News

FARNBOROUGH AIRSPACE GRAB

TAG Farnborough Airport, once the centre of aviation development and improvement of air safety but now an exclusive airport for VIP and business jets, is proposing massive airspace changes over much of Hampshire, West Sussex and the South Downs National Park.

The glossy brochures and well-crafted proposals look almost palatable to those generally un-informed about aviation. But to those who are informed, it’s the information they have chosen to exclude which is very worrying.  We at Lasham Gliding Society oppose this proposal by TAG on grounds of:

• Safety
• Proportionality
• Lack of a Business Case
• The effect on our gliding operations

Estimates suggest 30,000 passengers per year currently use Farnborough. It should be noted that approximately 45% of the flights into and out of Farnborough are “positioning flights” i.e. no passengers on board.  TAG is now applying for approximately twice the volume of controlled airspace that London Gatwick Airport uses to handle 34.2 million passengers per year.  So on current numbers TAG is proposing over 2,000 times more controlled airspace per passenger than London Gatwick Airport requires.We believe this is a completely disproportionate proposal today and for any approved future expansion of aircraft and passenger movements at Farnborough; It seems to be the equivalent of a big limousine company buying two lanes of the M25 exclusively for the use of the rich and famous!

It is unprecedented for new controlled airspace to be created solely for operations, such as TAG’s business and private jet operations at Farnborough.

So how will this affect us?

• Increase in noise from business jets flying lower over much of West Sussex, Hampshire and the South Downs National Park,

• force the already much larger numbers of light and general aviation aircraft, including gliders, into much smaller areas of existing ‘free’ airspace and create dangerous, congested areas of ‘choke points’.
• Light aircraft forced to fly lower, adding to the increased noise.
• much-increased risk of collision.
• ‘Air grab’ will threaten the continued existence of Lasham Gliding near Alton, and Parham Gliding, near Storrington

Why are TAG making these proposals?

We don’t know!

• There are no business benefits claimed in the proposal
• The aircraft will be flying lower for longer increasing noise and pollution
• The aircraft will be flying extra miles burning more fuel
• Overall safety will NOT be improved

TAG Farnborough has been warned repeatedly by the general aviation and gliding community about these serious safety issues but they have chosen to ignore them in their proposals. They have conveniently not included any information about the huge amounts of general aviation traffic that could be affected, which has the effect of making their proposals look almost palatable to the public.  Using the analogy of the limousine company above, it’s counting only the trucks and lorries using the M25, and excluding all the cars!

Other issues concerning this ‘land-grabbing of the sky’ are not only of safety and noise, but also of threatening extensive aerial recreational activities in the South especially gliding.  We and our sister club the Southdown Gliding Club, near Storrington in West Sussex, are now seriously threatened.  We are also aware that Goodwood are seriously concerned about the commercial impact of this proposal and are making representations too.

Key general aviation organisations in the UK are now fighting against these proposals. The Royal Aero Club represented by the General Aviation Alliance includes the, the Light Aircraft Association, Gliding, Hang Gliding, Para Gliding, Balloon, Microlighting, Helicopter, and Parachuting Associations and, more locally, ourselves (Hampshire) and the Southdown Gliding Club (West Sussex).

We are, and have been, making a thorough technical analysis of the TAG proposal and we do have a number of members who are very experienced at a professional level on airspace matters.  We have previously identified and communicated to TAG detailed alternative technical solutions which work at other major airports internationally and we believe are entirely suitable for Farnborough. These solutions would avoid the wide negative impact of the TAG proposal but have been largely ignored.