London Southend Airport & Environs Joint Area Action Plan Issues & Options Paper

The SSBC Core Strategy, RDC Local Plan, RSL Regeneration Framework and also the East of England Plan and the Regional Economic Strategy all have statements about the objectives for the Airport which could be added here to give a clearer picture of the context.

Yes. Airports have a key role in regeneration and provide job and travel opportunities, making the area attractive to live and work in and, as a business location, 'putting Southend on the map'.

As noted in our comments on this section, the SSBC Core Strategy, RDC Local Plan, RSL Regeneration Framework and also the East of England Plan and the Regional Economic Strategy all have statements about the objectives for the Airport which could be added here to give a clearer picture of the context.

In paragraph ii, the seventh sentence (beginning 'The economic reality...') refers to the airport as a constraint. The constraint is not the airport as a whole, but the existing runway length, for two particular reasons:
• Older regional aircraft (like the BAe 146 and Avro RJ series which were specifically designed for short take off and landing) are being replaced by newer regional aircraft types (such as the Embraer 195 and the Bombardier C series) which use less fuel and are less noisy even though they are larger, but they require a longer distance to reach take off speed
• The existing landing distance for the 24 runway direction is 1399 metres while for the 06 direction it is only 1279 metres (less than London City Airport). Airline operations must assume the shorter of these two which restricts the loads that aircraft can carry when using Southend Airport.

In paragraph iii the reference to Boeing 737s may confuse as not all models of the 737 would be able to operate with economic loads from a 1799m runway. It would be better to refer to aircraft with a seating capacity of generally between 100 and 149 seats, such as the Airbus A319, smaller 737 types and the range of new aircraft by Embraer and Bombardier (C series), particularly designed for European services. There is also a reference to attracting two or three fixed base operators. As FBOs are usually related to business or general aviation operations it would be better to refer to two or three airlines which would base aircraft at the airport.

In line with the Future of Air Transport White Paper, LSACL sees the future role of the Airport to meet local demand to around 2 million passengers per annum and to contribute to regional economic regeneration. 2 million is about the level that Southampton operates at now and is completely different in scale from a major airport such as Stansted which handles over 20 million passengers a year. In parallel with passenger growth the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul activity should grow from its existing strong base into an international centre of engineering excellence, to include the training and development of people and a 'one stop shop' for aircraft owners and operators. The White Paper noted the opportunity to meet demand ahead of the provision of additional runways at the South East's major airports (now considered very unlikely before 2015 and perhaps much later) and the timing is now influenced by the 2012 Olympics

The Airport needs to have the appropriate facilities and infrastructure to enable it to serve the local and regional community and to attract airlines and other aviation related businesses. In particular this means:
• A longer runway, suitable for the modern regional passenger aircraft used by most of the European airlines, such as the A319, Embraer 190/195 and B737 â€" 500s (not the bigger 737's or larger aircraft) and the new Bombardier C Series, all suitable for services to all European cities for business and Mediterranean leisure destinations.
• improved operational facilities such as a new control tower
• better customer facilities such as a hotel and new terminal
• improved access primarily in the form of a rail station but also in terms of other public transport, sustainable modes, adequate roads and car parks
• additional land on which to attract new inward investment and jobs directly related to the airport.
In summary, a thriving regional airport will 'put Southend on the map' and serve the expanding Thames Gateway region and South Essex.

Government policy is for economic development to be plan-led. National, regional and local policies all point to the development of Southend Airport as supporting economic growth in the sub region and the Local Development Framework process, of which the JAAP is a key part, is the appropriate way to achieve this.

A key part of Government air transport policy (and indeed other economic and planning policies) is to make better use of existing facilities. Southend Airport is an underused asset which, with some improvement and updating, can become the focus of significant employment growth and is clearly better than a new site or even a previously developed site which does not have a significant existing operation.

The location is also ideal in respect of airspace and, by having most of the arrival and departures routed over the sea, avoids congestion and overflights of London, reducing flying time, emissions and environmental impact.

The Airport, its railway station and its related clusters of aviation related business locations will be of interest to investors because:-
• The location to the east of London reduces flying times and costs for operators, thereby making Southend more attractive to use than other London airports.
• The excellent rail link to be provided between the Airport and Stratford and The City of London makes Southend very competitive with the time taken into London from other airports.
• The airport has available runway capacity at peak hours, unlike any of the other London area airports.
• An extended runway at Southend would meet the needs of all business aviation aircraft and, therefore, represents an opportunity to add this fast growing sector of the market to the scheduled passenger, freight and aircraft maintenance activities of the airport.
• There will be land on which the airport businesses can expand to meet demand in the future

The options considered in Sections 4.2 and 4.3 are a comprehensive range for these Issues. In Section 4.2, our view is that only Option iii would enable airlines to operate new, efficient aircraft.