Plans to change flight paths from major British airports
February 22, 2008 5:14 pm Airport NewsFlight routes over southeast England may be changed to reduce delays and cut the disturbance caused by noise by airplanes.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has introduced a new plan which it says will reduce the number of people affected by noise from airplanes flying below 4,000ft, by 20%.
Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and London City airports could be affected by the route changes, as well as smaller airports like Southend and RAF Northolt.
The airspace in southeast England is one of the busiest and most complex in the world with so many major airports in the region.
Operations director Ian Hall said: “All these airports have grown considerably in the past 20 years. London City has grown from virtually nothing since the early 1990s - and we have simply accommodated this growth within the existing airspace infrastructure.
“Just like bottlenecks on roads, increased air traffic causes congestion in the airways meaning delay and extra fuel burn - and that has an impact on the environment.”