Stansted Airport prepares for 'once-in-a-lifetime' chance to redraw flight paths
The first overhaul of flight paths in more than 50 years could have profound implications for those living around Stansted Airport.
The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working together to deliver quicker, quieter and cleaner journeys, extra resilience and more capacity by switching ground-based radar for satellite systems.
At the latest meeting of Stansted Airport watchdog STACC (Stansted Airport Consultative Committee), a representative of the DfT told members that the new Government was eager to complete the process and deliver benefits both for airlines and for the public.
NATS, the UK's main air navigation service provider, will take the lead in formulating flight paths for aircraft flying above 7,000ft, but at lower altitudes for landings and departures, airports like Stansted will drive the strategy.
Neil Robinson, group corporate social responsibility and future airspace director for Stansted owner Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “We're moving away from traditional technology from ground-based navigation in favour of satellite guidance, and that gives us a lot more choice.
He stressed Stansted was at the very start of the process and would be using focus groups to establish the principles for the review.
Key initial questions could include whether it is better to overfly a greater number of homes to share the noise burden or it is more environmentally friendly – reducing fuel consumption and emissions – to use the most direct route for all arrivals and departures, even if that concentrates disturbance.
Once those guiding principles have been established, a long list of options will be drawn up and evaluated to form a short list from which the preferred option will emerge. There will then be extensive public consultation.
Mr Robinson said: “At this stage, we literally have a clean sheet of paper.”
He anticipated the first phase would be completed by the end of June; subject to CAA approval, the design stage can then begin. Plans should be ready for scrutiny by residents and other stakeholders in 2021 and they would be implemented in 2023.
Stansted was the first airport in the UK to employ PBN – precision-based navigation – which forces aircraft to follow a narrowly defined line within the existing flight paths to cut noise.
Cllr Danny Purton, a member of Harlow District Council, said: “Is this a win-win or will there be winners and losers? We must be careful not to cover up any issues which could be negative and look at what is the possible downside of all of this.”
Mr Robinson said there would have to be a trade-off to get the best balance. “The whole philosophy of this is that the modern way of flying is better because it gives us lots of choices, but you have to look at how we use them. Further down the road, it will be clear what the trade-offs are.”
Stop Stansted Expansion’s Brian Ross said that it was a long-standing convention that noise was the priority below 7,000ft while carbon emissions took precedence at higher altitudes. He said that flight paths should not be changed unless there were clear and compelling reasons to do so and there was no provision for compensation for anyone adversely affected by changes.
Mr Richardson said there was a choice between changing flight paths only if there was no other choice or “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design what would be the very best flight paths with the best technology”.
Stansted currently has four flight paths: departing on the easterly or skirting Bishop's Stortford on the westerly noise preferential routes and arriving towards the north-east and south-west.
