§ Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that no use will be made of Northolt airport for any present or future overflow traffic from Heathrow; what plans he has to extend current civil and commercial traffic using Northolt airport; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinIt is the Government's policy that airliners should take precedence at Heathrow and Gatwick, and that smaller airports around London should cater for business aviation operations displaced from the two major airports. There are no specific proposals to increase the use of Northolt by civil aircraft.
§ Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what effect the decision to abolish rules 1, 2 and 3 of the traffic distribution rules for airports will have on the number of permitted air traffic movements at RAF Northolt.
§ Mr. McLoughlinNone.
§ Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for the reduction of aircraft noise over Ealing, Hanwell, Perivale, Greenford and Northolt; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinOlder, noisier jet aircraft (the so-called chapter 2 types) will be progressively phased out over the next decade. That will mean individual aircraft will increasingly be only of the quieter types, which are less intrusive, and as a result the noise climate will improve.
§ Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to allow night flights at Heathrow airport after 1993; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinWhen the present night restrictions were introduced, their objective was to improve the night noise climate around Heathrow and Gatwick without imposing unnecessary restrictions on the airline industry. That objective will be the starting point when we review the current night restrictions. As announced on 12 July 1990 we are conducting a major research project on the effect of aircraft noise on sleep. Its conclusions will be taken into account in the review.