Night flights regime extended at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted

UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Robert Goodwill announced (11-Nov-2013) the publication of a second consultation of the restrictions on night flying at London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, which sets out the proposals for the next regime. The first stage of restrictions cover a period of two years until Oct-2014. The Airports Commission's final report is due to be published in summer 2015, preceded by an interim report at the end of this year. This and responses to the second consultation will be examined before making any changes to the night restrictions regime. As noise impacts are a key consideration for the commission, Mr Goodwill said the ministry agrees that it would not be sensible to make any significant changes to the current regime before the commission has completed its work and the government has had time to consider its recommendations. It has therefore propose to set a three year regime to last until Oct-2017, which will retain the main features of the current regime, in particular the numbers of movements and noise quota permitted. Under the current regime at Heathrow, there are no scheduled take-offs or landings between 23.30 and 04:30. Between 04:40 and 06:00, 16 services are permitted to land while 65 services are able to use the airport between 06:00 and 07:00. Night flights are classifed as between 23:30 and 06:00 at both Gatwick and Stansted. The current night flight regime at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick ends in Oct-2014. [more - original PR] [more - consultation document]