Aberdeen Airport Blog

Aberdeen ‘delighted’ with bus link

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:20:11 BST

From August 16, travellers using Aberdeen Airport will be able to take advantage of a new bus service, designed to improve transport links between the Scottish hub and the city centre.

The route will be operated by Stagecoach Bluebird between 0.435 and 22.00 every day except Sunday. Local councillors have welcomed the addition, calling the new 727 service a ‘boon to the travelling public.’

Aberdeen councillor, Kevin Stewart, explained that previous city-airport bus routes had been disappointing; in fact, a similar service between Aberdeen and Dyce, where the airport is located, had recently been cancelled.

“I am absolutely delighted with the new service,” Stewart explained. “Buses from the city to the airport have not been the best in the past. I hope that this new service will attract more folk onto the buses.”

Departing every 30 minutes from the Union Square Shopping Centre in Aberdeen, the 727 bus travels direct to the airport, seven miles northwest of the city. The timetable alters slightly on a Sunday, beginning at 06.45, and running every 90 minutes until 21.45.

The bus service arrives as Aberdeen’s cousin, Edinburgh Airport, is exchanging blows with local councillors over its controversial £1 drop-off fee. The two events might appear unrelated, but both are ostensibly traffic calming measures, designed to unclog airport forecourts, and prevent local villages becoming car parks.

Aberdeen has refused to implement a parking levy of its own, perhaps after witnessing the backlash to Edinburgh’s drop-off fee, but the new 727 bus should still be instrumental in removing private vehicles from nearby roads.

Aberdeen refuses drop-off fees

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:57:27 BST

Aberdeen Airport has bucked a growing trend in ‘pay-as-you-stay’ car parks, by declaring that it will not charge a £1 levy on drivers wanting to the use the hub’s drop-off zones. The Scottish site, which is owned by the British Airports Authority (BAA), would have been the third airport in two months to impose the fee on the travelling public.

Newcastle and Edinburgh airports faced heavy criticism when the parking scheme was introduced, with Scottish MP, Gavin Brown, calling the £1 charge, ‘opportunistic’ and ‘particularly mean.’ Drivers in Newcastle claimed to have been ‘ambushed’ with the fee at the airport gate, after advisory signs went unnoticed.

Edinburgh’s new parking policy led some observers to accuse the BAA of profiteering, an allegation that was quickly denied by airport boss, Gordon Dewar – ‘the £1 fee is not mean, as it has been described. It is a modest charge that will allow us to invest in our airport. The alternative is a higher cost to airlines.’

The BAA’s decision not to operate the same policy at Aberdeen suggests that the aviation giant is trying to save face, rather than scrapping it of its own volition. The £1 charge was regarded in the press as a means of preying on people who would otherwise spend nothing at the airport, such as the relatives of travellers.

A spokesperson for Aberdeen Airport has claimed that the BAA had nothing to do with the controversial levy, however, and that all decisions on parking policies were made by the in-house management team. If Glasgow Airport, another BAA hub, hadn't been considering a drop-off fee of its own, Aberdeen’s spirited defence of its owner might have been more convincing.

Strangely, apart from the BAA, the scheme’s biggest supporter in the aviation industry is budget airline, Ryanair. The carrier's bitter rival, EasyJet, recently criticised the £1 levy, which is likely the reason why Ryanair has defied both passengers and airlines in declaring its allegiance to Edinburgh’s new parking policy.

Airport slams 'irresponsible' campaigners

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:32:11 BST

On Friday, nine protestors were convicted of causing a disturbance at Aberdeen Airport. The defendants, all from the Plane Stupid campaign group, were charged with disturbing the peace, and could be sent to prison when sentencing begins in August.

Plane Stupid has busied itself with 'bringing the aviation industry back down to earth' since its creation in 2005. The group claims to favour non-violent direct action, taking inspiration from Nelson Mandela's fight against apartheid and a string of other people that have come to be revered for their courage in the face of adversity.

'If it wasn't for direct action, Mandela would still be in jail. India would still be a British colony and Rosa Park's grandkids would be at the back of the bus,' explains the group's mysterious founder, Barry. Plane Stupid isn't changing the world though – the group offers minor acts of vandalism as a deterrent to building new runways.

The incident at Aberdeen Airport last year was in response to plans by US billionaire, Donald Trump, to build a £750m golf complex near the Scottish city. Protestors broke into the airport during the early hours, scaled the roof of the terminal, and played golf on the taxiway. Bosses claim that around 20 flights were delayed.

Police managed to arrest the campaigners after a constable (wrongly) informed the group's leader that their presence was preventing an air ambulance from reaching its destination. Plane Stupid then went to court on Friday convinced of a legal victory similar to that won by Greenpeace at Kingsnorth Power Station in 2008.

The famous campaign group managed to convince a jury that direct action and minor vandalism could be justified with evidence for accelerating climate change. Plane Stupid used a similar defence in its trial on Friday, but the court was not convinced, and ruled against the nine defendants.

A spokesperson for Aberdeen emphasised that the airport was not taking a stand against climate campaigners, but against individuals and groups who acted 'irresponsibly.'

Helicopters grounded at Aberdeen

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:38:03 BST

Aberdeen Airport, one of many hundreds of sites to have been affected by the fallout of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, was described as ‘eerie’ last week, as passengers were forced to abandon all flights from the Scottish airport.

The news is no longer a surprise – five days of cancellations has hardened the press to further problems, and National Air Traffic Services (NATS) have been issuing further flight bans as a matter of course, regardless of how much the aviation industry complains.

Skies appear to be brightening over the most northern reaches of the UK, but the damage caused by Eyjafjoll’s volcanic tantrums will not become apparent for weeks. The immediate consequences are startling, however.

On Thursday, Aberdeen Airport closed its heliport to airborne traffic, stranding hundreds of platform workers in the terminals and out in the furthest reaches of the North Sea. The heliport at Humberside Airport was similarly affected, after three helicopter companies grounded everything that could fly.

Many platform workers are still waiting for a lift out to the North Sea, and promises of a partial lift of the flight ban in Scotland and Northern Ireland will delight more than a few people when it comes into effect on Tuesday morning.

NATS will allow all mainland airports north of Blackpool and Teesside to reopen at 0700 tomorrow morning. This includes Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Inverness, and Prestwick airports. Island hubs such as Sumburgh Airport on the Shetlands may be restricted until the evening.

A statement on the NATS website was optimistic - ‘assuming there are no further significant ash emissions, we are now looking at a continuously improving situation.’ The decision to reopen English and Welsh airports has not yet been made, however.

Airline sucks up Flyglobespan routes

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:03:20 GMT

Thomas Cook has renewed its commitment to Aberdeen Airport. The airline will add a minimum of six new routes to its summer schedule, flying to destinations in Turkey and Spain from summer 2010.

Aberdeen was rocked by the collapse of Flyglobespan over the festive season – dozens of flights were dissolved overnight, and stranded customers were forced to purchase rescue fares from profiteering airlines, just so that they could get home for Christmas.

Bosses spent the last few days of 2009 hiding under the covers, waiting for a brave airline to rescue the airport from uncertainty.

Despite vehement criticism by Which? magazine, alluding to its archaic methods and belligerent staff, Thomas Cook is a popular airline, and the oldest package holiday company in the UK.

The firm will offer flights to Dalaman and Antalya in Turkey, as well as three routes to Spain – Ibiza, Reus and Palma. Aberdeen is still trying to find a carrier for five dead routes, including Dubrovnik in Croatia, and the ever-popular Benidorm, Spain.

“We are confident that some of the bigger routes – the most popular ones like Tenerife – will find new operators.” Aberdeen remains optimistic about the future, applauding the recent efforts of Thomas Cook to support the airport.

Aberdeen fell foul of the weather in December, recording a 3.5% drop in passenger numbers over the same period last year.

However, the British Airports Authority (BAA) remains confident that the airport will continue to recover from both the global recession, and the loss of Scotland’s first budget airline, Flyglobespan.

Airport builds car park; launches new routes

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:55:23 BST

As expansion fever grips Birmingham, Bristol, and London City Airports, Aberdeen unveils its latest development – a smart new parking deck.

Located close to the airport’s main terminal buildings, the £5m car park was completed in just 14 weeks, having been commissioned in late May 2009.

Kevin Brown, managing director at Aberdeen, was quick to point out that a wealth of time and energy had been earmarked for the planning process, helping contractors complete the build “in record time.”

Mr. Brown went on to boast about the affordability of the two-storey deck, claiming to provide the cheapest airport parking in Scotland. However, with a minimum stay of two days, the facility is unlikely to reduce quick ‘kiss and fly’ drop-offs.

In March a £7.2m refurbishment of the airport’s main runway began in earnest – a goliath task designed to extend the life of the asphalt by as much as 15 years. State-of-the-art lighting was also installed on the runway. Both projects are now nearing completion.

Airport staff have been equally enthusiastic about a new Eastern Airways service to the city of Bergen, Norway. The new route, which is expected to operate six days a week, enters the travel guides in October 2009.

Over the past year, BAA (the British Aviation Authority) has reasserted its commitment to Aberdeen Airport by investing more money in infrastructure improvements than ever before.

Booking for Aberdeen’s new parking deck is available at the BAA airport parking website. Spaces are subject to a minimum stay period (six days for long stay, two days for short stay), and cannot be booked on the day of departure.