Liberal Democrat MPs for Richmond Park and Twickenham, Sarah Olney and Munira Wilson, have issued a joint objection to the government's night flight consultation.

The consultation, which is being led by the Department for Transport and closed on 22 May, affects night flights at Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow airports.

However, the Lib Dem MPs and Assembly Members' objections are specifically about the proposals surrounding Heathrow, which propose extending the current annual level of 5,800 permitted night flights at the airport from October 2025 until October 2028.

This number does not include any unscheduled flights that arrive or depart at night, which happen without sufficient evidence as to why they are needed, the Lib Dems argue.

The representatives, in consultation with local residents and campaign groups, have written to the Secretary of State for Transport to explain that the 2025 deadline should be adhered to.

The group argue that this would ensure any changes to night flight numbers can be made as soon as possible to limit further disturbance on people's sleep and quality of life.

In addition to this demand, the Liberal Democrat MPs and Assembly Members have also called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to work towards an ultimate ban on night flights between 11pm and 6am.

They also want the Government to provide greater transparency and a proven evidence basis for how decisions about night flights are being made, including in relation to people's health.

This follows research which shows that late night and early morning flights have been linked with an increased risk of strokes, extreme mental health issues, substance abuse, heightened stress and chronic insomnia.

Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, Sarah Olney said: "Millions of people living under flight paths like my constituents in Richmond Park are often woken in the middle of the night by the roar of jet engines.

"It's affecting their health, work and personal lives, yet Conservative Ministers want to extend their misery by allowing these flights to continue until 2028.

"Rather than keeping their heads in the sand, Ministers should heed our calls to review night flight levels next year and take concrete steps to ensure they are reduced once and for all."

Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham, Munira 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."

"It is vital that this Government finally listens to residents across London and works towards an ultimate ban on night flights to ensure that everyone has the right to a full eight hours of sleep."

In its consultation, the Government states it: "recognises that noise from aircraft taking off and landing at night is often regarded by communities as the most disturbing form of airport operations.

"In addition, there is growing evidence of the relationship between aviation night noise and impacts on health and sleep disturbance.

"Therefore, this consultation seeks views and evidence on what night-time noise abatement objectives should be. These night-time noise abatement objectives sit underneath our national aviation noise policy statement.

"Once night-time noise abatement objectives for the designated airports have been decided upon, this will then enable the most cost-effective measures for achieving the desired outcomes to be identified."

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