EDINBURGH AIRPORT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE.
MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHTH MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2016 IN THE HILTON HOTEL EDINBURGH AIRPORT.
PRESENT:Alastair O'Neil (Chairman)
Tom Wright (Secretary)
Gordon Dewar Chief Executive EAL
Gordon Robertson Communications Director EAL
Bryan Gall Passenger Interests
Jock Millican The Consumers Association
WPC Nicola Ward Police Service of Scotland
Gary Reavely ABTA
Andrew Mather Cramond Community Council
Joe Henderson Kirkliston Community Council
Kate Watt Ratho & District Community Council
Stefan Slater Edinburgh Airport Amenities Group
Alan Mitchell Fife Chamber of Commerce
Elizabeth McAreavey Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce
Ken McNab Travel Consultant
Sandy Smart STUC
Cllr Alastair Campbell Clackmannanshire Council
Cllr Peter De Vink Midlothian Council
Cllr Kay Morrison Fife Council
Cllr Bill White Scottish Borders Council
Cllr Tony Boyle West Lothian Council
APOLOGIES:Sgt Sandra Meneghan Police Service of Scotland
Fiona Black Airline Operators Committee
Cllr Lesley Hinds City of Edinburgh Council
Cllr John McMillan East Lothian Council
WELCOME: The Chairman welcomed all present and in particular WPC Nicola Ward who was attending her first meeting of the Committee.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 8th AUGUST 2016 : The Minutes of the Meeting held on 8th August 2016 were approved.
MATTERS ARISING: There were no matters arising.
AIR SPACE CHANGES-CONSULTATION:
Gordon Robertson gave a full and detailed report on the first phase of the Consultation process. The full report will be published shortly and copies will be forwarded to members of the Committee. 85000 people had used the web site and 5880 responses had been received. Phase two of the consultation will commence in early January 2017. The emphasis then will be on holding more drop in meetings .Andrew Mather commented on the increased noise in Cramond due to the increase in departing traffic over the area. He stated that it should be fundamental that aircraft stick to the agreed track.
EAL had engaged the services of The Consultation Institute an independent body with wide experience of consultation throughout the World. A Stakeholders Reference Group which involves Community Councils, Chambers of Commerce and Tourist Boards has been set up under the Chairmanship of Dame Sue Bruce. The EACC is represented . The Group has provided some exellent feedback to enable EAL to prepare its report.
MASTERPLAN: EAL prepares a new plan every five years when it updates its policy on such matters as land, future planning and road access. It is not about flight paths or noise. It is proposed to close the second runway which is used only 30 times per year and which attracts a lot of noise complaints. The land freed up would be used in the future expansion of the airport. EAL is part of the Edinburgh West End Development Group which takes an overall view of future development in the area. Vital to this is an improvement in local roads with better access to the airport . A new road is being considered from the Gogar Roundabout using the tram access which would serve both the airport and the Ingliston area.
CHIEF EXECUTIVES REPORT:
Traffic Figures:
Passenger Figures: During the 3 months to June a total of 3,819,957 passengers passed through the airport with 37% being Domestic and 63% International. During the corresponding quarter to 2015 domestic travel has fallen by 1% due mainly to the withdrawal of the Virgin Red Service to Heathrow whilst international travel has risen by 19% due to the continued growth in international travel and the introduction of 30 new routes throughout the year.. Edinburgh benefits from an excellent inbound flow which makes it untypical of other regional airports.
Air Transport Movements: Compared to the corresponding period in 2015 domestic movements had fallen by 2% whilst international movements had risen by 18%. Stefan Slater queried these figures and the way they were calculated. Gordon Robertson will look into the matter and will contact Stefan.
Traffic Mix: The traffic mix for the period was 98% scheduled and 2% charter
Freight: During the quarter the total freight carried was 9,830,497kg.
Day v Night: In July there were 11848 flights of which 1150 were night, in August there were 11813 flights of which 1073 were night and in September there were 11115 flights of which 976 were night.
CAPITAL INVESTMENT:
Projects under Construction:
EAST Expansion: The final part of this project is now in its final month. The development will allow growth of the existing retail outlets within the departure lounge and will include new fashion, retail and food and beverage.
Projects Completed:
Runway rehabilitation Autumn 2016: Minor rehabilitation works have been undertaken as planned as part of the annual rehabilitation programme.
Stand 12 modification: These works were aimed at maximising the use of the existing main apron as well as utilising the new Immigration 2 facility to accommodate both Middle Eastern flights.
Baggage Hall resilience improvements: This work involved a substantial overhaul/replacement of key mechanical and electrical components to ensure resilience in the back of house baggage system.
Projects being developed:
Next phase major terminal development: This project is working through the development stages and is primarily aimed at providing capacity for gate rooms, immigration, baggage reclaim and stands.
Baggage plus Check in Futures Programme: This project will look into the implications of technology changes and capacity beyond 2015.
COMMUNITY INVESTMENT: The Community Board will meet in November when a further
round of funding applications will be allocated. It is anticpated that the funds dispersed during 2016 will total £120000.
Applications have just closed to become Edinburgh Airport's Corporate Charity of the Year. A record number of 40 applications have been received and all nominations will go to a staff vote.
Guide Dogs for the Blind , the present Corporate Charity has proven to be a very successful partner for 2016 and have inspired the airport to adopt a new protocol with regards to confiscated sealed items. EAL now donates sealed liquids including bottes of spirits, wine, perfume and aftershave as well as children's toys to Guide Dogs for fundraising purposes. EAL plan to continue this with the 2017 Corporate Charity of the Year.
SURFACE ACCESS:
Bus Services: Buses continue to perform well with all routes showing year on year growth. The Stagecoach 747 service to Fife began operating 24/7 from 15th August.
Trams: Tram passenger numbers continue to grow. Timetable enhancements are planned to commence in December which will increase frequency to every 7.5 minutes 7 days per week. Build work is on schedule for the new Edinburgh Gateway Station rail and tram interchange to open on time in December. Edinburgh Airport is now a recognised railway station and passengers will be able to purchase through tickets to the airport.
Surface Access Strategy: The latest available data shows that the public transport mode has fallen to 30.9% as a 12 month rolling average. This is down on the previous quarter but is due to seasonality and follows the same pattern as previous years. It compares with 30.5% for the equivalent 12 month period in 2015.
NOISE COMPLAINTS ANALYSIS:
There were 608 complaints during the quarter from 260 complainants. EAL responded to 95% of these complaints within 5 days. The main area of complaints was Cramond with 139 complaints from 61 residents. Due to prevailing wind conditions more use of 06 was made for departures. There had been an increase in individuals complaining which is likely due to the awareness of the Air Change Programme. There was also an increase in the number of night flights reported and people requesting a ban or limits on the number of night flights.
EAL intends to install a new noise monitoring system and set up an Independent Noise Board. They have also recently appointed a Community Noise Officer.
ROUTE DEVELOPMENT:
New Routes: During 2016, 30 new routes will commence. Runway length is not a problem with regards to attracting new routes and there is no market at present for Airbus 380 aircraft out of Edinburgh. EAL is looking at a further 4 long haul operations in 2017/2018.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS ANALYSIS:
July: The top issues for the month were airline/handling agents, car parks and security.
August: The top isues for the month were airline/handling agents, car parks and security.
September: The top issues for the month were airline/handling agents, car parks and security.
Commenting on these Gordon Dewar advised that the car park complaints related to lack of space and pricing. He felt that the security situation was greatly improved and was working well. There had been major problems with the baggage delivery times and the companies, Menzies and Swissport were having real difficulties meeting their SLA's. Gordon is to have meetings with the agents shortly to try to resolve the problems but the agent's contracts are with the airlines and not the airport. Comment was made that surveys had shown that Glasgow was outperforming Edinburgh in the provision of this service and that passengers were having to wait in excess of 30 minutes for their luggage to arrive. Gordon fully accepted that this was unacceptable.
AOCB:
Third Runway at Heathrow: Gordon Dewar was asked to comment on the recent decision to build a third runway at Heathrow. He advised that he was very disappointed and felt that Gatwick would have been the better option. He doubted whether the development at Heathrow would ever go ahead.
EACC Web-Site: The Secretary advised that following problems the web-site previously operated in conjunction with UKACCS had been closed. Meetings are to take place to try to have the Committee web-site tied into the EAL web-site.
Dates of Meetings 2017: The Secretary advised that the dates for 2017 were 13th February 22nd May 7th August and 13th November.