Fact file

Your 10-point guide to the issues

  1. Numbers living under flight paths are higher than ever before, and it's happening all over the country. The increase in the number of flights - they have doubled in the last 20 years - has created new and extended flight paths. In London and the Thames Valley over a million people now live under the Heathrow flight path.

  2. Although individual aircraft have got quieter over the last two decades the growth in the number of aircraft has off-set any improvement in the noise climate for people under the flight path.

  3. 3. For each of the next 20 years flight numbers across the UK are predicted to rise between 4% and 6%. The Government expects this will require up to 5 new runways, plus full use of the existing runways at most of the country’s airports.

  4. Aviation's contribution to climate change is increasing. World-wide aviation is currently responsible for 3% of the emissions that contribute to climate change but between 6% and 13% in the UK. Aviation is the fast-growing contributor to CO2 emissions in the UK.

  5. Aircraft harm people's health. There is a growing body of evidence, particularly from the USA, which points to higher levels of cancer around major airports. Many people under the flight path to busy airports suffer high levels of annoyance and stress and, whenever there is night flying, sleep deprivation.

  6. Noise harms children's education. There are a number of studies carried out around airports, including several looking at schools in the Heathrow area, which show that aircraft noise can adversely affect our children's education.

  7. Aviation's contribution to the economy is overstated. It is not nearly as important to the country's economy the industry claims. It is only the 26th biggest industry in Britain, half the size of the computer industry, and just a tenth the size of banking and finance.

  8. 8. The aviation industry is heavily subsidised. The subsidy comes in a number of forms: the industry doesn't pay the costs of the noise and pollution it causes; it pays no tax on aviation fuel; and it is zero-rated for VAT. Therefore the cost to the taxpayer of creating a job in aviation is much higher than in a less heavily subsidised industry.

  9. Aviation runs up a deficit on tourism. Air tourism results in a deficit of around £17 billion pounds each year. This is because the amount of money spent abroad by Britons flying out of the UK for leisure and holiday trips exceeds the amount visitors into Britain spend here.

  10. HACAN ClearSkies is not opposed to aviation, but it does aim to give a voice to people under the Heathrow flight path. We campaign alongside national, regional and local pressure groups for an approach to aviation that acknowledges those who suffer because of aircraft.