The London mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, has criticised Heathrow Airport after its proposed spending on noise reduction was drastically cut. The airport had proposed spending £241 million on double glazing, loft insulation and erecting walls, but this has been reduced to just £52 million.
Around 6,500 local homes could be affected by noise from additional flights if a third runway becomes operational. Sir Sadiq also warned that the number of night flights would double if the expansion goes ahead.
Evidence to select committee
The disclosures are contained in more than 70 pieces of written evidence to the House of Commons transport select committee on the proposed expansion. Airport chiefs have blamed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for forcing the cut to the noise insulation budget, while insisting that a ban on night flights would be “enhanced” rather than diluted.
Heathrow also promised to implement the noise reduction measures for local residents over the next 20 years, but a submission by the Strategic Aviation Special Interest Group warned that residents could wait a century for noise protection. Others argued that shareholders, such as sovereign wealth funds Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, could fund the project without CAA approval.
Night flight concerns
Paul Beckford, policy director at Hacan, a campaign body for residents near Heathrow, said: “There is a strong argument that… a good corporate neighbour would just use shareholder money to invest in [it].”
Regarding night flights, the draft expansion policy statement suggested a six-and-a-half-hour ban within the hours of 11pm and 7am. Airlines already operate under voluntary agreements that make flights rare between these hours. Sir Sadiq said that a loophole in the proposed ban would be put in place for the third runway to operate.
Reaction and context
He argued that formalising the ban risks flights being rescheduled to the hours immediately before or after the ban, allowing airlines to compress schedules and double night flights by packing them into early morning or late night windows. Local residents groups also voiced concerns, with the Putney Society arguing that the majority of people need more than six and a half hours of sleep a night.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We have proposed enhancements to our night flight ban, already the strictest in Europe.” The CAA said: “The consultation on Heathrow’s pricing arrangements proposed broadly retaining existing levels of noise insulation expenditure.”
The news comes after all roads to Heathrow’s Terminals 2 and 3 reopened following a burst water main, which caused hours of disruption on Saturday. A leak beneath the airport’s Inner Ring Road West had disrupted access to the terminals.
