Headlines: Million pounds cost of lost BAS air link; Councillors in New York.
Million pounds cost of lost BAS air linkTHE BRITISH Antarctic Survey (BAS) has announced that all their aircraft operations to Antarctica will now go through Punta Arenas, Chile, following the recent decision by the Falkland Islands Government to limit the use of the Stanley Airport to small aircraft , (See PN June 6)Head of Public Relations for BAS, Linda Capper MBE, told that the BAS Dash 7 aircraft cannot use Mount Pleasant Airfield with a meaningful Antarctic payload, unless Stanley is available for diversion landings: "Consequently, for the 2008/09 season, all BAS aircraft operations to and from Antarctica are now planned to go through Punta Arenas.
"For associated logistic reason, a number of BAS ship calls will be transferred from the Falkland Islands to Punta Arenas," she said.
Some callers to Penguin Newsfear this last as the sting in the tail which may contain the threat that in the future, a total withdrawal of BAS operations from the Falklands will follow.
The visits of the BAS ships to Stanley, like the visits of the smaller expedition ships before the Argentine charter flight ban, bring with them numerous revenue opportunities for local suppliers of everything from accommodation to transportation, fuel oil to wellington boots.
Tim Miller of Stanley Growers and former President of the Falklands Chamber of Commerce, said, "an awful lot of people are going to take a nasty hit," and estimates that the drop in turnover of his company alone could be in the region of £25,000 to £30,000.
From Cambridge, the British Antarctic Survey told Penguin News, that they estimate that BAS expenditure in the Falklands is likely to reduce by between £1million and £1.5million a year, depending on the actual number of ship calls in future. This spends covers items such as accommodation, fuel, transport and victual ling. The figure excludes the personal spending by the 400 or so people that BAS traditionally moves through Stanley each year - the number of people that BAS transits through the Falklands is expected to drop by some 75%."
Asked for clarification of the reasons behind the ExCo decision, Airport Manager, Bruce Wilks replied that it is the size of the aircraft that operate at an airport which determines what category of Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) is required.
At present, Mr. Wilks explained, the airport maintains Category 2 RFFS, adequate for the FIGAS Islanders, but inadequate for the Dash 7, which according to Mr. Wilks, reading of the regulations, requires category 5.
This latter assumption is challenged by former Director of Civil Aviation, Gerald Cheek, who points out that the regulations apply to scheduled commercial passenger aircraft and that in Antarctica, the Dash 7 lands on strips that are barely Category 2.
As further evidence of this exemption, Mr. Cheek points out that quite sizeable private jets carrying jockeys, pop stars and tycoons, land on remote airstrips, throughout Britain and the USA without restriction.
While not putting a figure on the cost of up-grading Stanley Airport's fire-fighting capability, Mr. Wilks explained that Category5 RFFS would require a larger appliance and two more aviation trained fire fighters.
The cost difference between meeting Category 2 and Category 5 RFFS would be significant, said Mr. Wilks and there would be substantial on-going costs involved in maintaining it.
While this is not disputed, the question that a number of callers to Penguin Newsare asking is, "What do the Falkland Islands stand to lose by this decision?"
Saying, "It's news to me," the councillor with the Transport Portfolio, John Birmingham, could not comment on the BAS decision. There had been, he said, no official approach to FIG from BAS that he was aware of.
Cllr. Birmingham refused to be drawn on whether the possibility of such a move by BAS had been considered by FIG and would say simply that, "the reason behind the downgrading of the airport was because of the usage and the cost of maintaining to a Category 5."
Perhaps the final comment should be left to Myriam Booth, who recently retired after working for BAS for 43 years and personifies the strong personal and historical links that exist between the Falklands and BAS. "It's very sad that it has come to this," she said. Councillors in New YorkANYONE who regards travelling abroad to represent the Falklands as a "jolly" has clearly never tried it. That's the view of Councillor Richard Stevens, recently returned from speaking to the United Nations C24 Committee in New York with colleague, Cllr Janet Robertson.
With bad weather delaying their flight out of the Falklands by two days and after an eleven hour flight from Santiago, the Falklands team finally arrived at their New York hotel at 8am on Wednesday morning, only to discover that their rooms had been given away.
Fortunately, the Falklands' councillors were allowed to use the showers and toilets in the hotel's fitness suite to freshen up, before going straight out to begin a long day of bilateral talks with the delegates of other countries.
According to Cllr Stevens, the bilateral talks with other countries' delegates offer the best opportunity to deliver key messages about the present day Falklands, but because of travel delays, their programme had to be condensed to very intensive thirty minute slots.
Wednesday ended at 10pm after another opportunity to make influential friends for the Falklands: a reception held in the residence of the British Deputy Head of Mission, attended by representatives of some thirty other nations, including Chile, France and Russia.
The De-colonisation Committee of 24 session began around 10 am on Thursday and carried on into the afternoon, with, says Cllr Stevens, no opportunity for debate.
The Argentine delegates deliver their prepared speeches after the Falklands representatives, who then have to endure speeches in support of the Argentine claim from the whole of Latin America - a galling experience says Cllr Stevens.
Once the Latin American bloc has had its say, some countries begin to talk about the general issue of self-determination and finally, towards the end, others, like Sierra Leone this year, vigorously support the Falklands' cause.
BAS De Havilland Dash 7 at work in Antarctica 
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesCommenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!