Noise News
Below are links to stories about noise in relation to airports and aviation.
Gatwick expansion DCO inquiry begins – and will last for 6 months
The inquiry, by the Planning Inspectorate, into the DCO concerning Gatwick Airport's plan to use its emergency runway for routine flights started with an open session, and many people - both in favour of the plan, and against, allowed a brief time to speak. All those in favour were businesses, or business groups - or people in some way linked to the airport, and hoping its expansion would be good for their business in the short to medium term, and perhaps provide more good jobs. Those against were local councils and local residents who - with passion - put forward the range of negative impacts that the expansion would bring. Those would include the climate impacts of thousands more tonnes of CO2 per year; surface transport impacts; air pollution; noise pollution, especially at night; and social impacts of the pressure on local infrastructure, from many more workers at the airport, and many more air passengers. The inquiry is being held in Crawley, and is due to last six months. The submissions gave the impression that the businesses only looked at possible economic benefits, giving no consideration to local residents, or the environment - in the short or long term.
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Key critic of Farnborough airport silenced by an ASBI, while the airport submits expansion plans
For four years, Colin Shearn, a 62-year-old retired corporate executive, led the Farnborough Noise Group, a watchdog for locals worried about the operations of Farnborough airport, the UK’s busiest private jet airfield. Then, one day in August, police came knocking at his door. They claimed he had conducted an “aggressive and relentless campaign against Farnborough airport” and he was accused of “bombarding” the airport and relevant authorities “with endless questions about air traffic”, while “adopting a belligerent and aggressive style, distorting or misrepresenting a point of view to suit his agenda”. He was issued with an "antisocial behaviour injunction (asbi)" – the successor to the asbo. He was ordered to stop “causing any harassment, alarm or distress, nuisance or annoyance to any person” in Surrey or Hampshire, or face jail or a fine, or both. Just after he was silenced, Farnborough announced that it planned to double weekend flights. Its latest planning application, now submitted to Rushmoor borough council, gives the airport a ceiling of 70,000 flights a year, including 19,000 at weekends, and allows for heavier aircraft to be used.
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Belgian State to pay €6 million plus €20,000 daily fines for misuse of Brussels Airport runway
In yet another development over the never-ending problem of noise pollution around Brussels Airport, the Belgian State has been found guilty of misusing one of the airport’s runways, leading to unnecessary nuisance for the residents of the neighbouring municipalities. According to international standards, Runway 01 at Brussels Airport, which is shorter than others, under specific weather conditions, but a court found that the state allows its use on a regular basis, leading to increased noise around the airport. Thus, 1,400 residents from some neighbouring municipalities have been awarded €6 million in damages, while the State must also pay €20,000 daily fines until the situation is resolved. Earlier this year, Belgian newspaper De Standaard revealed that the State has been paying over €25 million to residents around Brussels Airport in complaints over noise pollution dating back to 2020. Research published recently in Environment International indicates that people living near airports may be slightly more susceptible to heart attacks and related issues, with men aged over 65 worst hit, especially by night flights.
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Luton expansion opposed by Hertfordshire County Council – NO conditions could make it acceptable
Hertfordshire County councillors say they are "vehemently opposed" to plans to increase passenger numbers at Luton Airport – and that NO conditions could make it acceptable. Luton Rising – the owners of the airport – have applied to increase the annual number of air passengers from 19m to 32m a year. The application is currently being examined by the Planning Inspectorate, PINS, as a ‘National Significant Infrastructure Project’. At a council meeting on 12th December, a motion backed by all political parties, pointed to the impact the expansion would have on traffic, on the environment and on noise. It called on PINS to recommend that the application is refused. Due to negative transport, environment and noise impacts, the expansion should be opposed, and was "difficult, if not impossible" to see any planning conditions that would make it ‘acceptable’. One councillor said: “We are in the middle of a climate emergency ... we have got to invest in transport that does not destroy the planet. Aircraft are one of the worst polluting forms of transport there are and we must seek to reduce it and not increase it.”
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St Albans MP, Daisy Cooper: Luton Airport expansion inquiry should be paused
Luton airport has applied to increase its capacity from 18 million to 32 million passengers per year. This expansion would bring both a big increase in flights and road traffic congestion. Local MP, Daisy Cooper, is strongly opposed to it. She says people living underneath the flight paths in St Albans and neighbouring areas already experience a negative impact on their health and wellbeing from noise, which would only get worse. The airport has repeatedly breached their legal noise and passenger limits since 2019 with impunity and the promised introduction of newer, quieter aircraft has been broken with no discernible improvements. She says claims about economic impact and job creation are also pretty spurious. Luton airport has not delivered the jobs it promised years ago. Luton's expansion would make it much harder for the UK to meet climate targets. The 2019 Advice from the government’s own Climate Change Committee is crystal clear: to meet the legally binding 2050 “net zero target” there should be no net expansion of capacity. The UK needs a proper policy on airport capacity, future flight numbers and future aviation carbon emissions. Until then, airport expansion plans should be halted.
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Dutch government scraps plan to cap flights at Schiphol next year
Facing pressure from the US government and the EU, the Dutch government has given up on a plan to cap the maximum number of flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport next summer, calling the decision "a bitter pill". This a win for the airlines, that had opposed the cap - and a loss for environmental and resident groups living near Schiphol that had supported the cap. There is a national election on November 22nd, so the attitude of the next government might differ. The plan to cap the number of flights at Schiphol at around 450,000 flights, or 10% below 2019 levels, had been primarily driven by the desire to cut noise pollution. It had also been cheered by environmentalists as needed to reduce carbon dioxide and NOx emissions. The cuts were starting to hit airlines, having to reduce the number of Schiphol flights, so losing money. So the US government threatened retaliation if the Dutch went ahead with the plan, which the US said violated the US-EU Air Transport Agreement. The cap will now await a Supreme Court ruling and further European Commission feedback expected next year. Airlines said they wanted to "fly more quietly and sustainably" without cutting numbers ....
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Motion passed by London Assembly to protect Richmond Park from increased Heathrow flight paths
A motion has been passed by the London Assembly to protect Richmond Park from increased Heathrow flight paths. The airport submitted proposals for "airspace modernisation" with the aim of making journeys quicker, saving a bit of time. The Friends of Richmond Park has said these proposals could see up to 60,000 arrival flights passing over the park per year. Currently there are no arrival flights, just departures. The Liberal Democrats who put the motion forward have also urged Heathrow to "go back to the drawing board". A Heathrow spokesperson said: "No decisions have been made on which flight path options could be adopted from the recently published shortlist." The Liberal Democrat's transport spokesperson and London Assembly member, Caroline Pidgeon pointed out that thousands of Londoners make their decisions about where to live, based on knowing where flight paths are - and have been for decades - so they can avoid them. "We also know that noise pollution from aircraft can contribute to a range of mental and physical health problems, most often linked to disturbances in our sleep cycles."
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Leeds Bradford Airport to start £100m terminal expansion and refurbishment
Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) has announced it will invest more than £100 million into what it says is a ‘vital’ regeneration of its terminal facilities which will dramatically improve the passenger experience etc. The work, which already has planning permission, will start in autumn this year and is expected to complete in 2026. Farrans Construction has been appointed as the contractor to deliver the first phase of the project, the construction of the terminal extension. The regeneration will see a three-storey extension – the equivalent of 9,500 square meters – to the existing terminal, alongside a significant refurbishment of the current terminal building. There will be more aircraft stands, more seating, faster security, new shops and eateries, and a larger baggage reclaim area and immigration hall, as well as improved access for passengers with restricted mobility. They talk of a lot more jobs, direct and indirect, and claim a huge input into the local economy. That, of course, ignores the amount of money lost to the economy, by far more people flying out of the UK on holiday, than flying in.
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Stansted night flights – how the airport gets far more than its theoretical summer maximum
If you feel that there are more Stansted night flights than ever, you’d be right. Stansted Airport Watch (SAW) has finally been able to establish what’s been happening. Stansted is allowed a maximum of 13,700 flights a year during the 6½-hour core night period from 11.30pm to 6.00am [ the 8 hours from 11.00pm to 7.00am. However, the DfT only restricts the number of night flights during the 6½ hours from 11.30pm and 6.00am.]. That, incidentally, is more than twice the number allowed at Heathrow, so local residents in this part of the world are entitled to feel they have drawn the short straw. And that’s not the whole story. The annual limit of 13,700 night flights is divided into a summer limit of 8,100 and a winter limit of 5,600. The summer period coincides with British Summer Time, and normally lasts for 31 weeks. The local group, Stansted Airport Watch has found that these theoretical levels have been exceeded, partly as unused numbers from earlier periods can be included. Also because of "dispensations" for delayed flights. So Stansted handled over 10,500 night flights last summer without breaching the statutory limit of 8,100.
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People should have their say on Stansted noise – by 28th August
Stansted Airport is currently consulting on its Noise Action Plan (‘NAP’) for the next 5 years. Members of the public are free to comment either on the airport’s proposals or by simply putting forward their own proposals for reducing Stansted's noise impacts. Stansted Airport Watch (‘SAW’) strongly encourages local residents, parish and town councils and others to have their say on the draft Stansted NAP, but time is short because the consultation closes at midnight on Monday 28 August 2023. All major UK airports have a legal duty to produce noise action plans every five years and to consult the public about their proposals for limiting the noise impacts of their operations. SAW's Martin Peached said of the NAP that "it lacks ambition. It contains 50 so-called “actions” but these are generally of a minor issue and many are quite meaningless. All too often Stansted Airport only gives a commitment “to consider”, “to review”, “to monitor” or “to discuss”, and so on. The commitments need to be much more meaningful and more ambitious.” SAW gives details for people wanting to comment about issues such as night flights, reverse thrust on landing and the noisiest planes.