Darren Johnson has issued the following statement about the impact on people living around west London of the Heathrow trial which starts today and allows planes which are more than 10 minutes late to land on runways being used for take offs. At present aircraft landing at Heathrow switch runways at 3pm each day to give residents a half day’s break from the noise. The trial will assess the extent to which this ‘break’ from the noise could be disrupted by these late flights?
Darren commented:
"Heathrow is over crowded and I am concerned that this trial will allow the problem of excess noise to spill over into tranquil periods of local people’s day. Rather than constantly trying to squeeze more flights out of Heathrow it needs to be slimmed down. Fluctuating oil prices, video conferencing and climate change are all undermining the case for future aviation growth in the South East of England.
"Instead of expanding the Airport, or building an even bigger replacement in the Thames Estuary, the Mayor and Government should work together to end all unnecessary short haul flights. If we were to end unnecessary flights to short haul destinations, space would be freed up for essential long haul flights and the airport could also begin to contract."
ENDS