Heathrow ‘night flight regime’ sees local MP pushback while Government awaits ‘further evidence’
Local MPs are appealing to Transport Secretary Mark Harper to abandon the ongoing consultation on Heathrow airport's night flights.
Beginning in October 2022, the ongoing consultation is set to end in 2025 – but the UK Government wants to extend the 'night flight regime' for another three years while it "[awaits] further evidence that could support change in the future".
It says the slow recovery of the aviation sector following the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the collection of data on the policy, saying: "We are not in a position to propose any significant change."
"One year was felt to be too short [to gather evidence]," it added.
Going forward, the government has commissioned a study examining the relationship between flight noise and 'sleep disturbance and annoyance', and how this varies throughout the night. According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, annoyance is the most widespread response to plane noise.
A survey to gather data about people's experiences with daytime flight noise is also underway.
Findings from both are expected between 2025 and 2026.
Munira Wilson and Sarah Olney, local Lib Dem MPs for Twickenham and Richmond Park, have cosigned a letter with London Assembly Members Hina Bokhari and Gareth Roberts to the Department for Transport to not extend the consultation – essentially banning night flights.
The letter argues leaving the night flight regime unchanged goes against the department's stated objective "to limit, and where possible reduce, the adverse effects of aviation noise".
It also states "the economic benefit brought by night flights has been significantly overstated in the past," with oft-cited data being flawed and out-dated in a post-pandemic world.
Ms Wilson said: "Noise misery and pollution from Heathrow blights the lives of millions of residents across South West London every day, but it's at night that the worst effects are felt.
"The increased health risks are unacceptable and, indeed, unnecessary. Every resident deserves a good night's sleep".
Meanwhile, Ms Olney has called on Conservative ministers "to review night flight levels next year and take concrete steps to ensure they are reduced once and for all."
What are night flight restrictions?
Since 1993, the UK Government has placed limits on the number of flights and amount of noise produced around airports between 11:30pm and 6am.
Airports can be allowed dispensation for emergency flights; late-running flights due to disruption; VIPs like royals, ministers, or state visits; humanitarian flights; or flights "considered in the national interest," with the consultation report citing EURO 2020 as an example.
Heathrow is currently limited to 5,800 night flights a year, averaging to roughly 16 flights per night. This varies with the season, being higher in summer and lower in winter.
The airport says it doesn't schedule flights between 11:30pm and 4:30am as part of a voluntary agreement, meaning a plane passes overhead approximately every five-and-a-half minutes between 4:30am and 6am.
However local campaign group Stop Heathrow Expansion has disputed this, previously reporting a number of "extremely" late departures after 11:30pm.
What is the government saying?
A report has been released on the current findings from the public consultation on night flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted airports.
The report acknowledges "exposure to aviation noise at night can impact physical and mental well-being," but says the government's policies must "encompass the contribution these airports play to the UK economy and recognises the importance to the UK of maintaining freight connectivity".
Measures to reduce noise include greater night flight restrictions, the use of quieter aircraft, and land-use management to keep residential areas away from airports: a challenge in airports like Heathrow close to pre-existing cities.
However, the government says these must be cost-effective, with the report emphasising the use of "a balanced approach".
Has the consultation changed anything?
Not really. The government says the consultation has been of limited usefulness as the aviation industry has been slow to recover from the pandemic.
Heathrow's current night flight regulations will remain in place for another three years while new data is gathered for the two aircraft noise studies.
However, airports will face further scrutiny going forwards after a number of local residents expressed concerns that airports like Heathrow were abusing the dispensation system.
Starting this summer, airports must now provide a letter every season outlining approved dispensations to the night flight regulations, justifying why the circumstances were considered 'extraordinary'.
"The letter should also offer consideration of whether similar reasons should be classed as 'extraordinary' if they occurred again the following year," reads the report.
Other changes following the consultation are fairly minor, only changing the government's approach to the next consultation period.
The report says the current consultation has shifted the objective of the night flight regime from lowering the 'number of people significantly affected by aircraft noise' to reducing 'adverse effects of aviation noise at night on health and quality of life'.
The government has also said it "[accepts] that both passenger and freight connectivity should be treated equally" in their flight noise metrics in response to comments from industry.
In 2022, the noisiest aircraft were banned around Heathrow at nighttime, although this was the result of a previous consultation that ran from 2020 to 2021.
The full consultation report is available here.
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