Noise News
Below are links to stories about noise in relation to airports and aviation.
Heathrow resurfacing work on southern runway all summer means more noise for Kew and Barnes
Due to works to resurface Heathrow's southern runway, all night flights will be landing on the northern runway. This will mean flight paths at night will be directly over Kew and Barnes – between 10.30pm and 6am, for most of this summer from early March until the end of October. Heathrow says they need to carry out the resurfacing, and this has to be done about every 10 years. They say this has to be done at night, as the airport is so busy during the day. There is no increase in the overall number of flights but it does unfortunately mean people under the northern runway flight path will have more noise during the early morning whilst those near the southern runway will have less. Leader of Richmond Council, Lord True, who has arranged for a borough-wide ballot on Heathrow expansion to take place in May, said anyone disturbed by night flights should protest. People want most night flights to be stopped during the resurfacing, rather than having to endure the ordeal of weeks or months of broken sleep, with 4.30am wake up calls and insufferable noise.
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Bed protest. Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire residents call for a cut in Luton airport night flights
A group of protestors arrived at Luton Borough Council on 15th February to deliver a bed signed by people who are fed up with night noise from Luton Airport. The BANN (Beds Against Night Noise) protest was given good media coverage and made the point that it’s not only Hertfordshire which suffers noise and disturbance – plenty of residents in Bedfordshire are also woken up by late night arrivals, cargo planes and early morning departures. One of the protesters said the PR spin in Luton airport's Master Plan claimed they would ”consult” the public, and they were taking noise seriously by adding 6 new noise mitigations. However, those so-called mitigations would only affect a fraction of 1% of the total flights – and Luton plans to double night flights between 10pm and midnight and start the morning departure rush at 5am, which is utterly unacceptable. Local people are now demanding that there is legislation to control night flights at Luton in the same way as at other London airports. There is currently a petition to significantly reduce night flights at Luton, not increase them.
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Noise problems for some south east London residents from night noise trial
Heathrow Airport is currently running a trial, to see whether giving residents in one block of airspace in south east London, between 11.30pm and 6am, for some weeks, makes a difference. The trial is intended to give respite from night flights to one area for a week, with the planes then being directed over that area for another week. So people get a week off from the night disturbance. However, some of planes have been flying a route between the blocks of airspace, so residents there have been suffering more night noise than usual, while others have had less. There have been many complaints from Brockley, an area between Lewisham and Greenwich, and Assembly Member Darren Johnson has taken an interest in the issue. This trial ends in March. This is a quite different trial to the Operational Freedoms trials at Heathrow, looking into use of a different runway in order to reduce delays when there are specific problems. The Operational Freedoms trials are ending a month earlier than intended, on 28th February.
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Mixed-mode at Heathrow not likely – “means a lot of pain for not much gain”
Heathrow Airport has dropped its support for mixed-mode. The Times reports that Heathrow is not likely to be able to greatly increase the number of flights using the airport, by bringing in more mixed-mode (where planes both land and take off on the same runway). At present, one runway is used solely for take-offs and the other for landings. The roles are swapped at 3pm each day, to give residents who are over flown some respite from noise. It is thought that in its submission to the Airports Commission, Heathrow will say that even though mixed-mode could increase capacity by some 10%, it would be more trouble than it is worth and there would be a huge public backlash. Ministers had hoped that Heathrow would introduce “mixed-mode” arrangements to boost flight numbers as an interim measure. Heathrow would require a planning inquiry to increase the cap of 480,000 flights a year. That could take 3 years, even judicial review. It would also need up to 2 years to build new taxiing routes to and from terminals, to use mixed-mode.
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Luton airport planning application would increase night flights (11pm to 7am) by 50%
Local campaign group HALE (Hertfordshire Against Luton Expansion) says that Luton Airport’s expansion plans are based on projections to increase flights at night by 50%. This is based on information in the airport’s planning application which shows that the number of take-offs and landings between 11pm and 7am is projected to rise to 52 by 2028, compared to 34 in 2011. HALE points out that this is just the average figure – during the summer peak there could be as many as 80 flights each night. There is a public consultation on the application until 18th February. HALE is urging people to respond to this planning application by demanding that Luton Borough Council forces its Airport to reduce, not increase, night flights; to monitor and fine night arrivals as well as night departures; and to install a noise monitor on the approach to runway 08 for the purpose.
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DfT night flight proposals might cut noise misery for thousands under Heathrow flight paths
The DfT has launched its consultation on the new night flight regime. The intention is partly to examine what could be done to make life easier for residents near Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - while not unduly affecting the airlines. Heathrow has a much larger noise problem than the other two airports, due to the number of flights, the geography of their flight paths, and the sheer numbers overflown. There is also the problem that the planes that come in at night - some 16 per night between 11.30pm and 6am are from long haul destinations, and are larger, heavier and noisier planes than those for short haul European destinations. There are also around 60 flights per night at Heathrow between 6 - 7am. The consultation proposes a range of measures to cut the noise nuisance, such as requiring aircraft to have a steeper angle of descent into the airport than the current 3 degrees. Another proposal is to reduce the proportion of flights landing from the east from the current 70%, which could lead to an estimated 110,000 people experiencing less noise as a result, thought another 15,000 people would face more disruption.
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Operational freedoms trial at Heathrow to end a month early, on 28th February
Operational Freedom trials at Heathrow started in November 2011 and ended in February 2012. The second phase of the trial started in July 2012 and due to go on until the end of March 2013. In November 2012, BAA announced that two parts of the trails would not take place (Phase 2, Operational Freedoms 2 and 3 – about delaying flights from 4.30 to 5.00am in exchange for more flights from 5.30am to 6am; and re-directing departing aircraft from their route sooner after take-off). Simon Burns has now announced that the trials will end a month early, on 28 February 2013. Some specific tests scheduled for March will be brought forward into February, which will accommodate the space left behind by the early morning arrivals freedom being inoperable during the trial period. Simon Burns says: "The revised end date will enable the overall analysis of the trial to begin sooner and support the government’s objective, as announced in the Autumn Statement, to bring forward the consultation and final decisions by ministers on whether an operational freedoms regime of some form should be adopted on a more permanent basis at Heathrow."
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Heathrow residents disappointed there is still no night flight ban in the DfT consultation
Commenting on the publication today of the DfT's consultation into a new night flight regime at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, HACAN (the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) said is was disappointed that the Government has still not committed itself to a night flight ban. However, they have welcomed the fact that the Government is prepared to look at measures which could mitigate the noise. These include increasing the angle of descent on approach; guaranteed respite periods; changing the existing scheduling or operating bans which affect the noisiest aircraft types. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN, which represents residents under the Heathrow flight paths, said: “We are very clear that we want a ban on night flights before 6 o’clock and a progressive reduction between 6am and 7am. Many people under the Heathrow flight paths don’t need an alarm clock; the first plane wakes them at 4.30 am.”
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DfT announces start of 3 month consultation on night flight regime at Heathrow, Gatwick & Stansted
The government has begun a 3 month consultation into night flights at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports. It is calling for views and evidence on "the effectiveness of the current regime, the costs and benefits of future options and airlines' fleet replacement plans". The consultation closes on 22nd April 2013. Transport Minister Simon Burns says: "This consultation includes a review of current evidence on the costs of night flights, particularly noise, and the benefits of these flights. It sets out our thinking on how we would expect to appraise the policy options for the next night flights regime." The government will publish the 2nd consultation later this year. It will include specific proposals for the new regime, such as the number of permitted night flights. The proposals in the 2nd consultation will be informed by the evidence received from this 1st stage consultation. The Dft says it aims to strike "a fair balance between the interests of those affected by the noise disturbance and those of the airports, passengers and the UK economy."
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Stansted to be sold for £1.5bn to Manchester Airports Group
Manchester Airports Group has won the bidding process to buy Stansted, at £1.5 billion - higher than commentators though the price would be, when bidding closed two days ago. MAG will now own Stansted, Manchester, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports. Heathrow Airport Holdings, will retain only 4 UK airports compared with its original 7 - Heathrow, Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen. The sale is expected to close by the end of February. MAG also includes the commercial property company, MAG Developments, which has a £350m portfolio across its existing 3 airports and is leading the £650m Enterprise Zone development, Airport City, at Manchester. MAG also runs businesses in car parking, airport security, firefighting, engineering, advertising and motor transport. As part of the transaction, Australian infrastructure investment group Industry Funds Management (IFM) will become an investor in MAG, invest new equity and take a 35.5% stake in the enlarged group. Gatwick sold for £1.51 billion and Edinburgh sold for £807 million.