London Stansted Airport has announced plans to reduce aircraft noise for more than 4,000 people living near the airport using a new innovative take-off procedure. The new technology, Performance Based Navigation, uses modern GPS technology to enable aircraft to fly flight paths more accurately during take-off.
A trial on two of the airport’s existing departure routes, Clacton 22 and Detling 04, showed that implementation of the new navigation resulted in 85% fewer people being directly overflown by aircraft. The airport has now launched a public consultation on the procedure.
Prior to the trial of the new departure technology, the number of people affected by aircraft noise on the Clacton 22 departure route at Stansted Airport covered a large area when using traditional navigation procedures.
London Stansted has been developing the initiative for the last two years in a joint venture between its consultative committee (STACC), easyJet and NATS. It is now seeking views from residents over the course of the next 12 weeks to help shape the final proposal, which will then be submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority for approval.
Andrew Harrison, Managing Director, London Stansted, commented: “It is by working together that we can achieve the best results, and we all look forward to hearing the feedback from the community about this innovative project which demonstrates significant and positive improvements for local residents around the airport.”
A trial conducted by London Stansted showed that the number of people affected by aircraft noise was significantly reduced after the implementation of Performance Based Navigation, as shown by the Clacton 22 departure route.
Keith Artus, Chairman of the Environmental Issues Group (EIG) of STACC, added: “The EIG works in tandem with the airport on all environmental matters, which includes working on initiatives to improve the effects of aircraft noise on the communities that surround the airport. We feel the noise and environmental benefits from this project are considerable and urge our local communities to look at the achievements and facts provided in the consultation materials and make their responses accordingly.”
