Noise News
Below are links to stories about noise in relation to airports and aviation.
In Bangalore and in Delhi there are problems with opposition by residents to aircraft noise
As the debate on aircraft noise affecting people staying close to airports gathers momentum in India, the Indian newspaper, The Hindu, prints an interview with Dr M. L. Munjal, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and head of the National Committee on Noise Pollution Control, who outlines the various issues involved. He says there are more people affected by aircraft noise near airports, as more people live close to them. It is necessary to plan better, to take account of the noise airports will create. Precautions need to be taken to see that the living communities did not get too close to airports, and the areas that will have most aircraft noise should be taken into account better by planners in a city's master-plan, eg. the Delhi Development Authority master plan. IDesigning for quietness is the most cost-effective way of finding a solution. He hopes India will learn from the mistakes made earlier by other countries that developed their airline industries before India. In March 2011, the Delhi High Court ruled that sound sleep is a fundamental right of citizens.
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easyJet changes Gatwick flights to take off more steeply above East Grinstead to cut noise
easyJet has agreed to changes so flights taking off from Gatwick in an easterly direction will climb at a sharper incline than before, and climb higher much faster. This is after East Grinstead town council intervention. The change will reduce noise levels on the ground in the north east of East Grinstead. Complaints there about aircraft noise had risen by 500%, with 2,000 households in the Imberhorne suffering from early morning and late evening noise disturbance. It appears that easyJet was flying at a lower altitude over East Grinstead than other airlines.
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More breaches of night noise limits at Leeds Bradford by Pakistan International Airlines
Pakistan International Airlines has breached night-time flying rules at Leeds-Bradford Airport. It has had 8 breaches of night-time rules in the last year. It is now being asked by Leeds City Council to give a formal commitment to introduce quieter planes, and timescale for doing so. Two years ago the Council served a breach of condition notice on the airport after warning that further contraventions by Pakinstan Airlines would not be tolerated. Improvements were made, but there are still breaches. Councillors agreed to support the approach of continued dialogue rather than formal action at this stage. At Leeds Bradford there is a restriction of planes at night that have a noise quota count greater than 1. LBIA is reviewing the designated night-time quota period of 2300—0700 as it wants to make the night period shorter, from 2330-0600.
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Emirates keen on changing 3 degree approach slope to 5.5 degrees, to allow A380s to land at Heathrow part of the night
Giving evidence at the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, on aviation strategy, two senior staff from NATS discussed the idea of perhaps introducing a steeper approach angle for planes coming into Heathrow. At present, all airlines come in at a 3 degree angle, but at London City airport, planes approach at 5.5 degrees. However, many planes such as A380s would need to level out to a 3 degree slope some 6 miles or so from touchdown, so there would be no change for people living very close to the airport. There would be a small reduction in noise for those living from around 15 to 6 miles (approx distances) from the airport. This idea has been suggested by Emirates, as a way to be able to land more of their A380s at Heathrow and to land them until 1am each night and again from 4am. This would not be acceptable to most London residents being overflown. Andrew Haines, the chief executive of the UK CAA, told the hearing that although the idea went against the grain of international convention, “the idea ‘certainly had merit’ and that it was ‘definitely worth looking at’.
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Thames Estuary airport could mean planes taking off over Central London, NATS tells Transport Select Committee
Speaking at an evidence session of the Commons Transport Select Committee, on Aviation Strategy, Simon Hocquard, Operational Strategy & Deployment Director, NATS, said that as the prevailing wind in the south east of England is from the west, for some 75% of the time planes taking off from an estuary airport would fly, heavy and relatively low, over London. They could be persuaded to fly around London, to avoid subjecting London residents to the noise, but this would increase cost to the airlines, fuel burn and carbon emissions. He also said that a 4 runway estuary airport would have difficulty working in conjunction with other existing south east airports, but the actual problems, noise etc had not yet been modelled, and NATS had not yet been asked to model these issue. The Committee also heard from Richard Deakin about the possibilities of aircraft approaching airports at a 5.5 degree angle, till some 5 - 6 miles or so from the airport, and then reverting to the usual 3 degrees descent. This would limit noise for those further from the airport, but not for those living under the final miles of approach.
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Heathrow begins trial of noise relief zones for early morning flights
About 17 flights arrive at Heathrow each morning between 04:30 and 06:00. Heathrow is now starting a 5 month trial, the Early Morning Noise Respite Trial, to fly these flights on more defined flight paths, at the beginning of their approach, to give residents respite from noise. The aim is to protect people in dedicated areas from unpredictable aircraft noise between 04:30 and 06:00. Normally the flight paths into the airport are spread across London. The trial will define 2 zones over each trial area - 2 to the east and 2 to the west. Each zone will take turns to be active on a weekly basis. The areas covered are Vauxhall, Wandsworth, Battersea, Clapham Common, Westminster, Bermondsey, Streatham, Binfield, Reading, Purley-on-Thames and Winnersh. The scheme is a partnership between Heathrow, BA, NATS and HACAN.
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Update from Richmond Heathrow Campaign on the Operational Freedoms trial
The Operational Freedom Trials have caused a great deal of concern among residents under areas of London under Heathrow flight paths over the last few months. The Richmond Heathrow Campaign is helping its local residents to understand the issues, and send in complaints if necessary. They give details of who to complain, and where to. On 1st November, Heathrow Airport Limited announced that 2 further elements of the trials will not now take place. These are Operational Freedom 2 – Re-directing departing aircraft, which would have allowed aircraft to be redirected from their route sooner after take-off, increasing capacity when both runways were in use for take-offs. Also Operational Freedom 3 – landing inbound aircraft without holding, which would have decreased the number of flights arriving before 5:00 am, but increased the number arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 am as airlines determined it to be impractical. Around 16 landings per night are allowed, which normally arrive between 4:30 am and 6:00 am. The Richmond campaign's position is that flights between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am should end immediately.
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Stop Stansted Expansion calls for an end to night flights over an 8 hour period, not 6½ hours
On the eve of next Saturday’s European Day of Action Against Night Flights (November 24), Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has renewed its call for a total ban on night flights. Stansted is currently permitted by the Government to handle up to 12,000 night flights a year, between 11.30pm and 6.00am. This is more than double the number of night flights permitted at Heathrow (5,800) even though Heathrow is four times bigger than Stansted. Stansted’s rural location means the impact of aircraft noise on local residents trying to sleep is worse than at Heathrow because rural ambient noise levels at night are so much lower than in a city. Stansted has 24 hour BA cargo flights, using noisy ‘Super Jumbo’ Boeing 747-8 cargo aircraft are only based at Stansted because they are not allowed to be based at Heathrow. A report in 2011 showed the scale of the economic savings that would be made at Heathrow if night flights were stopped, due to the costs of sleep disturbance and stress caused by night flight noise - and the same logic applies to Stansted. Tired workers are less healthy and productive. "The impact of night flight noise has been consistently underestimated and it’s time for the Government to set down a firm timetable for ending the misery of night flights.”
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Gatwick campaign, GACC, says “in a civilised world there would be no night flights”
The Government is due to publish within the coming month a consultation on the future of night flights at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted. At their recent AGM, GACC members expressed support for people across Europe who are holding a ‘day of action’ against night flights on 24th November. At Gatwick there is a quota for the number of planes allowed to land at night, and a separate quota for the number of noise points. Under pressure from GACC the noise point quota has been steadily reduced over the past 20 years. There are about 50 flights each night in summer at Gatwick, more than at any other UK airport except East Midlands. But the night noise is lower than at Heathrow – because the aircraft are on average smaller. GACC will now be asking for both quotas to be reduced. The new aviation White Paper - which will be produced in spring 2013 - should recognise the desirability of reducing the number of night flights. GACC is opposed to a ‘respite period’ in the middle of the night if that meant more flights at the beginning and end of the night.
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Saturday 24th November: European Day of Action against Night Flights – Pyjama Photocall under the Heathrow Flight path
On 24th November Heathrow campaigners staged an event in Hounslow (Lampton Park) as part of the European Day of Action against Night Flights. People whose lives are badly affected by disturbed sleep from night flights got together to say "Ban Night Flights" - with a colourful display of banners, pillows, duvets, dressing gowns, slippers, nightwear, and hot water bottles. The UK Government is expected to consult next month on a new night flight regime for the three designated airports – Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick. The current agreement with the airlines runs out in October 2014. Night flights are hated across Europe and demonstrators across Europe are also calling for the widely hated night flights to be banned. Events were staged in Belgium, Italy and across Germany. This day of action is expected to mark the start of a Europe-wide campaign to get them banned.