NIGHT RESTRICTIONS FOR HEATHROW, GATWICK AND STANSTED AIRPORTS

(press release issued 6 June 2006 by the Government News Network)

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander has today announced the details of the night restrictions regime to apply from 29 October 2006 at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports.

Under the new regime that will be in operation until October 2012, the number of movements permitted at all three airports will not increase above the levels permitted at present, whist the quota count will actually reduce reflecting the scope for introduction of quieter aircraft during the next six years.

Making today's announcement in a Written Statement to Parliament, Mr Alexander said:

"I consider that for each airport the decision strikes the appropriate balance between the need to protect local communities from excessive noise and the benefits that services can bring to the national, regional and local economy."

The new night restrictions regimes will continue to recognise both an eight hour ‘night period’ (2300-0700 hours), and a six and a half hour ‘night quota period’, (2330-0600 hours) during which the appropriate restrictions will apply.

For example, during the whole of the night period, the noisiest types of aircraft may not be scheduled to land or take off and they are effectively banned from doing so (other than in exceptional circumstances) in the night quota period.

The decision on the new restrictions takes into account all of the responses that were received during an extensive consultation carried out over two stages during 2004 and 2005.

A copy of the full written statement is attached Night-Flying Restrictions (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted) in MS Word ® format 27KB , (MS Word ® format 27KB).

Notes to Editors

Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are the designated airports where noise is regulated by the Secretary of State under s.78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. The night restrictions form part of a range of controls applied under this section.
While different arrangements apply at other airports, the form of the designated airports' controls might help with the consideration of revisions to the night flight regime elsewhere. Night flying restrictions at other airports are at the discretion of the airport operator, dependent on any local agreement (or planning conditions).
Night flights are subject to two controls: a limit on the number of movements (take-offs and landings) and a noise quota. The movements limit applies to aircraft movements between 11:30pm and 6:00am in each Winter and Summer scheduling season, these being demarcated by the dates when the clocks go back and forward. The movements limits are supported by noise quota, which are based on the comparative noisiness of each type of aircraft as determined through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) certification system.

The movements limits and noise quotas to apply at each airport from October 2006 are as follows:

HEATHROW
Winter	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09	09/10	10/11	11/12
Movements limit	2550	2550	2550	2550	2550	2550	2550
Noise quota	4140	4140	4140	4110	4110	4110	4080
Summer	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Movements limit	3250	3250	3250	3250	3250	3250	3250
Noise quota	5610	5610	5460	5460	5340	5220	5100
GATWICK
Winter	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09	09/10	10/11	11/12
Movements limit	5200	3250	3250	3250	3250	3250	3250
Noise quota	6640	2300	2240	2180	2120	2060	2000
Summer	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Movements limit	11200	11200	11200	11200	11200	11200	11200
Noise quota	9000	6700	6600	6500	6400	6300	6200
STANSTED
Winter	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09	09/10	10/11	11/12
Movements limit	5000	5000	5000	5000	5000	5000	5000
Noise quota	3550	3510	3470	3430	3390	3350	3310
Summer	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Movements limit	7000	7000	7000	7000	7000	7000	7000
Noise quota	4950	4900	4850	4800	4750	4700	4650

The announcement follows the decision in June 2005 to continue the existing night restrictions regime until 29 October 2006. During the remaining period of that extension the hours of the restrictions, the system for classifying aircraft, and other aspects of the regime remain unchanged.
The new night restrictions regime for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted recognises both a night period, 2300-0700 hours, and a night quota period, 2330-0600 hours. During the whole of the night period, the noisiest types of aircraft may not be scheduled to land or take off and they are effectively banned from doing so (other than in exceptional circumstances) in the night quota period. The next noisiest types (QC/4) may also no longer be scheduled to operate in the night quota period. In addition, during the night quota period movements by most other types of aircraft (including the new QC/0.25 category) will be restricted by a movements limit and a noise quota, which are set for each season. The seasons change with the clocks.
The decision documents, the stage 1 and stage 2 consultation papers and a summary of responses to both stages of the consultation are available on the Department's website.