‘A Quieter Heathrow’: A report by Heathrow Airport Ltd. 30 May 2013
The attached report, ‘A quieter Heathrow’, sets out Heathrow Airport’s plan to meet the Government’s aspiration ‘to strike a fair balance between the negative impacts of noise and the positive economic impacts’ of aviation. The report sets out a range of practical measures they are taking or intend to take in five key areas: quieter planes, quieter operating procedures, noise mitigation and land-use planning, operating restrictions and working with local communities.
Quieter planes
- providing financial incentives for airlines to use the quietest planes available through variable landing charges
- publishing a quarterly ‘Fly Quiet’ league table to illustrate the level of noise connected to individual airline fleets
Quieter operating procedures
- trialing new airspace management procedures
- proposing an increase in fines for aircraft that exceed the airport’s departure noise limits at night
Noise mitigation and land-use planning
- trialing new approaches to noise insulation during 2013
Operating restrictions
- reducing the number of aircraft that depart Heathrow late after 11pm and incentivising the quietest aircraft to operate arrivals before 6am
- taking steps to phase out the noisiest aircraft operating at Heathrow
Working with local communities
- producing proposals for the ‘independent regulation’ of noise