§ 21. Brigadier Medlicottasked the Minister of Civil Aviation if his attention has been drawn to the inadequacy of the reception buildings at London Airport, where at peak periods the departure lounges are overcrowded, and where even slight delays in the departure of aeroplanes cause confusion; and if he will cause early steps to be taken to increase the accommodation, especially in view of 988 the likelihood that passenger traffic will be considerably increased next year.
§ Mr. MaudlingAlthough there is some congestion at the busiest times, the reception accommodation at London Airport is reasonably adequate for present needs. The facilities will, of course, be extended and improved as soon as the permanent buildings, now under construction, can be brought into use.
§ 25. Mr. Perkinsasked the Minister of Civil Aviation whether he will install F.I.D.O. at London Airport and so save the large sums of public money necessary to build the long runways at Gatwick Airport.
§ Mr. MaudlingThe installation of F.I.D.O. at London Airport would be no substitute for Gatwick. It would provide neither a satisfactory alternative in all weather conditions nor a lightening of the regular traffic load, both of which purposes Gatwick will serve.
§ Mr. PerkinsIf F.I.D.O. were to be installed at London Airport there would be no delays due to fog; in fact aircraft could operate 100 per cent.
§ Mr. MaudlingI am sorry to say that that is not so. This kind of apparatus is by no means satisfactory in all fog conditions.
§ 30. Mr. R. Harrisasked the Minister of Civil Aviation the intentions of his Department regarding the use of No. 1 runway at London Airport; and whether it is now possible to restrict the use of this runway to daylight hours.
§ Mr. MaudlingIt is planned to bring No. 1 runway back into use during the winter of 1953–54. Generally, this runway will not be used at night for take-offs to and landings from the east, but I can give no assurance that it will be possible to restrict its use to daylight hours.
§ 31. Mr. R. Harrisasked the Minister of Civil Aviation when it is proposed to start the building of the blast walls at London Airport designed to deaden the noise of engines being serviced by day or night.
§ Mr. MaudlingWork will start at London Airport at the beginning of November on the construction of an experimental acoustic wall.
§ Mr. HarrisIs the Minister aware that the noise of engines being serviced at night is the greatest curse of airports, and can he give an undertaking that experiments will continue persistently to see whether better methods can be found of deadening this noise on the assumption that this acoustic wall will not achieve all that is desirable?
§ Mr. MaudlingI am aware of this problem as it affects residents in airport areas. I can say that the Corporations and foreign airlines have expressed their willingness to use this first wall to the fullest extent possible so that we may get as much information of its effectiveness at the earliest possible moment.