ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE Minutes of meeting held at Aberdeen Airport on Friday 6 th March 2015 Present: Dr P Smart Mr I Armstrong Mr M Baker Mr R Collier Cllr J Cox Mr G Davidson Mr G Hance Dr W Harrison Cllr G Lawrence Cllr N MacGregor Mr J Millar Mr D Murray Cllr M Roy Cllr G Samarai Ms P Stuart Attending: Ms C Benzie Ms K Heath Mrs A Sharp Chairman SCDI Bucksburn & Newhills Community Council Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce Aberdeenshire Council Shell/UKOG ATPI /ABTA/SPAA Dyce & Stoneywood Community Council General Manager/NATS NESTRANS BA/AOC Rep Managing Director/AIAL Media & Communications/AIAL Secretary 1. APOLOGIES Cllr A Ross, Aberdeenshire Council; Mr Adrian Thomas, Deputy Chairman/Helicopter Representative; Cllr B Crockett, The Chairman welcomed the new members to the AIACC meeting. 2. MINUTES OF MEETINGS of the AIACC under the previous Constitution and the revised Constitution held on Friday 5 th December 2014. In the revised Constitution, the Secretary would change the wording on page three, under the heading Managing Director s Report, sixth paragraph down to read an additional two hundred people. 3. MATTERS ARISING NOT ELSEWHERE ON THE AGENDA There were no matters arising. 4. MANAGING DIRECTOR S RPEORT Ms Benzie reported that traffic numbers for February were down 0.9% on the same month last year, with weather factors having impacted on the figures. Ms Benzie said it was likely that a slight dip in figures would be seen in the coming months.
Route Development Ms Benzie reported that Wizz Air had announced a new twice weekly scheduled service between Aberdeen and Gdansk which would commence on 19 th June 2015 and would be operated with a 180 seat Airbus A320 aircraft. Unfortunately, Bmi would be dropping its Aberdeen/Manchester route at the end of March this year and Flybe would be discontinuing its shuttle service from Aberdeen Jersey due to low load factors, however, the Leeds to Jersey route would continue. Ms Benzie also said that unfortunately flights from Aberdeen to Riga had also been dropped. Ms Benzie was pleased that discussions were at an advanced stage regarding flights between Aberdeen and Glasgow which would allow onward connections to other destinations and would hopefully commence in 2016. At present there were three interested parties in the route and Scottish Enterprise would also be involved in future discussions. Routes Europe would take place from 12 th -14 th April 2015 and Ms Benzie said she was looking forward to hosting this prestigious event. She said they had organised a number of events to welcome their guests including an Energy Brunch, a VIP dinner at Meldrum House, a golf day at the Trump course at Balmedie and a gala dinner at Castle Fraser. Routes Europe would give Aberdeen International Airport the chance to showcase Aberdeen to airlines and influential professionals within the aviation industry from across the globe. The event would also bring together a wide range of airlines, airports and tourism authorities including low cost and national carriers from the whole region. The sale of Aberdeen Airport had gone through on 18 th December 2014 and Ms Benzie reported that Sir Peter Mason had been appointed the new Chairman of the group. He would be visiting Aberdeen in two weeks time and she would be hosting a lunch for him. Amanda McMillan had been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of AGS to whom Ms Benzie would now report. Ms Benzie said there had been some staff changes with Roger Hunt having been appointed to the role of Group HR Communications Director. She also said that the recruitment process had begun in the search for a new Operations Director, the position vacated by Mr Hunt. Yvonne Birch had been appointed as Interim Commercial Director. Ms Benzie said there had been a number of complaints received during the last quarter, most of which were regarding to the new airport drop off charge. Cllr Roy said that overall Ms Benzie s report seemed to be very positive. On another note, however, he said that connectivity between Aberdeen and London Gatwick airport was unacceptable and was there any chance of improving the situation. Ms Benzie appreciated that there was a problem with the route and that Easyjet times were not suitable to the business passenger. Mr Hance said that many flights did not arrive in London until 11.0 am which was unacceptable. Ms Benzie said they were speaking to other operators with regard to this route. The Chairman asked how the London City route was performing to which Ms Benzie replied that it was doing alright but there was room for improvement. The flight took one hour forty minutes but Mr Hance said the departure time from Aberdeen was too late for arrival in London at a suitable time. The Chairman said all the other airlines were in a similar position apart from British Airways.
Ms Benzie said she was in possession of a letter from Scottish Enterprise who had commissioned a study for UK Oil & Gas with regard to the general assessment of demand for operating helicopters out of Dundee Airport. Ms Benzie said she was concerned about the letter and that if helicopters were to be based there it would have a big impact on the city of Aberdeen. Mr Millar said that Dundee had always appeared to be too far south for helicopter operations, and that there was no radar there. Ms Benzie said that helicopter companies were investing millions in Aberdeen. Mr Collier suggested Ms Benzie speak to Scottish Enterprise in Glasgow to find out more about it. Dr Smart asked Ms Benzie to keep in touch and if necessary would arrange a meeting of the Strategy Sub Group to assist in this matter. 5. QUARTERLY NOISE REPORT The committee was in possession of this report. The Chairman said that complaints were running at about six a month. Cllr Samarai said that the airport noise website had been down recently. Ms Benzie said it was probably due to the changeover form the old to the new website. Feedback regarding the new site had been good so far. The Chairman noticed it appeared to be difficult for people with special needs to access information. Ms Benzie said she would have a look at it and report back. Mr Baker said that he had attended an AGM of the community council a few weeks ago where the public were invited to attend. Some residents had been unhappy with helicopters coming in so low. Mr Baker asked Ms Benzie if a meeting could be arranged with the local people to help alleviate their concerns. Cllr Samarai suggested that it came back to the public being unable to access the noise website easily enough and gain the information required. 6. CHAIRMAN S REPORT Since the last meeting the Chairman had chaired a meeting of the Strategy Sub Group, a meeting arranged to agree a submission to the National Connectivity Task Force. He had also attended the airport s annual Let s Celebrate dinner dance at the Airport Thistle Hotel. 7. CURRENT CONSULTATIONS a. Airport Commission Additional Runway Capacity a response was submitted on behalf of the AIACC with a copy having been previously circulated to the committee. b. National Connectivity Task Force - a response had been submitted on behalf of the AIACC with a copy having previously been circulated to the committee The Chairman said the Task Force had not yet publicised its response. 8. DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT Under the new Constitution, the committee had been required to prepare an annual report for approval at the meeting today. The draft report for 2014 had been circulated and was up for
discussion/approval. A copy would then be posted on the AIACC website and brought to the attention of local politicians and other stakeholder interests. Dr Harrison asked if on Page 9 of the report that the wording be changed from sound barriers to noise barriers. The spelling of Cllr Graeme Lawrence and Cllr Neil MacGregor would also be amended. 9. NATIONAL CONNECTIVITY TASK FORCE The Chairman welcomed Mr Murrary of Nestrans to his first meeting. Mr Murray who was also a member of the fifteen strong independent Task Force created to examine the current and future requirement for improved connectivity between the UK s regions and the major hub/gateway airports had agreed to give the AICC a presentation on its work. Mr Murray said that the concept of setting up the Task Force was first set out in May 2014 by Heathrow Airport Ltd in its submission to the Airports commission. The Task Force Chairman was Lord John Shipley who had invited all those with an interest in seeing the UK s regions better connected to London to write to the Task Force and any submissions to be made on or before 19 th December 2014. Mr Murray said the proposed new south east runway capacity must benefit the whole of the UK and not just London and the South East. The options were for a new runway at either Gatwick or Heathrow. An alternative option identified in The Task Force s report was to make use of spare capacity at RAF Northolt to serve as a regional satellite, capable of providing acceptable access to Heathrow s long haul network. Mr Murray said that an on-line questionnaire had been sent out by Lord Shipley to various groups across the regions, nations, and Crown Dependences and also including the DfT and CAA. Mr Murray said the report by the AIACC had been well received concluding that the third runway should be at London Heathrow. The public launch for the report would be 16 th March 2015. Mr Murray said there would be a presentation to the Scottish Parliament in May with a link to MPs and MSPs and that there would also be a launch in London. The Chairman thanked Mr Murray for his presentation and also for his work on the Task Force. 10. FORWARD PLANNING FOR AIACC The Chairman explained that under the new constitution, based on the DfT recommendations in their revised Guidelines for ACC, the committee was required to prepare a forward plan of special items for discussion, special speakers or visits within the airport. The Chairman asked if the members could come up with any ideas for future meetings. 11. AIACC website The Chairman explained that there had been problems with the AIACC website recently which was frustrating and embarrassing as it was through this medium that an advertisement would be placed for two passenger services representatives for the AIACC. The Chairman was looking at ways of controlling and updating the website without the need for going through the UK Airport Consultative Committees as was the case at present. An advertisement had since been placed in Aberdeen
Airport s Upbeat magazine for two passenger representatives for the AIACC and the Chairman was awaiting a response. 12. ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS Ms Benzie said that the new owners were planning to make changes to the terminal development and that the final draft would be out in the first week of May. Two contractors were on board to deal with the changes. It had been decided that in future Managing Director s reports that the types of complaints the airport received from passengers would be listed within the report. 13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting would be held on Friday 5 th June 2015