I recently attended a presentation and discussion by AOA, the voice of UK airports. A senior representative of NATs and of Heathrow airport were also present, with the Aviation Minister. I have subsequently had a follow up conversation with the Minister.
They agreed that noise and air routes is an important issue which they had to discuss, though their main wish was to discuss taxation, planning and issues surrounding growth of airports and the aviation industry.
I explained that many constituents were upset by the change of air routes which NATs put through without consultation, and the failure to return to the old pattern after the experiments with different routes which they did announce and consult on.
They agreed that we have a common interest in planes flying higher for longer over residential areas, and in using modern technology to slow planes on their way to Heathrow so there is no need to stack them and fly them around over congested areas. They promised to do these things.
Where we continued to disagree was over the choice of routes for both take off and landing, with more planes channelled in a narrower space producing continuous noise for affected communities instead of some dispersion which used to apply prior to the change.I asked them to reconsider and to put things back as they were in 2014 prior to the change, and have written again to the Minister asking for action.