Business Media

Dominic Murphy, Partner, KKR

Justin King, Chief Executive, J Sainsbury

Sir Roy Gardner, Chairman, Compass Group

Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, BSkyB

James Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive, News Corporation

Howard Leigh, Managing Director Cavendish Corporate Finance

Martin Armstrong

Lord Young of Graffham, former President of the Institute of Directors

Leading Business Figures Oppose 3rd Runway

4th May 2009

In a letter to the Times (4/5/09) leading business figures have come out against a third runway at Heathrow.

They say that “the business case for a third runway simply does not stack up.” And add “to say that all those from the business community support the third runway is wrong.”

Read the full letter - Business can do without a third runway

And may commission their own study (Daily Telegraph, 25/5/09)

Read the HACAN press release

Legal Challenge Launched against Government's Decision to Back Heathrow Third Runway

14th April 2009

A coalition representing millions of people today launched a legal challenge against the Government over its decision in January to give BAA permission to draw up detailed plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Backing the challenge are HACAN NoTRAG, 7 local authorities in West London (Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond upon Thames, Wandsworth and Windsor & Maidenhead) and Greenpeace, WWF-UK, CPRE and RSPB.

The key points of the challenge will be:

If the courts allow the challenge to proceed, it will go to a full court hearing at the end of this year or early next year.

Activists pledge to help Heathrow residents defend their homes

30th March 2009

Environmental activists from across the UK “adopted” Heathrow residents to support them in their fight against a third runway and prepare them to defend their homes in the event of BAA being given permission to build the runway. The activists are being brought together by Plane Stupid. Thirty residents have initially asked to be adopted. Many more are expected to join as the scheme spreads over the coming months. Residents were adopted by affinity groups from as far away as Scotland and Cornwall. Some of the country’s most experienced environmental activists will be involved.

For more details click on press release.

Former Labour Home Secretary Comes Out Against New Runways

20th March 2009

Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary and still a leading force within the Labour Party, has come out against runway expansion. Writing in Guardian (20/3/09) he says: “We must escape the straitjacket of past policy dilemmas. It is no good building more runways just as air passenger numbers are falling.” In his article Clarke argues that, unless Labour adapts its policies to the changing world, including the challenge faced by climate change, it will lose the next General Election.

For more details click on press release

Allegations of Collusion between Peter Mandelson and BAA PR firm over Third Runway

2nd March 2009

Revelations about the close relationship between the Trade Secretary Peter Mandelson and Roland Rudd, the man who heads up Finsbury Ltd, the PR firm which represents BAA, have raised further questions about the part BAA played in persuading the Government to give the green light to a third runway at Heathrow. It emerged that Mr Rudd or his company met with ministers at least five times in ten days in the run-up to Labour's unpopular decision to go ahead with plans for a third runway, and once a few months earlier.

For more details click on to press release

Government Majority Slashed by Two Thirds on Heathrow

29th January 2009

Biggest rebellion on an opposition motion since Labour came to power in 1997

At the end of the debate in the House of Commons yesterday on Heathrow expansion the Government’s majority was slashed by two-thirds. It scraped home by a mere 19 votes. If 8 Democratic Unionists had voted with the opposition parties instead of the Government, Labour’s majority would have been down to one. As it was, this was the biggest rebellion on an opposition motion since Labour came to power in 1997. Two Labour MPs, Andy Slaughter and Virendra Sharma, resigned from their junior ministerial posts in opposition to the Government’s plans for a 3rd runway.

For more details click on press release

An Overwhelming NO to Heathrow Expansion

16th January 2009

The public overwhelmingly said No to Heathrow expansion during the Government consultation held last year. Of the nearly 70,000 responses to the consultation held only a little over 8,000 wanted any form of expansion. Just 11% of people. Noise and air pollution were the biggest concerns, with nearly half the people responding expressing worries about these issues.

Read the full details click on press release