§ Mr. Hayhoeasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether he is satisfied that the northern and southern runways at Heathrow Airport are being evenly used now that the reslabbing of the southern runway is completed ; and whether he will give composite figures for numbers of planes and duration of use for the last two months ;
(2) when he expects the runway alternation system agreed in June 1973 for Heathrow to be in full and regular use following the resurfacing of the southern runway ;
(3) whether he will give the average number of hours per day the northern runway at Heathrow has not been used for each of the last 12 weeks.
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§ Mr. OnslowThe new alternation system came into operation on 22nd October 1973 on completion of work on the southern runway. Thereafter, full operation was interrupted by maintenance work on the northern runway from 15th to 23rd November, and since 12th December by a fault in the instrument landing system on the southern runway. The alternation system will be restored as soon as this fault is rectified. The detailed figures requested are not immediately available but I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Hayhoeasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will ban all ground test running of jet engines at night at Heathrow.
§ Mr. OnslowIt would not be practicable to ban all ground test running at night. The British Airports Authority aims to keep test running to an essential minimum, but I am exploring the possibility of further reducing disturbance from this source.