Around 39 representatives of Community Groups around Heathrow met for their meeting , these are generally every other month.
The Agenda was almost entirely about the major consultation by the Civil Aviation Authority on the Flight Paths to Heathrow.
As stated in my last bulletin we did object to Part 2 of the Consultation along with all other groups. We threatened legal action as it was felt Heathrow were proceeding unlawfully, consultation was non existent and the work carried out by Heathrow inadequate.
There has been no response to that consultation from CAA but today we met to discuss stage 3 of the Consultation. Heathrow sent 9 representatives and could not have been more forthcoming, and helpful.
There will when the proposals nearer finalisation be 13 Focus Groups around the Communities represented on the Forum to gauge residents views.
This consultation is entitled “Airspace Modernisation” and is essentially about Flight Paths to Heathrow. Flight Paths have not changed for over 30 years except for a brief trial to alternatives in 2014 which was abandoned early by Heathrow due to solid public opposition.
The original flight paths were to follow Land Beacons in to the Airport and there are about 11 of these. Technology has moved on and in 2014 the Consultation and Trial was about using Satellite Navigation to replace the Land Beacons. At this stage satellite navigation could only mirror the route set by the land beacons, with minor variations.
The new proposals are entitled “Performance Based Navigation (PBN)” This would allow planes to be guided by Satellite to the best route in to Heathrow at that time. Originally the consultation said it would increase flight paths from 11 to 40 but it turns out that it is almost infinite. This disperses routes and noise over a greater area and will bring relief to areas that suffer badly at the moment. But it is possible that at times there would be a concentration of planes guided to the same route thus creating a noise nuisance in areas such as ours that do not experience it at present.
The consultation has just started and no details have been agreed.
I will update members further in due course.
The other Standing item is the Operations Dashboard.

This deals with Heathrow compliance and is of great concern to community Groups right near the airport. There is great concern about the period 11.00 to 11.30 each night. There are no flights scheduled for this time but it is kept for late running scheduled flights. Night Flying is 11.30 to 4.30.
So we learn;
In 2024 so far there have been 100 nights without late runners.
In June 2024 342 flights arrived before 6.00 am. In the winter the numbers are higher around 500 per month.
In June there were 86 planes allowed to take off between 11.30 and 4.30. 52 landed during those hours . This is very high and was due to “significant weather events”.
If you are in a Community under a flight path these numbers are significant for sleep interruption and mental health.

If you have any comments or would be interested in helping the Society with their work concerning Heathrow please e mail us at info@windleshamsociety.co.uk.