§ 16. Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many responses he has received to his consultative document on the future of air transport in the UK. [105802]
§ Mr. JamiesonWe have received over 100,000 responses (letters and questionnaires) to the consultation from all areas of the UK, and the majority originate from the south-east of England and the midlands.
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§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assumptions were made in the SERAS Air Passenger Forecasting Model in respect of(a) demand transferring to off-peak flights, (b) demand transferring to regional airports and (c) demand transferring to rail, in assessing the consequences for fare levels of a shortfall in airport capacity in the South East; and if he will make a statement. [106217]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe consequences of a shortfall in airport capacity in the South East are an output of the SERAS Air Passenger Forecasting Model, not input assumptions. The model assigns passengers according to their 'least cost' route between the start point of their journey and its end point, as described in the SERAS Stage 2 Methodology Supporting document no 29, "Rules and Modelling." A shortfall in capacity at a specific airport leads to a 'fare premium' to balance demand and supply at that airport. This fare premium is only applied in the model when 'off-peak' flights at the constrained airport have already taken the initial burden of adjustment, so that airport utilisation throughout the day is high. With airport capacity constraints applying in the South East, some traffic with a South East origin is displaced to regional airports, some traffic with a regional origin is clawed back by regional airports, some traffic transfers to other transport modes including rail, and some traffic is suppressed entirely.
§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he gives about the impact on air passengers' and carriers' liability of(a) a war and (b) a terrorist attack. [105275]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe liability of air carriers' is established by international and European law and no further guidance is necessary.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much aviation fuel was consumed by UK civil aviation in the last year for which figures are available, broken down into fuel consumed by(a) domestic and (b) international air travel. [106219]
§ Mr. JamiesonBased on data reported by airlines to the Civil Aviation Authority, it is estimated that UK airlines used 10.2 million tonnes of fuel in 2002. Although such fuel usage is reported as a total it is broadly estimated that about 90 per cent. was expended on international aviation and 10 per cent. on domestic aviation.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what airport development options in the South-East other than those described in The Future of Air Transport in the UK: South East he is considering; if those options will be included in the forthcoming white paper on aviation; and what the consultation arrangements for these options are. [106220]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Government will consider all responses to The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East submitted by 30 June 2003 including any reasonable alternatives to the options for new airport capacity set out in the consultation document. If the Government concluded that any such alternative schemes were superior to the612W options in the consultation document and wished to consider including them in the air transport white paper, there would be a full consultation process.