Heathrow Airport: Leaflets warn of runway use changes

[Headset 57]

Heathrow Airport: Leaflets warn of runway use changes

People living under Heathrow Airport's flight path have been sent leaflets about changes to rules that allow the use of both runways simultaneously.

The runways are restricted to take-off or landing and switch each afternoon, except in an emergency, to give residents respite from the noise.

As part of a trial starting next month the threshold for triggering the emergency system will be lowered.

Airport operator BAA said it would allow it to minimise disruption.

A BAA spokesperson said leaflets had been sent to 150,000 homes that would be affected by the trials.

'Major concern'
Under the changes, dual use can be deployed when a plane faces a 10-minute wait to land or take off and if 30% of all flights are delayed by more than 15 minutes.

The average time delay for flights at the west London airport is currently 12 minutes.

The first trial finishes on 29 February while the second will run from 1 July 2012 until 30 September - coinciding with the London Olympics.

John Stewart, chairman of the HACAN Clearskies campaign, said it was a major concern for people living in west London.

In the next few weeks campaigners will hand out thousands of leaflets at mainline and underground stations in areas that will be affected.

Near-full capacity
Mr Stewart said: "We will be informing people about the trials and urging them to get behind a campaign to make their views known to the government.

"They understand the reasons behind the changes but their critical half-day respite is going to be taken away."

The trial was recommended by the Department for Transport and will be overseen by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Tim Hardy, Heathrow's airside director, said the changes would allow them to test measures that could reduce the negative impact of disruptions on local residents, passengers and the environment.

He said: "Heathrow operates at near full capacity, meaning that even small disruptions can have a major impact on the flight schedule.

"It (the trial) will not result in any additional flights and could mean less unscheduled night flights, less airborne holding in the stacks and a more predictable and punctual service."

When the trial was announced in the summer aviation Minister Theresa Villiers said: "These measures have the potential to deliver greater reliability for passengers and reduce the impact of unscheduled night flights on local communities."

But she stressed the trial would include "effective engagement with local communities" and feedback from them would be central to any decision on whether to make the changes permanent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15141459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[EGVP]

I believe this will be departing aircraft only - the runways are too close together for parallel approaches. Unless they're going to stagger the arrivals between the runways, which will reduce inbound capacity slightly...

[Irwinesque]

Has anyone data regarding the proportion of flights that are landing on 26L. It seems that since runway use changed (as per the current trial period) there has been an endless stream of flights over my house (Putney).

[Mike]

Has anyone data regarding the proportion of flights that are landing on 26L. It seems that since runway use changed (as per the current trial period) there has been an endless stream of flights over my house (Putney).

Hmmm.........I take it you're not an aviation enthusiast then ?

[EGVP]

I'd guess not Mike.

Putney is on the final approach track for 27L, about 6 miles out if I recall.

Heathrow's runways alternate daily, today they are landing on 27R until 3pm local time, at which point they will switch to 27L for landings. The trial does not affect this fact. There should be no more than 5% (I think!) of flights per day landing on the departure runway - that's about 30 per day - in reality they seem to be landing 15/20 per day, depending on delays. Of course, Heathrow was there long before you moved in to your house, and the runway alternation procedure has been in use for many years.

You can view the exact data, as derived from air traffic, here; http://heathrowtrial.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Interesting link anyway!)

To sum up, there has been no "endless streams", other than the normal runway alternations, which you would have had anyway.

[hestonlad]

Its a bit more than Chris indicates. The percentage out of alternation during the trial is now nudging 10%.

My view is that the pattern is settling in to having around 22 TEAM flights in the magic hour 0600-0700 and then usually around another 25 flights out of alternation during the day.

However, during the day, when departures are active, it is usually only possible to squeeze one landing in between four or five departures on the same runway. Hence they can only do up to 5 or 6 TEAM flights an hour.

Consequently the 25 they do do during the day take place over extended periods - in my case under the northern runway , say, we might get TEAM flights from 0600 to 0700 and the extra TEAM sprinkled into the three hours from 9 till 12 am , then a brief rest until we get our turn for the designated landing runway at 1500 with arrivals at ?90 second intervals until 21.30 ish.

So it seems all day !

When I bought the house in 1980, Heathrow ATM's were ~270,000 ish, I think. The cap is now at 480,000.

[hestonlad]

Oh, and some Wandsworth / Putney plane spotters aren't happy according to today's Evening Standard :

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... ts-soar.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

People living under the Heathrow flightpath say their lives are being made a misery by a rise in the number of planes flying over their homes during supposedly "quiet" periods.

The trial of a new runway system has seen hundreds of flights land and take off during these times. Wandsworth council says it has received more than 100 noise complaints from residents in Putney and Battersea since the four-month "operational freedoms" scheme began last month. It has given planes more freedom to land on either of Heathrow's runways, where previously residents were given a respite period of several hours where one is not in use.

More than 640 flights have landed during these quiet times, and between November 23 and December 14 there were 23 a day, according to the council.