Night Flying (Hansard, 10 February 1988)

§ Mr. Channon

On 6 November last year I published proposals for future night restrictions at the two airports. I set out then my objective—to improve the night noise climate around the airports without imposing unnecessary restrictions on the airline industry.

I am very aware that many people living near the airports feel strongly about night flying. I have considered their views very carefully. My predecessors accepted that some night disturbance was unavoidable. They framed night restrictions designed to phase out the noisiest aircraft. This phasing out has now been achieved and those living near the airports have benefited—at no small cost to the airlines. I now have the opportunity to build on those achievements with further improvements in the night noise climate.

The challenge is to ensure that the benefits of modern aviation technology are enjoyed not only by those who fly, but by those on the ground. I believe that we can do that by giving airlines an incentive to replace their older, noisier aircraft by modern quieter ones. There is a balance to be struck. These modern aircraft are expensive. But because they make so much less noise than their predecessors, particularly on take-off, they can be used at night with much less disturbance. And because night movements can make a lot of difference to the economics of operating expensive new aircraft, they become more attractive to airlines. They will be used by day, much more than at night, and so will help to improve the daytime noise climate.

I am determined that at Gatwick night noise disturbance should be reduced over the next five years. I therefore intend to reduce sharply flights by noisier, older aircraft, while increasing those by quieter aircraft —allowing a very small increase year by year in the total number of flights. I am thus adopting the preferred option in the consultation paper.

At Heathrow there is less demand for night flights than at Gatwick. The present quotas are not fully used, and I can achieve my objectives by limiting the further growth of night movements by keeping them to about their present level, as proposed in the consultation paper. There are very few planned departures in the middle of the night at Heathrow: in future I shall require that these should be modern, quieter aircraft. Take-offs by older, noisier 246W aircraft will not be allowed in the small hours except for a small quota for those planned to take off earlier which are unavoidably delayed. This should achieve a considerable improvement in the noise climate during this most sensitive period.

I know that many people near Gatwick remain to be convinced that more flights, even by modern aircraft, can mean less disturbance from noise. I assure them that we shall monitor the noise climate, and the noise of individual aircraft, to ensure that the benefits of quieter aircraft are realised in reduced disturbance. I am prepared to consider whether additional monitoring is necessary, to verify the reduced effects on local populations of night flights by quieter aircraft. It is important that people should have confidence in the monitoring, and I therefore intend to conduct it more openly, by inviting the airport consultative committees to nominate representatives of local people to sit with representatives of the airline industry on an advisory committee to consider all aspects of monitoring.

The consultation paper proposed a regime for night flights extending over five years. However, if after two years (that is after the summer season 1989) it is apparent that disturbance from night flights at Gatwick is getting worse, rather than lessening as our research leads us to expect, we shall revise the quotas accordingly. Thus we shall, in effect, be putting the onus on the airline industry to prove their case in the meantime. At Heathrow, because the quotas are being cut, the level of disturbance will in any case be less than it otherwise would have been.

In response to suggestions made during the consultation, I shall make some small adjustments to the consequential changes which we proposed.

The main points of the new restrictions are described in a paper I have placed in the Library. Copies will be sent to hon. Members who were involved in the recent consultations.