Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the concentration of flight paths over residential areas near Heathrow Airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government’s overall policy on aviation noise, as stated in the 2013 Aviation Policy Framework (APF), is ‘to limit and, where possible, reduce the number of people in the UK significantly affected by aircraft noise’. To achieve this, the Government believes in most cases it will be preferable to concentrate aircraft over as few routes as possible. The APF does however go on to say that ‘where there is intensive use of certain routes, and following engagement with local communities, it may be appropriate to explore options for respite which share noise between communities on an equitable basis, provided this does not lead to significant numbers of people newly affected by noise.’