Continued from page 80
earliest it might begin. Expanding the three London airports would mean capacity for an additional 62 million passengers a year at Heathrow, 34 million at Gatwick and 14 million at Luton. Legal challenges appear certain,
although the Treasury promised “sweeping reforms” to planning rules on infrastructure projects this week in a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to be introduced this spring. That followed a pledge from the prime minister’s office last week to stop campaigners “blocking infrastructure projects with continued legal challenges”. Judges will gain powers to
limit appeals where a High Court hearing “deems a case ‘totally without merit’”. The government has
consistently said airport expansion must meet four tests – on carbon emissions, noise, air quality and growth – with those on emissions and air quality likely to be most challenging. But the Supreme Court overturned an Appeal Court ruling in 2020 that the then government’s statement in favour of Heathrow expansion was unlawful as it failed to take adequate account of the Paris Agreement on climate change. There was a less than
enthusiastic reaction to the prospect of Heathrow expansion from Luis Gallego, chief executive of British Airways parent IAG, which holds 56% of the slots at Heathrow. He insisted: “The situation
at Heathrow needs to change. It’s the most expensive airport in the world, but the experience for passengers doesn’t match this. The last review of its business model was 15 years ago. We wouldn’t support [a third runway] with the current regulatory model.”
IAG boss asks ‘who will fund UK’s SAF strategy?’
Ian Taylor
The head of British Airways’ parent International Airlines Group (IAG) questioned the value of the UK’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) Mandate and planned SAF revenue certainty mechanism last week. IAG chief executive Luis Gallego
said: “We can’t think because we have a mandate, we will have SAF. We can’t import it all from the US. That doesn’t make sense.” He noted the government has
“proposed a pricing mechanism to de-risk SAF projects in the UK”, but said: “How will it be funded? Who pays for it?” Speaking at an Airlines UK event
in London, Gallego insisted: “We’ll pay for SAF, but we don’t want to pay twice – first by buying SAF and second by funding a price scheme.” Gallego told aviation leaders: “We
were the first airline group to commit to net zero emissions by 2050, the
Gallego says BA can lead way in airline technology
British Airways aims to be “at the forefront” of airline technology, according to the boss of parent IAG, but is struggling to overhaul its existing tech systems. The airline has been engaged
for several years in developing a new commercial platform and moving systems to the cloud. IAG chief executive Luis Gallego
78 30 JANUARY 2025
insisted: “We need a European SAF industry as soon as possible.” The UK SAF Mandate, which
Luis Gallego
first in Europe to set a sustainable fuel goal, and the first group to extend net zero to our whole supply chain. “The good news is we’re on
track for 2050. We’ve made progress on SAF. Last year we announced our biggest SAF deal to date with US producer Twelve, a plan to buy completely synthetic jet fuel.” But he said: “There is also bad
news. In Europe, we’re very far behind the US on sustainable fuel. At some point we’re going to have to debate what we want. We can kill aviation in Europe, but we’re still not going to save the planet.” Gallego
acknowledged the time it is taking to upgrade BA’s technology, saying: “A lot of systems were built one above the other. “We’re reviewing all systems,
moving all systems to the cloud, moving data centres, building a new commercial platform, BA Nexus.” He insisted: “Things are
improving. We think we’ll see a new BA in the second half of this year.” Gallego suggested the new
platform would “put BA at the forefront of airline technology and commercial platforms for the years to come”. He added: “BA can be the best airline in the
world. [But] it is the most difficult thing to change the culture in a company like BA or Iberia.” Gallego revealed IAG recently
set up a ‘central innovation team’ to look at AI use, saying: “We want to be a leader in AI.”
travelweekly.co.uk
requires a minimum 2% SAF use across all departing flights this year, came into force on January 1. But there is only one SAF plant operating in the UK. The mandate requires increased
SAF uptake each year to hit 10% in 2030, and aviation minister Mike Kane insisted he is “reasonably confident” the target will be hit. But Kane acknowledged there is insufficient SAF in the UK, saying: “SAF will have to be sourced from overseas.” He confirmed a revenue certainty mechanism would be introduced by next year. The 2030 target will require
about 1.2 million tonnes of SAF be supplied each year. Low carbon fuels consultant Dr Chris Malins warned this month of a “likely compliance shortfall in a number of years” without “rapid investment in SAF production and billions in capital expenditure”.
BA wants to be a ‘leader in AI’
PICTURE: MOD Crown Copyright
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
