Europe Hopes Half Of Monday Flights Will Operate

April 18, 2010

European officials said they hoped half of flights would operate across the continent on Monday as they sought to ease four days of airline paralysis caused by a sprawling ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano.

The closure of most of Europe’s airspace except for the eastern and southern rims has cost airlines and airports hundreds of millions of dollars, and they called on Sunday for a review of the restrictions. The closure has also stranded millions of passengers and hurt exporters.

The Dutch airline KLM, which flew several test flights, said most European airspace was safe despite the plume of ash, and despatched two commercial freight flights to Asia on Sunday evening.

European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said he hoped 50 percent of European airspace would be risk-free on Monday, adding the current situation was not sustainable. “We cannot wait until the ash flows just disappear,” he said.

“The forecast is that there will be half of flights possibly operating tomorrow,” said Spanish Secretary of State for European Union affairs Diego Lopez Garrido. “It will be difficult; that’s why we have to coordinate,” he told reporters after a meeting at European aviation control agency Eurocontrol.

Italy and Austria said they would reopen affected airports on Monday.

Only 5,000 flights took place in European airspace on Sunday, compared with 24,000 normally, Eurocontrol said. It said 63,000 flights had been cancelled since Thursday.

Iceland’s Meteorological Office said tremors from the volcano had grown more intense but that the column of ash rising from it had eased back to 4-5 km from as high as 11 km when it began erupting on Wednesday from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier.

Volcanic ash is abrasive and can strip off aerodynamic surfaces and paralyse an aircraft engine. Aircraft electronics and windshields can also be damaged.

HOPE OF RELIEF

Weekend test flights with empty planes offered some hope.

“Lufthansa made 11 flights, KLM nine, Air France seven and the results show no impact in the area… No impact coming from the ash cloud,” Garrido said.

KLM said its inspections showed no damage to engines or evidence of dangerous ash concentrations. Its chief executive, Peter Hartman, was quoted by Dutch media as saying European airspace was safe “with the exception of an area in the north between Iceland and Russia.”

Airline and airport groups called for the flight restrictions to be reassessed.

“The concentration of ash particles in the atmosphere is in all likelihood so small that it poses no threat to air transport,” the association of Dutch pilots said.

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh flew in a test flight over Ireland which the airline said encountered no difficulties. But BA and Aer Lingus cancelled all their flights for Monday, and Ireland’s Ryanair cancelled flights to and from northern Europe until Wednesday.

The Spanish EU presidency called a video conference of EU transport ministers for Monday.

“We can examine the results of the test flights and look and see whether there is any updating of the regulatory structure which might make it possible for flights to take place despite the presence of the ash cloud,” British Transport Minister Andrew Adonis told BBC television.

Dutch state broadcaster NOS reported Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings as saying Europe’s response to the ash cloud had been too severe, and that the United States did not completely close its airspace in response to similar eruptions.

Brian Flynn of Eurocontrol said the International Civil Aviation Organisation published rules that needed to be adhered to worldwide, and guidelines to interpret at continental level.

“One could say that the guidelines are interpreted slightly more rigorously in Europe than in the United States, when it comes to responsibilities of air traffic control agencies and pilots,” he said.

The clampdown poses a growing problem for airlines, estimated to be losing USD$200 million a day, and for millions of travellers stranded worldwide.

Weather experts said wind patterns meant the ash plume was not likely to move far until later in the week.

It was expected to become more concentrated Tuesday into Wednesday, posing a greater threat to air travel, but narrowing to affect a smaller area. A shift in jet stream winds from Thursday could flush it out of most of Europe.

“It’s like a spray can of ash coming from Iceland,” US- based forecaster AccuWeather said. “As with a spray can, the plume of ash is not uniform. It becomes deformed and spreads out in different directions the farther from the source it gets.”

For travellers, businesses and financial markets the biggest problem remains the sheer unpredictability of the situation.

ECONOMIC HAZARDS

Economists say they stand by their predictions for European growth, hoping normal service can resume this week.

But if European airspace were closed for months, one economist estimated lost travel and tourism revenue alone could knock 1-2 percentage points off regional growth. European growth had been predicted at 1-1.5 percent for 2010.

“That would mean a lot of European countries wouldn’t get any growth this year,” said Vanessa Rossi, senior economic fellow at Chatham House. “It would literally stifle the recovery. But the problem is it is incredibly hard to predict what will happen. Even the geologists can’t tell us.”

Disruption spread to Asia, where dozens of Europe-bound flights were cancelled and hotels from Beijing to Singapore strained to accommodate stranded passengers.

More than four in five flights by US airlines to and from Europe were cancelled on Saturday. Freight company FedEx said more than 100 FedEx Express flights headed to Europe had been rerouted, diverted or cancelled over 72 hours.

Russian airports remained open, routing planes to North America over the North Pole to avoid the cloud.

(Reuters)

Airports And Airspace Closed By Ash Cloud

April 18, 2010

Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rulings for a fourth day on Sunday because of a huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano that has caused the worst air travel chaos since the Sept. 11 attacks. Here is a list of countries as of 2030 GMT on Sunday and their airspace status:

AUSTRIA – Airports expected to reopen 0400 GMT Monday.

BELGIUM – Airspace closed until at least 1800 GMT Sunday. Main airline, Brussels Airlines, has cancelled all flights until Monday.

BRITAIN – Airspace closed until at least 1800 GMT Monday. British Airways cancels all Monday flights.

BULGARIA – Sofia and Plovdiv airports open as of 1100 GMT Sunday. Other airports closed. Transit flights permitted at 8,000 metres altitude.

CZECH REPUBLIC – Airspace closed until at least 1000 GMT Monday.

DENMARK – Airspace closed until 1200 GMT Monday.

ESTONIA – Airspace closed until 1200 GMT Monday.

FINLAND – Airspace closed until at least 1500 GMT Monday.

FRANCE – Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and several other southwest airports will remain open until at least 1300 GMT Monday. Airports north of Nice-Bordeaux line remain closed at least until Tuesday morning. Air France said a test flight from Paris to Toulouse on Sunday had ended without problems; tests continuing.

GERMANY – International airports shut until 1200 GMT Monday. Temporary opening permission to Berlin’s Tegel and Schoenefeld airports to end at 2200 GMT.

HUNGARY – Airspace to remain closed until at least 1000 GMT Monday, although some flights at the discretion of traffic control may be allowed to take off or land.

IRELAND – Airspace closed until at least 1200 GMT on Monday. Ryanair cancelled all flights to and from northern Europe until at least mid-Wednesday. Aer Lingus cancelled all flights Monday.

ITALY – Northern airspace to reopen from 0500 GMT Monday.

LATVIA – Airspace closed until 0600 GMT Monday.

LITHUANIA – Lithuania airspace is now open, Vilnius Airport said on its website on Sunday.

LUXEMBOURG – Luxembourg airport closed until at least 1600 GMT Sunday.

NETHERLANDS – Airspace shut until at least 0600 GMT Monday.

NORWAY – Main airport, Oslo Gardermoen, opened for take-offs, but so far no landings, aviation authority Avinor told news channel TV 2. Airspace opened for some traffic north of Bergen, with some northern areas still closed.

POLAND – Six Polish airports, including Warsaw, reopened for commercial flights.

ROMANIA – Airspace closed until at least 0900 GMT Monday.

RUSSIA – All airports open. Aeroflot is flying to the United States via the North Pole.

SLOVAKIA – Airspace closed as of 1300 GMT on Friday.

SLOVENIA – Airspace was opened around 1800 GMT Sunday and will stay open until at least 0400 GMT Monday, national news agency STA cited Traffic Ministry as saying. However, the ministry expects it to be closed again because of more ash reaching Slovenia around 0600 GMT, STA said.

SPAIN – The 17 airports closed on Sunday morning by the Spanish airport authorities now open.

SWEDEN – Airport authority has opened airspace north of 62 degrees latitude, about 250 km north of Stockholm. The rest remains closed into Monday. SAS said most of its flights on April 18 and 19 had been cancelled.

SWITZERLAND – Main carrier Swiss says cancelled all European flights from and to Switzerland until Monday, 1800 GMT. Swiss also says cancelled all intercontinental flights from Switzerland for all of Monday.

TURKEY – All airports open. Planes flying out of the Black Sea cities of Samsun, Sinop and Zonguldak have been advised not to fly higher than 20,000 feet (6 km).

UKRAINE – Kiev’s Borispol airport open.

(Reuters)

UK May Use Navy To Bring Home Stranded Citizens

April 18, 2010

Britain said on Sunday it was considering using the Royal Navy and requisitioning merchant ships to ferry home citizens stranded abroad by the closure of much of European airspace because of volcanic ash.

The response to the crisis is threatening to become a domestic political issue ahead of a general election on May 6 and with the ruling Labour Party trailing in opinion polls.

Business minister Peter Mandelson said the government was also investigating the possibility of using Spanish airports not covered by the air traffic ban as a hub for citizens stuck further south or in north America.

“We need to look at every single logistical option for getting our people back home,” Mandelson said after an emergency meeting of ministers and officials chaired by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

“That’s what we are going to do, either from outside Europe back onto the continent (of Europe), over the Channel, either from Spanish or French ports. We have got to look at commercial as well as Royal Navy amphibious capacity to help us in this task.”

Brown later discussed the options with Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. “Prime Minister Zapatero said that he would help in any way he can,” a spokeswoman for Brown said.

Ministers will meet Brown at another contingency meeting at 7:30 am GMT on Monday to decide whether to put the plans into action.

Ash from an Icelandic volcano has closed much of northern European airspace since Wednesday because of its potential danger to airliners.

Many British families had been trying to get home from foreign holidays in time for the return to school on Monday after the Easter break.

(Reuters)

Ash Relentless As New Tremors Rock Iceland

April 18, 2010

Powerful tremors from an Icelandic volcano that has been a menace for air travel worldwide rocked the countryside on Sunday as eruptions hurled a steady stream of ash into the sky.

Ash from the volcano drifted southeast towards Europe, sparing the capital Reykjavik and other more populated centres but forcing farmers and their livestock indoors as a blanket of ash fell on the surrounding areas.

Iceland’s Meteorological Office said tremors from the volcano had grown more intense and had increased from a day ago, but that the column of steam and ash rising from the volcano had eased back to 4-5 km (2.5-3 miles) from as high as 11 km when it started erupting earlier this week.

“We are seeing mixed signals. There are some hints that the eruption will be decreasing, and others that show it is not decreasing,” Einar Kjartansson, a geophysicist at the Meteorological Office said.

One positive sign for people in the area is that there was no immediate threat of further flooding.

The eruption is taking place under Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull glacier, normally a popular hiking ground about 120 km (75 miles) southeast of the capital Reykjavik.

Kjartansson believes the volcano has melted about 10 percent of the glacier, but melting might have slowed in recent hours.

However, that does not mean Europe will see great relief from the plume of ash that is choking the upper atmosphere with tiny particles of glass and pulverised rock, threatening jet engines and airframes.

The glacier on top of the volcano is about 200 metres (650 ft) thick — thinner than many glaciers atop other volcanoes that have erupted in recent times. That means there is less ice, and water, to suffocate the eruptions and resulting steam.

“It might mean more intense ash production,” Kjartansson said.

It still could take months for the volcano to burn through the rest of the glacier, to a point where the steam and ash would turn instead into lava, he said.

DAY TURNS TO NIGHT

Vidir Reynisson, of the Civil Protection Department, said some areas near the volcano were pitch black during daylight hours.

“There are places where you can’t even see the palm of your hand,” he said.

His department has recommended people stay indoors, although some have evacuated voluntarily. They also advise people to keep their houses heated, which helps keep the ash outside.

Many farmers, he said, remained to tend their livestock and some, assisted by rescue squads, were on rooftops sweeping off the accumulated ash to prevent roofs from caving in.

Meanwhile, travellers stranded in Iceland due to limited flights out of Keflavik airport started to get approval on travel to northern Norway. Flights to the United States remained unaffected.

Iceland sits on a volcanic hotspot in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and has relatively frequent eruptions, though most occur in sparsely populated areas and pose little danger to people or property. The last eruption took place in 2004.

(Reuters)

Potential Scenarios For Volcanic Ash Crisis

April 18, 2010

The economic impact of air travel disruption from a volcanic cloud over Europe depends almost entirely on how long it lasts — something even experts say they cannot predict. Below are several scenarios for how events could pan out.

CLOUD CLEARS SWIFTLY

The volcano could cease erupting, simply stop emitting ash, winds could shift away from Europe or the gas cloud could be dispersed unexpectedly quickly — although so far none of these shows any signs of happening.

Airlines and air freight companies would immediately scramble to make up for lost time, repatriate and relocate passengers, aircraft and cargo.

– Airlines would still have lost some USD$200 million a day during the shutdown, the International Air Transport Association says. Airline stocks would likely still fall on Monday as markets took into account losses over the weekend, which were not factored in on Friday.

– Even if the cloud clears, some travel will still be cancelled in the coming days. Some firms are asking employees to cancel non-essential European flights over the next 7-10 days.

– Airlines might show greater interest in taking out cancellation insurance. German insurer Munich Re said on Friday it could offer such insurance easily if recent events produced the demand.

CLOUD CLEARS, ERUPTION CONTINUES

Experts warn that as long as the eruption continues, the risk remains that a renewed outflow of ash or certain wind patterns could produce the same effect again in the coming months.

This time, airlines would be less taken aback but there would still be little they could do to prepare. The threat of a renewed shutdown might deter both business and leisure travellers from booking flights, holidays and hotels, hitting the industry even if the cloud itself never returned.

– Airline industry stocks could under-perform as markets factor in a risk premium. Rail, road, sea cargo and teleconference firms could see an increase in demand.

– Firms might take on additional stocks to reduce their reliance on “just-in-time” resupply by air cargo.

– Any return of the cloud would again hit airline and travel stocks as well as potentially undermining regional growth.

– Much would depend on whether the current eruption triggers Iceland’s nearby and much larger Katla volcano, further increasing the potential impact.

CLOUD REMAINS, EUROPE REMAINS SHUT DOWN

If the cloud remains stubbornly over Europe for a sustained period of time, perhaps weeks or longer, the travel sector would take a serious hit. Wider industries would also be affected from high-tech manufacturing to supermarkets and event organisers.

– This would be devastating news for the airline sector, possibly driving some of the weakest operators to the wall.

– Overall European growth might be affected, slowing the recovery from recession. Already heavily indebted governments would struggle to find the funds for support programmes. Europe might lag further behind the rest of the world in the global recovery.

– Teleconference, shipping, rail and road transport operators would benefit. So would airports just outside the cloud, suddenly in great demand from airlines and shipping firms as new hubs. That could benefit countries along the edge of the cloud including Ukraine, Turkey, as well as Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain — the euro zone fringe economies worst hit by the financial crisis. Britain’s Royal Mail is already shipping and trucking airmail for United States to Spain for onward flights.

– Major international meetings may have to be cancelled, rescheduled or simply go ahead without senior European policymakers. That might further weaken Europe’s geopolitical relevance at a time when it is already threatened by the rise of emerging economies and internal differences over dealing with the Greek debt crisis.

(Reuters)

Iceland Volcano Flight Disruption [MSNBC]

Iceland Volcano Disrupts Global Air Travel [AP]

Icelandic volcano eruption disrupt flights [RT]

Air Traffic Over Britian [BBC]

Why Is Volcanic Ash A Threat To Planes?

April 15, 2010

A cloud of volcanic ash drifting eastward from Iceland has halted flights across northern Europe, causing widespread disruption.

Below are some questions and answers on the aviation risk.

What is volcanic ash?

Plumes of dust spewed out by volcanoes usually contain tiny particles of glass, pulverised rock and silicates. The result is a cloud of material resembling sandpaper.

Why is it a hazard to aviation?

The problem is not visibility but the abrasive affect of the ash, which can both strip vital surfaces and clog an engine.

Pulverised rock colliding at high speed with a speeding jet can blast away surfaces inside the engine.

Due to intense heat in the motor, the particles can fuse together when they penetrate the engine and stop it working.

Aircraft avionics and electronics can also be damaged.

Aviation authorities say clouds of ash are often accompanied by clouds of gas such as sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid.

How long will the problem last?

The answer depends on the weather. Prevailing winds have so far spread the cloud eastwards from Iceland towards British and Scandinavian airspace. Britain’s meteorological office says ash may be present over the United Kingdom on Thursday and Friday.

What happens when volcanic ash is detected?

A 120 nautical mile danger zone is declared around the original plume and flights are banned in contaminated areas as winds move the ash across flight paths. The scale of Thursday’s response is “unprecedented,” a British spokesman said.

What happens if an aircraft does fly into volcanic ash?

* On June 24, 1982, the captain of a British Airways Boeing 747 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, Australia, came on the speaker system at around 37,000 feet and calmly told the 247 passengers on board that all four of its engines had failed.

In an incident that went down in aviation history, Captain Eric Moody glided the jet down more than 20,000 feet and managed to restart one engine at 13,000 feet followed by others, according to the Flight Safety Foundation.

It was only later that investigators found the combination of engine failure, an eerie luminous glow around the plane and acrid smoke inside the cabin had been caused by flying into a cloud of volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Galunggung.

The aircraft landed safely on three engines but the incident prompted new flight procedures and international exercises.

* On December 15, 1989, all four engines failed again when a KLM jumbo flew into a cloud that turned out to be volcanic ash while en route from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska. The engines resumed working and the damaged plane landed safely.

That incident was blamed on lack of sufficient information provided to the crew, the Flight Safety Foundation says.

How do controllers plan for such an event?

Partly as a result of these incidents, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a United Nations body, maintains detailed contingency plans that were activated on Thursday.

The incident came just six weeks after European authorities carried out the first of two 2010 exercises for just such an event, aimed at preventing a catastrophe due to volcanic dust.

(Reuters)

Berlin Airport Reopens After WW2 Bomb Defused

April 7, 2010

Berlin’s Tegel Airport was closed for about two hours on Wednesday after an unexploded World War Two bomb was found and defused, an airport spokesman said.

The 500 lb British bomb was defused by explosives experts and flights resumed after 8 pm, police said.

About 20 incoming flights were re-routed to Berlin Schoenefeld airport and 10 outward-bound flights were postponed.

Passengers were evacuated from one of the airport’s terminals, the spokesman said.

The bomb was discovered during construction work at the airport, which was built after World War Two.

(Reuters)

Women Arrested Smuggling Corpse Onto Plane

April 6, 2010

Two women were arrested at a British airport on suspicion of trying to smuggle a dead relative onto a flight bound for Germany, police said on Tuesday.

The 91-year-old deceased man was pushed in a wheelchair through Liverpool’s John Lennon airport wearing sunglasses before check-in staff became suspicious and he was prevented from boarding the plane.

He was believed to have been driven about 35 miles to the airport by taxi from Oldham, Greater Manchester, police added.

The women were arrested on suspicion of failing to give notification of a death and were released on bail.

“At 11 am on Saturday 3 April 2010, police at Liverpool John Lennon airport were alerted to the death of a 91-year-old man in the terminal building,” police said in a statement.

“Two women aged 41 and 66 were arrested on suspicion of failing to give notification of death.”

The cause of death is not known.

(Reuters)

FAA Commits USD$410 Mln To Finish O’Hare Plan

April 6, 2010

The US Department of Transportation on Tuesday committed USD$410 million toward completing an expansion of Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration funds will be used to build two new runways and extend a third for the second phase of the O’Hare Modernisation Programme, city and federal officials said at an airport news conference.

The FAA in 2005 committed USD$337 million for the first phase, which adds, relocates and extends runways at the world’s second-busiest airport.

Chicago will issue USD$1.8 billion of bonds for phase 2 after selling about USD$1.9 billion of debt for phase 1, according to Rosemarie Andolino, the city’s aviation commissioner.

City officials still eye construction of a new terminal, estimated to cost about USD$2 billion, but Mayor Richard Daley conceded that was a “tough sell.” The total cost of the project including the terminal is USD$8.6 billion in 2008 dollars, according to a city aviation department spokeswoman.

United Air Lines and American Airlines, O’Hare’s largest carriers, suspended talks with the city in February over phase 2 funding after the airlines were hit with fee and rent increases tied to outstanding debt.

Andolino said Chicago remained committed to negotiations, adding she was confident a deal will be reached.

Chicago has been pushing to complete the O’Hare project in 2014 after delays caused by legal fights. The city approved a deal in November with the suburb of Bensenville, which had long battled the expansion project in court.

Earlier this year, a DuPage County Court granted Chicago title and possession of a cemetery that stands in the expansion’s footprint.

(Reuters)

Embraer Creates New Division, Eyes Boeing, Airbus

April 1, 2010

Embraer said on Thursday it had created a new division for commercial aviation, adding to speculation that it is considering building larger planes that would put it in direct competition with Airbus and Boeing.

The division, called New Programmes for Commercial Aviation, will be headed be Mauro Kern, whose previous job title was Executive Vice President for the Commercial Aviation Market. That division will now be run by Paulo Cesar Silva, the company said in a statement.

The revamp of Embraer’s organisational structure comes as speculation mounts that the Brazilian manufacturer may look to build larger planes than the small and mid-sized jets that helped make its name.

Embraer chief executive Frederico Curado has said the company will eventually have to decide whether to build bigger models or remain focused on the 50- to 120-seat niche, where its main rival is Bombardier.

But Curado has stressed that the company will make that leap only if it can come up with technological advances that justify such a large investment.

If it does, it would begin competing with US-based Boeing and Europe’s Airbus, the world’s two biggest plane makers. Curado’s predecessor as chief executive, Mauricio Botelho, was wary of moving into the segment of large airliners and liked to refer to Airbus and Boeing as the “big dogs.”

(Reuters)

Man Rams Car Into Parked Plane In Nigeria

April 1, 2010

A man who claimed to have been sent by Jesus to punish sinners rammed his car into a parked Arik Air plane at an airport in southeastern Nigeria, an aviation spokesman said on Thursday.

No one was hurt in the incident on Wednesday and the spokesman said Nigeria had no problem with security.

The United States put Nigeria on a list of countries needing to improve security after Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was arrested on suspicion of trying to blow up a US-bound airliner in December using explosives hidden in his underwear.

“There is no problem at all at our airports, no cause for alarm, as we have the necessary security on the ground,” said Akin Olukunle, spokesman for the Federal Airport Authority.

He said the driver had broken through two security gates at Calabar airport and rammed his car into the Arik Air plane before soldiers arrested him.

The suspect was heard yelling that all Nigerians were sinners and must repent or perish, a reporter who was at the airport said. The man, who is from Nigeria’s southeastern state of Akwa Ibom, said he had been sent by Jesus Christ.

Authorities were questioning him in Calabar.

The crew of the plane, which had arrived from Lagos and was on its way to the capital Abuja, were not injured and no passengers were on board at the time.

“Our men rushed to the scene and evacuated crew members on board,” Olukunle said. “We have beefed up security.”

A bomb squad found no explosives in the car and flights continued despite the incident.

(Reuters)

Four Guilty In Heathrow Heist Trial

March 31, 2010

Four men were found guilty on Wednesday of carrying out a GBP£1.75 million pound armed robbery at London’s Heathrow Airport following Britain’s first ever criminal trial to be heard without a jury.

John Twomey, 62, Peter Blake, 57, Barry Hibberd, 43, and Glenn Cameron, 50, were jailed after being convicted of charges relating to the warehouse heist in February 2004.

New laws introduced in 2003 meant the trial could be held in front of a judge sitting alone after the Court of Appeal ruled last year there was a “very significant” danger of jury-nobbling.

The historic trial, which campaigners said set a dangerous precedent, was the fourth time the defendants had faced court proceedings over the raid after the previous trials had collapsed.

The court heard that a gang of six armed masked robbers, wearing high-visibility jackets and dark woollen hats, carried out the raid on the Menzies World Cargo warehouse, planned with the help of insider Darren Brockwell, who later turned supergrass.

During the hold-up, 16 members of staff were tied up and threatened while one was shot at by Blake as he tried to escape and raise the alarm.

The robbers took GBP£1.05 million in sterling and the rest of the cash in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Australian currency, some of which was changed at foreign exchange bureaux in central London in the following weeks.

The raid was described by prosecutor Simon Russell Flint as a “professionally planned and professionally executed armed robbery.”

The court heard that Twomey, Blake and Hibberd, who were said to be “experienced career criminals,” carried out the raid with Twomey’s brother-in-law Cameron, and two other men who have yet to be brought to justice.

All four defendants were found guilty by the judge Justice Treacy of robbery and having a firearm with intent to commit robbery. Blake was also found guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

Twomey was jailed for 20 years and six months; Blake received a minimum 10-year term; Cameron was imprisoned for 15 years and Hibberd was jailed for 17 years and six months, the Press Association reported.

The latest trial began in January at London’s Royal Courts of Justice but was switched to the Old Bailey last month after Blake went on the run after escaping from court. He handed himself in five days later.

“These are dangerous individuals who organised a complex armed robbery to steal a substantial amount of money and expected to get away with it,” said Detective Superintendent Stuart Cundy.

“They were prepared to not only carry guns, but to use them to ensure their plan succeeded.”

(Reuters)

Leedco Wins Iraq Airport Contract

March 30, 2010

Leedco Engineers has won a USD$50 million contract for construction of an airport in Iraq, company and provincial officials said on Monday.

The airport is to be built in Salahuddine Province in northern Iraq as an alternative to Baghdad Airport, said Jewher Hamad al-Fahel, the head of the province’s investment commission.

Land is to be handed over to the California-based engineering consulting services company in the next few days, he said.

Hassan Badrelddine, Leedco’s representative in Iraq, said the contract was worth USD$50 million.

The goal is to have the new airport operational within two years, with initial capacity of 2 million passengers a year. Baghdad Airport handles about 7 million passengers a year.

Iraq’s Transport Ministry said this month it would invite foreign companies in April to build an airport in southern Iraq. French airport operator Aeroports de Paris won a USD$42.5 million contract in November 2009 to work on the plans.

(Reuters)

China Express Train Forces Airlines To Stop Flights

March 26, 2010

A new high-speed rail link between two inland Chinese cities has cut travel times so dramatically that all competing air services on the route have been suspended, state media said.

The suspension of flights between the industrial city of Zhengzhou and Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors, came just 48 days after the express train began operations, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

The 505 km (314 miles) line, on which trains run at a top speed of 350 km per hour, has cut the travel time between the two cities from more than six hours to less than two, the report said. By contrast, flying takes just over an hour. Xian’s airport is located at least an hour away by road from the city.

Before the new line opened, Joy Air, one of the domestic airlines flying the route, managed to sell an average of more than 60 percent of seats for the route, Xinhua said.

Zhengzhou airport confirmed that all flights to and from Xian had now stopped, the report added.

China is spending billions of dollars on a network of high-speed rail links, including one from Beijing to the country’s financial capital Shanghai, posing a challenge to airlines which had profited from China’s vast size and slow roads and trains.

By 2012, China would have more than 13,000 km of high-speed lines, Xinhua said.

“By then, 60 percent of China’s domestic air market will be affected by the high-speed railways,” Liu Chaoyong, general manager of China Eastern Airlines, was quoted as saying.

China Eastern last year agreed to sell 35 percent of Joy Air, in which it held 40 percent, to state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

(Reuters)

Critics Say Ruling A Blow To Heathrow Plan

March 26, 2010

Environmentalists opposed to a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport claimed victory on Friday after a British judge ruled the government must review the project’s climate change and economic impact.

The Labour government gave the go-ahead in January last year for a third runway and another terminal at Europe’s busiest airport as part of a GBP£9 billion pound (USD$13.4 billion) expansion.

But the project has run into fierce opposition and a legal challenge from local residents and environmentalists concerned about noise and increased carbon emissions.

The opposition Conservatives, ahead in the polls before a national election widely expected on May 6, oppose plans for a third runway at Heathrow.

High Court judge Robert Carnwath said the government’s argument that the policy of support for the third runway had been set in 2003, subject to the fulfilment of three environmental conditions, was “untenable.”

The government must prepare a national policy statement, required to establish the case for major infrastructure projects, before the expansion can go ahead.

Carnwath said the preparation of the statement “will necessarily involve a review of all the relevant policy issues including the impact of climate change policy.”

He said the national policy statement would also have to consider the economic impact of a third runway as increases in carbon costs would have a “significant effect on the economic picture.”

“It makes no sense to treat the economic case as settled in 2003,” he said.

Opponents of the plan, including local councils and environmentalists, said the ruling meant that the government would have to “go back to square one and reconsider the entire case for the runway” if it wanted to pursue its plans for Heathrow expansion.

(Reuters)

AOT Trims Suvarnabhumi Expansion Plans

March 25, 2010

Airports of Thailand (AOT) has scaled back its expansion plans for Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi airport but still intends to invest THB62.5 billion baht (USD$1.9 billion) in 2011-2016 to increase capacity.

In a statement on Thursday, AOT, Thailand’s main airport operator, said it had cancelled plans to build a new domestic passenger terminal and a third runway at the airport.

In December it said it planned to spend THB76.5 billion in 2010-2016 to boost annual handling capacity at Suvarnabhumi to 80 million passengers.

Under the latest plan, annual capacity will rise to 60 million passengers from 45 million now. It generally handles almost 40 million passengers a year.

Majority state-owned AOT operates the country’s six main airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang in Bangkok, Hat Yai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket, which handle around 90 percent of air traffic in the country.

(Reuters)