§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list those dispensations to the normal regulations that have allowed aircraft to fly supersonically over the Bristol channel area in the past six months;
(2) if he will set out the rules that govern the circumstances in which aircraft are allowed to fly supersonically in areas near to the British mainland.
§ Mr. NorrisSupersonic flight by civil aircraft over any part of the United Kingdom is prohibited and there is no procedure for dispensations. Sonic booms from inbound aircraft are sometimes heard on land. This occurs in certain meteorological conditions, mainly during winter. These are known as secondary booms and may be propagated from aircraft many miles from land. Both British Airways and Air France have co-operated in making operational changes in the winter to reduce the disturbance from secondary booms. Although they cannot eliminate the phenomenon, British Airways' Concores decelerate to fly subsonic 105 nautical miles west of Coombe Martin in Devon; Air France routes its Concordes further south of the United Kingdom.