Kate Sarsfield/LONDON
Business jet operators at London Heathrow Airport have lost their legal battle to prevent the introduction of a new slot allocation procedure at Europe's busiest hub.
The Heathrow Executive Jet Operators Association (HEJOA) failed to convince the High Court that the changes introduced on 6 May by UK Government-appointed slot co-ordinator Airport Co-ordination (ACL) were unlawful, and unfairly restricted their access to the airport.
The judge rejected HEJOA's claims that rule changes were imposed after inadequate consultation and declared that the procedure did not contravene European Union regulations.
"The judgement only emphasises all the more the need for business aviation to fight to protect its access to Heathrow and other key European hub airports which are subject to slot pressures," according to HEJOA.
The review centred around ACL's decision to replace the favoured opportunity slot system with a tactical availability system whereby business aircraft operators will have to apply for slots more than a week in advance.
ACL, which is run by 11 UK airlines, believes the new procedure will assist in alleviating congestion at the airport, but HEJOA claims that the number of slots available to its members will be reduced significantly. The Association adds that this is a further attempt to rid Heathrow of business aviation and its supporting services.
The future of the UK's Farnborough Aerodrome as a dedicated business aviation airport is now being decided at a public hearing, which will be completed by mid-October. The local council, which is holding the inquiry, has received 3,000 responses to planning proposals and hopes to decide on the role of the airfield by mid-1999.
"We have to find a suitable compromise between the needs of the residents and the airport operator TAG [Techniques d'Avant- Garde]," says the council.
TAG is planning to invest £25 million ($41 million) in its first phase of development of the site, which is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 1999 "-if the outcome of the inquiry is positive".
TAG proposes to implement a noise contour system (noise quota) in place of the 20,000 movement-a-year ceiling that the council is keen to impose.
"The noise contour system will directly address environmental concerns as we will ban all Chapter 2 aircraft and encourage quiet, modern aircraft," says TAG.
Source: Flight International
