HACAN ClearSkies

HACAN: campaigning against aircraft noise

HACAN (Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise)

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In July 2011 Fight the Flights, the organisation which fought the expansion of City Airport, merged with HACAN. HACAN East will take up issues around City Airport – read more

Key Campaigns 2011/12:

Keep meaningful runway alternation

'The nightmare of Night Flights’: To get a ban on night flights before 6am

‘Give Us A Break, Gov’: To get relief for residents suffering constant noise

These are our three main campaigns for 2011/12. They are each explained in more detail further down this page.

‘Operational Freedoms’ trial to be extended to March 2013

Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers has agreed (15/5/12) to significant changes to the second phase of operational trials at Heathrow. The trials, due to begin on 1st July, will be extended by six months. They will now end in March 2013. Air Traffic Control will also be allowed to vary the routes some planes take on departure. And, in a surprise move, the trials will also allow some aircraft currently scheduled to arrive after 0600 to land between 0530 and 0600 provided that the same number of flights scheduled to arrive between 0430 and 0500 are rescheduled to after 0500.

The trials allow planes to land on and take off from the ‘wrong’ runway during busy periods in an effort to avoid delays at the airport, Under normal circumstances planes landing over West London switch runways at 3pm to allow residents a half day’s break from the noise. During the first trial (November 2011 to Feb 2012) an average 34 flights a day landed on the wrong runway. During that phase there was very little change to departures.

Read HACAN press release

Read the Department for Transport statement

Aviation Minister Firmly Rules Out 3rd Runway

Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers in a major speech to an aviation industry conference firmly ruled out a third runway at Heathrow. The speech was an excellent riposte to aviation industry calls for a 3rd runway. Included in her speech were the words: “The quality of life aspect of a third runway with up to 22,000 more flights over London every year would be massive and there’s no technological solution in sight to ensure planes become quiet enough, quickly enough to make this burden in any way tolerable. So we need another solution.

Read the speech in full

Hounslow Measuring Noise

The London Borough of Hounslow. Hounslow is asking residents to send in clips of film footage from smart phones about what it is like to live under the flight paths. The Council is raising awareness of the impact of aircraft noise on residents in the borough using social media and has launched a special YouTube channel – Noise Annoys Hounslow. All residents need to do is film brief clips that show aircraft take off or land where they live – at home, at work, at school, indoors or outdoors, at any time of the day or night, upload the footage to YouTube and let the Council know the link to the video. They will share your videos on their new channel. You can email the link to: mailto:communications@hounslow.gov.uk or let them know via Facebook or Twitter. The footage will be available to view publically.

Frankfurt Campaigners win Night Flight Ban

The campaigners at Frankfurt Airport have won a night flight ban after the German courts today (4th April) ruled in their favour. Flights will be banned from 11pm until 5am. It is thought the ruling could have implications for night flights at other European airports, including Heathrow where the Government will begin consulting later this year on plans for a new night flight regime after the current agreement with the airlines runs out in 2014. At present, no night flights are allowed at Heathrow between 11.30pm and about 4.15am but the Government is under pressure to introduce a ban from 11pm until 6am.

For the full story

For the HACAN press release

Airport Protests across Germany

The night ban at Frankfurt is only one of the demands of the Frankfurt protesters, thousands of whom occupy the airport terminal every Monday night. They are objecting about the impact of the 4th runway which was opened in October. See pictures of the astonishing protests that are happening in Frankfurt every week.

On Saturday 24th March over 20,000 people took the streets in six cities in Germany to protest against the growth of aviation. Here are two videos which give a flavour of the protests. The first, (with a special message for us in London!) is of campaigners against a 3rd runway having a protest picnic in the terminal 2 of the airport: The second captures the thousands of people who protest inside the terminal of Frankfurt Airport every Monday evening.

Aviation Consultation Postponed

In a surprise move, consultation on the Government’s draft aviation policy has been postponed until laster in the Summer. It has been expected within days but, in his Budget speech yesterday (21/3/12), George Osborne announced the postponement. No reasons was given.

Jury still out on ‘operational freedoms ‘ trials

A report from the Civil Aviation Authority on the first two months of the recent ‘operational trials’ shows that an average of 23 aircraft landed on the ‘wrong’ runway each day during the first two months of the ‘operational freedom’ trials at Heathrow. That compares to a daily average of 12 during the same period in 2010 and 8 in both 2009 and 2008. It represents 3-4% of all aircraft. The report to the Secretary of State for showed that the number of complaints received by BAA rose significantly but urges caution on whether this was related to the trials. Further analysis if this is being carried out. Surprisingly the trials appear to have led to little improvement in the punctuality of aircraft using the airport.

Read the full CAA report

Read the HACAN press release

New report from BAA calls for third runway at Heathrow

BAA today (6th March 2012) published a new report calling for a 3rd runway at Heathrow. The report claims that £8.5 billion and 141,000 jobs will be lost if it is not built. It has the backing of some businesses and just a couple of trade unions – UNITE and GMB – but the lack of prominent coverage in the media suggests that the figures are not taken seriously and there is a widespread recognition that a 3rd runway is off the agenda.

Read HACAN press release

London: Too Dirty for Business?

A new report by HACAN released today (31/1/12) claims that it is not a lack of airport capacity which threatens London’s position as the top city in Europe to do business but its poor environment. Too Dirty for Business? concludes that London’s excellent transport links to the rest of the world make it Europe’s premier business city. However, that position is under threat because many of its rivals score more highly on quality of life, pollution and a lack of traffic congestion, all key considerations for businesses when deciding where to locate. The report is published on the same day as London First’s Connectivity Commission is launching its findings. It is expected to call for more airport capacity in the South East.

Read the HACAN press release

Read the full report

HACAN reaction to announcement Government will study Thames Estuary Airport

There are mixed views in West London about an Estuary Airport. Some residents support it as it would remove the constant noise from their areas. Others are concerned that job losses would blight West London as Heathrow directly employs over 76,000 people. The bigger question is whether extra capacity is actually needed. Even at Heathrow nearly a quarter of flights are short-haul. If policies were in place to enable these passengers to switch to rail or do their business via video-conferencing, that would free up capacity for additional long-haul flights from the developing economies of Asia, Africa and South America. The question is not whether new capacity is required but whether we are making the most intelligent use of existing capacity.”

Read the full press release

HACAN calls on Government to ditch for good outdated way of measuring aircraft noise

HACAN is calling on the Government to include plans to change the way it measures aircraft noise in its draft aviation policy, expected to go out to public consultation before the end of March. The current method the Government uses varies from the one recommended by the European Union. It also contradicts the guidelines for noise annoyance recommended by the World Health Organisation. The EU estimates that around 720,000 people are disturbed by noise from Heathrow aircraft. The UK Government puts it much lower at less than 300,000. HACAN Chair John Stewart said: “The way UK governments have traditionally measured noise no longer tallies with reality. Using its method, aircraft noise ceases to be a problem around Barnes. It defies reality to say that people in places like Putney, Fulham, Battersea and Clapham are not disturbed by aircraft noise. We are calling on the Government to ditch this outdated way of measuring aircraft noise.”

Read the HACAN press release

CAA Report: 28% of people in Europe affected by aircraft noise live under the Heathrow flight paths

A major new report published yesterday (19/12/11) by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reveals that 28% of the people in Europe affected by aircraft noise live under the Heathrow flight paths. A total of over 700,000 people are affected by Heathrow aircraft. The report calls for measures, such as steeper descents by aircraft, to mitigate the impact of noise on residents. It also urges airport owners to �engage constructively� with residents.

Read the CAA report

Read the HACAN Press Release

HACAN Submits Joint Proposals with BAA to Government

It�s a first! HACAN and BAA have submitted a joint paper to the Government. Over the past few months we have been working with BAA, BA and (Air Traffic Control) NATS exploring any common proposals we could send to the Government in response to its Scoping Study (the first step in drawing up its new aviation policy).

We have got a fair bit out of the joint working:

A commitment by the industry to explain the impact of aircraft noise much more clearly to the public;
A commitment to move towards using new metrics to measure noise annoyance that will be used alongside what we regard as the discredited 57 db Leq contour;
A commitment to trial alternation for take-offs within the Noise Preferential Routes so that no one community has planes flying over them all day long � note: this is not putting noise to new areas;
A public recognition for the first time (after about 15 years of effort!) that noise is now a major problem for communities well beyond West London as a result of the decision to move the joining point for landing aircraft 2 miles further east in 1996;
A commitment to involve representative residents� organizations at the very early stage when consultation proposals are being formulated.

Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers has encouraged this sort of initiative. We are hopeful that the Government will include the proposals in its draft aviation policy which will go out for public consultation in Spring 2012.

Read the full joint paper

Air Passenger Duty.

“We hear a lot of ritualistic grumbling from the aviation industry about levels of Air Passenger Duty but they conveniently forget to mention the �11 billion a year subsidy they enjoy from paying no fuel duty and no VAT” � read more

No economic case to expand Heathrow

A new report from AirportWatch shows that Heathrow is better connected to the world’s business centres than any of its European ‘rivals’ – read the report

The Times and the Telegraph (29/6/11) featured calls from sections of business and industry for more airport capacity in the South East. A week earlier British Airways Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, said that plans for a third runway were ‘dead’ and that BA would be transferring more passengers at Madrid Airport following its recent link-up with Iberian Airlines.

HACAN Chair John Stewart argues there is no economic reason to expand Heathrow (in a piece that first appeared in the Times, 29/6/11):

Read John Stewart's comments

The campaign against the spread of aircraft noise

Aircraft Noise: no longer just a West London problem

Vauxhall: almost 20 miles from Heathrow. Up to 40 planes an hour

A briefing by HACAN on why was launched at a meeting hosted by London Assembly member Val Shawcross at City Hall.

Read the HACAN briefing.

New Report reveals how aircraft noise has spread

“The plane traffic continues unabatedly. Strange as it sounds, but we are dreading the idea of living with open windows when summer approaches”. And they live over 15 miles from Heathrow

Night Flights

Major New Nights Flights Report finds night flight ban at Heathrow could benefit the economy

A major report launched in the House of Commons on 27th January at a meeting hosted by Zac Goldsmith MP shows that a ban on night flights at Heathrow before 6am could be expected to have overall benefits for the wider economy. The new report, commissioned by HACAN from the respected Dutch economists CE Delft, has found that a night flight ban before 6am could benefit the national economy by as much as £860 million over a 10 year period.. The big savings would be in the monetary costs associated with sleep deprivation. Because of the huge number of people living under the Heathrow night flight path, these savings could be expected to outweigh any loss of income to the aviation industry. CE Delft argues that the national economy would only be harmed if none of the passengers who currently arrive on the flights before 6am failed to transfer to flights arriving at other times. If that were to take place, the national economy could lose up to £35 million over a 10 year period, but the report states that the chances of that happening are “highly unlikely”. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN, said, “We commissioned this report to test out the claims that a night flight ban would damage the economy. Its dramatic findings destroy the last remaining argument for night flights”.

The launch of the report marks the start of a campaign by HACAN to get a ban on night flights between 11pm and 6am when the new night flight regime is introduced in 2012. Later this year the Government is expected to consult on a new night flight regime at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick. The current agreement with the airlines comes to an end in October 2012.

Read the full report

Join our night flight campaign

Read the basic information on night flights

Find out how night flights damage our health

Read people’s stories

High-Speed Rail News

The HACAN Position

HACAN supports a high-speed rail scheme that takes planes out of the air and cars off the road. The interests of the people of the West Midlands, the Chilterns and other areas through which it passes must be fully taken into consideration but this Government should be applauded as being the first one for over 50 years as seeing rail rather than road or air as the way to transport people the length of Britain.