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UK airport operator BAA has pledged to reduce the
number of flights that would take off and land at an expanded
Heathrow if airlines fail to adopt cleaner and quieter fleets
as quickly as expected.
The commitment comes as BAA and the UK government face fresh
allegations that the consultation process for a third runway
at Heathrow was flawed and that emissions and noise data was
manipulated to strengthen the case for expansion.
The allegations - the subject of a BBC Panorama show - centre
on evidence that airport operator BAA made up a 'virtual'
jet aircraft for inclusion in the environmental modelling
undertaken in the government consultation after it realised
the use of existing four-engine planes on the third runway
meant that it would most likely exceed the legal limits for
noise and pollution.
According to BAA, the new 450-seat 'green' jumbo would
boast just two engines and, by 2030, would account for more
flights out of Heathrow than existing four engine planes such
as the Airbus A380.
However, neither Airbus nor Boeing currently plan to build
such a plane, with one industry source telling
the Sunday Times that "nothing like this
is on the drawing board". "I don't think it's feasible, because
the size of engines that would be required for this plane
to safely take-off don't exist and aren't under development"
- he added.
The revelations represent another blow to the UK government's
support for a third runway.
Recently, UK Business Secretary John Hutton again hinted
at the government's support for expansion, claiming that it
was ready to take "difficult decisions on airport expansion".
However, ministers have been forced to delay the final decision
on Heathrow expansion following protests from local residents,
the launch of a legal challenge from environmental groups
claiming that the official consultation process was flawed
and biased and the publication of a report from the Environment
Agency raising concerns that the expansion would lead to the
breaching of legally binding environmental standards.
The allegations regarding BAA's 'virtual jet' are
just the latest in a series of revelations suggesting that
some of the data used to make the case for a third runway
was skewed to ensure that the expanded airport would not breach
regulations on noise and air pollution.
Earlier this year, a Sunday Times investigation
revealed that BAA and the Department for Transport had worked
together to alter data featured in the official consultation.
For example, the paper found that BAA initially predicted
that 20 per cent of planes taking off from Heathrow by 2030
would be four-engine jets - but subsequently cut the figure
to 11 per cent and then to six per cent when fears emerged
about noise and pollution levels.
The newspaper also obtained emails under the freedom of information
act, that reveal that UK government officials suspected BAA's
projections were over-optimistic.
However, BAA has defended its role in the consultation process
and insisted that the 'virtual jet' was an accurate
prediction of the type of cleaner and more efficient aircraft
likely to be in place by 2030.
A spokeswoman for the company said that, given improvements
in aircraft environmental performance and commitments by all
major aerospace manufacturers to reduce noise levels from
new aircraft by 50 per cent on 2000 levels by 2050, the 'virtual
jet' represented a 'plausible' representation of
future aircraft design.
She also added that even if the twin-engined 450-seat design
was not adopted, the third runway was still not expected to
result in a breach of environmental regulations.
"The government's environmental modelling shows that even
without this aircraft, a third runway at Heathrow could meet
air quality limits at 702,000 Air Transport Movements in 2020
and meet noise limits at 605,000 ATMs in 2020" - she said.
"It would, therefore, be inaccurate to say that the development
of this aircraft is necessary for a third runway to meet environmental
limits."
BAA also insisted that, were cleaner and quieter aircraft
not to emerge as quickly as anticipated, then the operator
would simply reduce the number of flights from the airport.
"The environmental limits set out in the 2003 Air Transport
White Paper are absolute and non-negotiable and they set the
environmental parameters within which an expanded Heathrow
must operate" - explained the spokeswoman.
"Modelling and forecasting are necessarily uncertain, but
can still provide a useful indication of likely future impacts.
If, however, slower fleet replacement or slower advancement
of new technology means that noise and air quality emissions
do not reduce as quickly as predicted, then airport capacity
will grow more slowly than predicted."
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