Narrower flight paths for Heathrow airport could create “noise sewers” blighting London’s skies and communities below, a council is warning.
Expansion plans for the west London airport have sparked such concern that a Special Standing Committee on Heathrow (SSCH) at Richmond Council has been reactivated for the first time since 2021 to probe proposals which may impact negatively on the borough.
It stressed that Heathrow was currently undertaking an Airspace Modernisation Programme, in response to a new blueprint from the Civil Aviation Authority for flights over Britain.
“The modernisation programme may result in new flight paths being used for landing and take-off, and these may use Performance Based Navigation (PBN),” says the agenda for the SSCH meeting on Tuesday, November 12.
It explains further: “PBN uses ground-based navigation beacons to direct aircraft, resulting in narrower and more consistent flight paths.
“This may mean that some areas see an increased frequency in planes overhead, whilst others are less overflown.”
PBN has already been introduced in some states in America.
“Analysis of its implementation in the US has found to have the negative impact of creating ‘noise sewers’ whereby airport noise is concentrated over specific neighbourhoods along the flight-paths,” adds the document for the Richmond committee to consider.
Heathrow has published 181 options for Airspace Design which include a range of potential landing/take-off routes over the south west London borough, including some areas not currently overflown, it stresses, with 117 documents submitted to the CAA as part of Stage 2 of the plans.
“These documents are highly technical and include details of these possible new flight paths,” the committee agenda states.
“It is likely that it would be extremely difficult for consultees, including residents of the borough, to readily understand the potential impacts from what is being proposed.”
Heathrow is expected to narrow down the options for the new flight routes.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "Despite the progress we have made to reduce the area most impacted by aircraft noise by 41% in 2023 since 2006, we know that noise is an issue for some people in our local communities.
“That’s why we are doing all we can to find new ways to become a quieter airport.
“We will continue to work in close partnership with our airlines, regulators, air traffic controllers and local communities to find new ways to minimise the impacts of our operations.”
Heathrow recorded the busiest October in its history, with more than 7.2 million passengers travelling through the west London airport’s four terminals.
The airport said it expects to handle a record 83.8 million passengers this year after bouncing back from the Covid pandemic.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: “Being home to the world’s most connected airport is a huge boost for the UK economy thanks to Heathrow’s unrivalled links for passengers and cargo.”
With Heathrow expected to make a decision within months on whether to launch a fresh push for a third runway, the Richmond committee paper urges the airport bosses “to recognise the impact its operations has on surrounding residents, the wider environmental impact of flights, and the changing picture of air travel and to once and for all commit to not constructing a third runway”.
The Labour government has said a third runway must meet its four tests on growth, delivery, climate change, and noise and local environmental impact.
The Richmond document also raised concerns over plans for alternating Easterly Runway operations, which would allow Heathrow to switch between the southern and northern runways when on easterly operations, with flights landing from the west over Berkshire and taking off towards the east when the wind blows from the east and is over five knots.
It stressed this would mean some areas not currently overflown would be, and other areas would see less flights.
