3.13.1 Description
Introduction of short, low capacity, feeder flights from areas that are currently only accessible to an international airport only with tortuous and time consuming journeys by land or sea. Strictly speaking, given the scope of INTERCONNECT, we are concerned here only with feeder flights of up to about 100 kms but, in practice, some might be rather longer.
3.13.2 Problems Addressed
3.13.3 Applicability
Where communities are currently only accessible with car journeys of four hours or more and are sufficiently large to support at the very least one weekly flight. Examples might include offshore islands and other isolated communities with no good quality road links.
3.13.4 Performance
Cost In most cases, a landing strip will need to be built (an exception is for instance Barra airport in Scotland, which uses the beach as landing strip) and maintained. The ongoing costs for the hire of aircraft and crew will depend on the size of the aircraft and frequency of the service but could start at around €2,000 for a return flight. Therefore even the introduction of only one weekly flight will cost at the very least €500,000 over five years, even where no landing strip needs to be built.
Technical feasibility A landing strip for a small aircraft can be built practically anywhere.
Financial feasibility Operations for very small passenger numbers are likely to need subsidies (e.g. under Public Service Obligations - PSOs). Operations from about 10 passengers upwards can be self-financing, but the fares would need to be higher the lower the passenger numbers are. Around €150 is being charged for al return flight on the 230 km long PSO route between Glasgow and Barra on an aircraft for 18 passengers – this is not financially viable. It should be noted, however, that these flights are unlikely to serve only as feeder flights, many of the potential passengers would have the town which houses the international airport, as their final destination. These “additional” passengers would, of course, contribute to the revenue.
Organisational feasibility No problems foreseen. Acceptance by users Depends on price.
Other aspects of political acceptability Environmental concerns might be raised – although the carbon footprint of a fully loaded small aircraft lies in the same order of magnitude as the equivalent car journey that would be undertaken by all its passengers. Representatives of the communities linked to the major airports will tend to be enthusiastic.
Impact on users’ door to door travel time The time saving will generally be very significant and can amount to several hours.
Impact on users’ door to door travel cost This depends entirely on the airfare and the number of passengers per car. Assuming a running cost of 40 cent per kilometre for an average car, a 230 km round trip would cost €184, which is higher than the airfare quoted for Glasgow-Barra above. However, if more than one person travels in one car, or if luggage also needs to be transported, the costs per passenger would be much lower than for the flights.
Initial impact on comfort or convenience A short flight is clearly much more convenient and comfortable than a long car journey.
Users’ safety Flying is generally safer than driving by car. Flying small aircraft, of course, carries a greater accident risk than large commercial ones, but equally driving on what are likely to be narrow, winding and relatively poorly maintained country roads constitutes an above average risk.
Personal security A car break-down in a remote area can be a substantial security risk, so feeder flights would improve personal security considerably.
Access for people with reduced mobility Will make a considerable difference for people who find long journeys physically tiring.
3.13.5 Other Impacts
Compared to the situation ex-ante, the provision of feeder flights is likely to increase the perceived accessibility of the “remote” region concerned. Increased accessibility could increase trip numbers as well as increasing employment opportunities for people living in remote areas.
Since the carbon footprint of a fully loaded small aircraft lies in the same order of magnitude as the equivalent from car journeys of all its passengers, no significant effect on GHG is envisaged but, if the aircraft is not fully loaded or net effect is to increase trip numbers, some increase in GHG would occur.
3.13.6 Examples
There are many examples in the less populated regions of Europe, for instance flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Campbeltown, Islay, Tiree, Barra, Benbecula, Kirkwall and Wick, or in Finland flights from Tampere to about 20 small location destinations. A useful overview of all PSO routes within the EU has been produced47.
4 IMPROVEMENTS AT THE INTERCHANGE
4.0
I
NTRODUCTIONThis group of solutions addresses problems experienced at the modal interchange point (e.g. within airports or at major rail stations or ports). It includes improvements to infrastructure which will facilitate movement within the interchange facility, design details which should make movement easier and quicker, and other interventions designed to make the time spent within the interchange more pleasant or productive. Note, however, that solutions involving improvements to the provision of information are to be found in Section 7.
Some of the solutions in this section, e.g. car parks and traveller facilities, may generate revenues but most do not – except indirectly in so far as they might contribute to the attractiveness of the interchange. Their financial feasibility may thus be an issue.
Stakeholders thought that Solution 4.2 had particularly high potential to improve interconnectivity and was likely to yield the highest benefit/cost ratio.
The performance of these solutions is summarised in Table 1.3 and a more detailed description of each solution is presented below.