Stansted ACC participates in planning appeal against BAA

The Stansted Airline Consultative Committee (ACC) today (Wednesday 30 May 2007) announced its opposition to BAA Stansted's continuing policy of using land at Stansted Airport inefficiently and building unnecessary facilities in order to inflate passenger charges at Stansted Airport.

The ACC is a party to the current appeal of BAA's application to increase the cap on passenger traffic in Stansted Airport from 25 million passengers per annum (mppa) to 35 mppa - the so-called Generation One (G1) development. BAA recently doubled passenger charges in Stansted Airport, which has contributed to passenger traffic falling by over 3% in April and traffic is some 7% behind BAA's passenger forecasts. This is before the £550 million BAA plans to spend on Stansted Airport to increase passenger traffic from 25 to 35 mppa (G1) and the £4 billion BAA plans to waste on the second runway and terminal facilities (G2).

The ACC is committed to ensuring that development at Stansted Airport is proportionate, sustainable and appropriate to meet the needs of users. Stansted's airline users have consistently complained of BAA's waste of valuable land resource and massive gold plating of facilities at Stansted Airport. BAA has engaged in planning and regulatory gaming whereby it massively over estimates the amount of infrastructure and capital expenditure necessary at Stansted. This leads to artificially high airport charges the effect of which is to stifle growth in passenger traffic.

Speaking today on behalf of the Stansted ACC, David O'Brien, Chairman of the ACC, said:

"Stansted ACC is calling on the Secretary of State to impose an interim passenger cap on BAA of 30 mppa so as to facilitate growth in Stansted but also to prevent BAA from unnecessarily incurring £550 million that will lead to a further increase in passenger charges. These developments also potentially prejudice the most cost effective layout for the G2 development. The Stansted ACC has already identified that BAA's gold plated plans for G2 could lead to the unnecessary destruction of 800 acres of Essex country side.

"The ACC is confident that the Secretary of State will impose this interim cap, which will provide more time to clarify the plans for G2 and prevent BAA from further gold plating facilities in Stansted Airport and forcing up charges to the travelling public.

"The Stansted airlines all support growth in Stansted Airport but not at any cost. The BAA are abusing the planning and regulatory system to inflate capital expenditure and load these costs onto users through inflated passenger charges."