Europe's worst airport?

The reputation of the Amalfi Coast precedes any trip with visions of La Dolce Vita, the stupendous beauty of the coastline and a magical and simpler Italy as seen in “Il Postino”. The reputation is not without some truth but the truth of today’s Amalfi Coast is somewhat more complex. The complexity begins with the probability that you will access Amalfi by flying into Naples Airport. This exercise in chaos is owned by our old friends B.A.A. who are in turn owned by Ferrovival, the Spanish brick company.

The previous year Naples had won the title of “Worst Airport in Europe” and from what I could see it was fighting hard to keep the title. Terminal 2 at Naples demonstrates BAA’s advanced sense of humour. It is a former cargo warehouse which has lost none of its ambience a mile from the airport to which the charter flight cattle are bussed. It has no luggage trolleys (either side!) and the “management response” when you mention this at the Information desk is to make a tannoy announcement which they have pre-printed in 12 languages that “there is a shortage of trolleys for operational reasons.” Indeed.

The ambience of the airport does not convey La Dolce Vita. There are not even proper air-conditioned buildings. We are talking about just a collection of pre-war aircraft-hangers in the middle of the one of the most heavily populated, poorest areas of Naples. Rubbish, barbed-wire fences and concrete covered in graffiti. Passengers are shipped in and out on coaches with no logical system or thought. Staff seem either too busy to help or would rather help their fellow Italians on domestic flights. Even the short runway is so full of potholes and rubbish that the pilots have to use all their skill and experience to take-off and land safely. The whole airport needs to be demolished and re-built outside the city.

Proudly wearing our “We saw Naples Airport and didn’t die” badges we made our escape from this proud gateway, but in dread of the thought that we had to come back through it in another week.

This is the spin on the airport website which promises happiness in the future:

" GESAC, the Naples International Airport Management Company, is committed to an important programme of airport development. By December 2008, new infrastructure will be completed which will make Naples airport more functional, safe and efficient."

Dammed with their own faint praise then that the current set up is not particularly functional, safe or efficient. Time will tell but let me tell you - the current crew are part of the problem with their years of experience of managing chaos and failure. Don't just replace the buildings!!

Down to Earth at Heathrow?

The crash landing of the British Airways flight BA038 from Beijing on the 17th January 2008 at London Heathrow Airport has elicited praise for the crew for landing the plane, which appears to have lost power two miles out, safely with no loss of life and miraculously, no major injuries. All 136 passengers and 16 crew on the flight from Beijing survived - one person suffered a broken leg and others received minor injuries during the emergency evacuation.

The plane was being flown for its landing approach by First Officer John Coward, who was credited by his captain, Peter Burkill, for averting a major crash, said he was humbled by people calling him a hero, but said: "I was only doing my job. The crew, the passengers, and everybody else acted heroically. Flying is definitely all about teamwork and that is what we all displayed," he added. Earlier Captain Burkill said Mr Coward had done a "most remarkable job" in landing the aircraft. He also praised all the crew for showing "the highest standards of skill and professionalism".

An initial report into the crash-landing by the Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) found the jet's engines failed to respond to demands for increased thrust from the crew two miles from touchdown. The AAIB is now investigating "the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation", and a more detailed analysis of the flight recorder is also taking place. The results of the investigations are expected within 30 days.

At a press conference at their headquarters near Heathrow Airport British Airways played up and lauded their crew’s professionalism in landing the plane and pointed out the excellent safety record of the Boeing 777 long distance twin jet. The Irish Chief executive of BA (And former MD of Aer Lingus) Willie Walsh said he was "very proud" of the crew and the Boeing 777 was an "excellent aircraft. We train hard for incidents such as this, and all that training has paid off today,"

There is of course a certain problem to all this elation, as pointed out by industry safety experts. Commentators have pointed out that if the engines had failed 30 seconds earlier the plane would have crash landed on the busy A30 approach road where Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s convoy was travelling to (coincidentally) take a BA plane to Beijing. It had failed a minute earlier the plane would have crashed over densely populated West London. This has added a certain frisson to the debate about expanding Heathrow and the application by Heathrow’s owners BAA (Owned by Ferrovial, a highly indebted Spanish brick making company) to build a 3rd. runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow. This is opposed by all the Local Authorities in the area and the four candidates for Mayor of London. One of the reasons they are opposing it is that Heathrow is something of a planning disaster for it is built in the wrong place as the approaches are over London with all the attendant safety risks and environmental pollution. When I lived (for a short while) on the Great West Road near Heathrow the houses had triple glazing fitted for sound insulation and sound baffle ventilation boxes for the same reason. When walking outside the smell of “paraffin” was prevalent in the air for when planes are slowly approaching for landing jet engines are at their most inefficient and dirtiest at burning fuel. It is estimated that the homes of 1.5 million Londoners are blighted by noise pollution from Heathrow. If London’s main airport had been built to the east on the Thames estuary the approaches would have been over the sea, not the metropolis, and there would have been plenty of room for further expansion.

Now the uncomfortable problem which needs to be faced by British Airways, Boeing and potentially the well funded lobby of vested interests supporting Heathrow’s expansion is this;

The probability of an accidental simultaneous shutdown of two engines on a modern twin jet due to mechanical problems is virtually zero due to both the reliability of modern wide-fan jet engines and the duplication of control systems. Therefore it is virtually certain that the shutdown of the two engines was in response to “command”. The issue the Air Accident Investigations Branch will now need to establish is was that “command” from the onboard computers or from the crew?

Either way the conclusion will be uncomfortable for British Airways, Boeing and an aviation industry which has promoted Extended Twin-Jet Operations (ETOPS). It will also be uncomfortable for supporters of Heathrow expansion and support opponents who have said that having approaches over densely populated urban areas is a disaster waiting to happen.

For those looking for light relief in this serious issue the British Press, as always, delivers the goods. They door stepped a neighbour of BA Captain Peter Burkill for some background on the hero of the moment and he described him as being “Very down to earth”. In the circumstances it is hard to argue with this description!