- government to consult on the impact of night flights at some
of the busiest airports to ensure the negative impacts do not
outweigh the positive benefits they bring
- consultation will seek views on noise objectives relating to
night flights at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
- guidance on the night flight dispensation process will also
be reviewed, considering the increased usage of dispensations in
summer 2022
The government is continuing its review of night flight policy
with a new consultation on the noise
objectives for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports.
The review will ensure that aircraft operations at those airports
are managed, so that the negative impacts of night flying on
local residents do not outweigh the positive benefits they bring
to the wider economy.
Aircraft are becoming quieter as technology advances and we
expect this trend to continue. However, the government recognises
that noise from aircraft taking off and landing at night is often
regarded by communities as the most disturbing form of airport
operations.
Aviation minister said:
There’s no doubt night flights have an effect on local residents
underneath busy flightpaths, but as aircraft become quieter, we
have an opportunity to strike a balance to make sure we can
support the aviation industry without having a debilitating
impact on people’s lives.
This consultation will help us to shape policy and create a
flightpath towards a more sustainable approach to night-time
aviation noise.
Night flights are an important part of operations at airports
around the world and provide significant economic benefit to the
UK, helping keep the flow of people, goods and services moving in
and out of the country and supporting thousands of jobs as a
result.
The 6-week consultation on night-time noise abatement objectives
will allow the government to seek views and evidence from the
industry and communities.
The objectives informed by the consultation will set the
groundwork for future measures on how to manage aviation noise at
night at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from October
2025.
Also published today (27 March 2023) is the government’s revised
overarching aviation noise
policy statement, reaffirming the foundation for noise policy
for the entirety of the aviation sector, no matter the time of
the flight, whether it’s day or night. Through this statement, we
aim to balance the health and wellbeing of communities with the
clear economic and consumer benefits of aviation.
In addition, the guidance used to allow
dispensation for operators to fly night flights will be
looked at in the wake of last summer’s disruption across the
sector. The summer of 2022, was particularly challenging from an
international air traffic control perspective and resulted in an
increase in late-running flights and a corresponding higher
number of night flight dispensations. Such a rise was in stark
contrast to the summers of 2020 and 2021, when the numbers of
dispensations were very low.
Given the number of night flight dispensations allowed during the
early part of last summer, it’s vital to take this additional
evidence into account before publishing any revision to our night
flight dispensation guidance. Updating the dispensation guidance
will form part of the main night flight regime consultation,
which we aim to publish in late 2023.
