Greg Hands MP: Why do we fly 1,000 planes a day over London?

Greg Hands, MP for Fulham & Hammersmith, asks why Heathrow is one of the very few cities which have so many planes flying over hundreds of thousands of people, on their way to the country’s largest airports.  There was a recent interview, in the BA in-flight magazine, in which a pilot said:  ‘I always enjoy flying over London, because there are so few approaches over cities’. Greg Hands questions not only the noise implications, but also safety – everyone was recently reminded of the problem when the BA jet with one of its engines in flames was routed directly over London – including Chelsea, Fulham and Hammersmith. Greg says: “Thankfully, it made it back to the airport and nobody was hurt, but it again begs the question: why do we fly more than 1,000 planes a day over London?”

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Greg Hands MP: Why do we fly 1,000 planes a day over London?

Greg Hands, MP for Fulham & Chelsea offers his thoughts on aircraft noise in this week’s Constituency Matters.

13.6.2013 (Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle)

On a recent British Airways flight to Heathrow I was surprised to see in the airline’s High Life magazine an interview with one of the pilots, who said that, ‘I always enjoy flying over London, because there are so few approaches over cities’.

I wouldn’t want to deprive anyone of their enjoyment, but there is something quite significant in this statement. A very frequent flyer is pointing out that planes normally land at airports (most of which are on the edge of cities, like ours is) by coming in over the countryside, not over the city itself.

Heathrow is in a very unusual location. Due to the prevailing westerly winds, planes need to fly in from the east, over the city. Hence, London suffers far more from aircraft noise than almost any other major city. Indeed, nearly a third of the victims of aircraft noise in the whole of Europe live near Heathrow. But there is not only the issue of aircraft noise, we must also consider how safe it is for so many planes to fly over the centre of one of the world’s largest cities.

Last month, a BA jet with one of its engines in flames was routed directly over Chelsea, Fulham and Hammersmith. Thankfully, it made it back to the airport and nobody was hurt, but it again begs the question: why do we fly more than 1,000 planes a day over London?

All of these are factors which should be considered by the Davies Commission, which is looking at the whole issue of airport capacity in the south east, on behalf of the government. I remain opposed to the expansion of Heathrow Airport. I would welcome the views of Chronicle readers on the future of Heathrow Airport.
Please email me at mail@greghands.com or write to me at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/views-and-blogs/constituency-matters/2013/06/13/greg-hands-mp-why-do-we-fly-1-000-planes-a-day-over-london-82029-33468005/
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I don’t think Fulham and Chelsea were included in the Populus poll (purporting to show Londoners in various boroughs favour Heathrow expansion) either !
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Greg Hands has said in the past that he is steadfastly opposed to Heathrow expansion.
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Earlier comment by Greg Hands about Heathrow:

Heathrow complaints unit too busy to deal with complaints

October 21st, 2012

Heathrow Airport’s noise complaints unit are so inundated that they have given up providing individual responses to disgruntled residents.

Theresa Gruber, Community Communications Manager at Heathrow Airport Ltd, emailed an H&F resident, who was complaining about increased aircraft noise last month, to say: “Thank you for your email and I hope this finds you well. Unfortunately due to the high volume of complaints we are receiving at the moment, we are currently unable to provide detailed individual responses. We aspire to providing individual responses in future.”

The revelation comes as H&F residents, concerned about disruptive aircraft noise at Heathrow, are being invited to a public hearing in November.

Senior executives from the airport’s owners, BAA, will attend Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council’s Transport Select Committee on November 6th to answer questions about BAA’s trial of new runway rules.

Complaints about BAA’s ‘operational freedoms trial’ – which allows the airport operator to use runways simultaneously under certain circumstances – are soaring in H&F, according to the council.

Fulham resident Carolyn Smyth said: “Since just before the end of July the incoming aeroplane noise has been horrendous. The flights are continuous so as the terrible scream of one flight is beginning to slightly fade the next one follows on. I have never experienced flight noise to this extent and it is unbearable on both sides of my house.”

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, H&F Cabinet Member for Transport & Technical Services, said: “Residents’ complaints over aircraft noise have overwhelmed Heathrow’s complaints department to the point where they can no longer function properly. BAA should not try to ignore this massive groundswell of opinion as, if this trial were to become permanent, residents could be subjected to intolerable disruption forever.

“We now need to get more detailed answers from BAA about what has gone wrong with their trial at our public scrutiny meeting.”

Chelsea & Fulham M.P., Greg Hands, added: “As residents know, I am strongly against any third runway at Heathrow, and against night flights to Heathrow. Nearly a third of the victims of aircraft noise in the whole of Europe live in the vicinity of Heathrow. If the airport cannot deal properly with noise complaints from its existing operations, what hope is there that it could do better with a larger operation?”

Cheryl Monk, BAA’s Head of Community Engagement, and Tim Hardy, BAA’s Director of Airside, will give a presentation on the Operational Freedoms trial followed by a question and answer session with Transport Select Committee councillors and residents.

The public meeting, which will focus solely on the operational freedoms trial at Heathrow, starts at 7pm at Hammersmith Town Hall on Tuesday, 6th November.

Residents, who are disturbed by aircraft noise, should respond directly to BAA so that concerns are formally logged in their consultation. Visit www.heathrowairport.com/noise or call 0800 344 844 or emailnoise_complaints@baa.com.

Link to cached copy of story above

www.­greghands.­com/­news/­heathrow-­complaints-­unit-­too-­busy-­deal-­complaints