Night flights information pack November 2016

Transcription

1 Night flights information pack November 2016

2 Content 1. Why do we have night flights? 2. Background & structure of night period 3. Winter and summer season movement overview 4. Quota Count (QC) 5. Noise infringements & fines 6. Dispensation 7. Night noise exposure contours 8. Suggested reading 9. Reducing the impact of night flights

3 1. Why do we have night flights?

4 Why do we have night flights? Night flights are an important part of operations at airports around the world. The time differences in an inter-connected global transport system mean that it is difficult to avoid night flights. The relationship between flight times and clock times means that early morning arrivals at Heathrow are particularly suited to serving flights from much of China, SE & S Asia. The early arrival permits a full day s business to be undertaken in the UK and maximises the timing opportunities for those making onward flight connections from London. By feeding other flights, these transfer passengers therefore play an important role in maintaining the range and frequency of destinations served by Heathrow and in maintaining connectivity with key destinations. In the context of competition with the other European hubs, it is also important to note that the time difference already puts the UK at an hour s disadvantage compared to Europe. An aircraft from SE Asia and landing at 05:00 in Frankfurt is landing at the equivalent of 04:00 in the UK, giving a competitive advantage for onward connections to UK & European destinations

5 2. Background & structure of night period

6 Background Restrictions on night flights have been in place at Heathrow since The structure of the current night flying restrictions at Heathrow has been in place since 1993 and is amongst the most stringent in the world. Heathrow already has the strictest restrictions of any hub airport in Europe in terms of movements permitted between 23:30 and 06:00 indeed, of the three designated airports in the UK, Heathrow has less than half the movement allocation of both Gatwick and Stansted. Heathrow also has a voluntary ban in place that prevents flights scheduled between 04:30-06:00 and from landing before 04:30.

7 Background continued The scheduled movements that operate at Heathrow between 23:30 and 06:00 are all early morning arrivals and these account for around 85-90% of all night quota period movements. All early morning arrivals are scheduled to land after 04:30, with the majority scheduled after 05:00. They are mainly long-haul passenger services, with over 70% originating from Asia and the Middle East. The remaining movements that operate between 23:30 and 06:00 are late-running aircraft, primarily departures, which operate during the first part of the night quota period (typically prior to midnight). Outside the night quota period, the 06:00-07:00 hour is Heathrow s busiest each day. In contrast to the 16 flights over the night quota period, there are typically 65 flights between 06:00 and 07:00. These are predominantly arrivals from North America, which is Heathrow s main long-haul market and a source of significant competitive advantage compared to other European hubs. Over 50% of the arrivals in this hour are from North America.

8 The night structure at Heathrow Night Period Night Quota Period Single runway ops aaaa TEAM arrivals Late running arrivals and departures Early Morning Arrivals Daily Flying Programme Exempt and dispensed scheduled flights Flying programme during disruption

9 Characteristics of Night Quota Period Noise and movements limited by DfT Noisier aircraft restricted Small number of scheduled services Late running flights DfT set the number of movements and quota count points that may be used in a season: e.g. Winter QC points and 2550 movements Example QC per movement: A380 on departure QC2, B QC4 Restrictions on categories of aircraft that can arrive or depart in NQP: QC/4 may not be scheduled in the NQP but may operate in the NQP QC8/16 may not be scheduled or operated in the NQP, but may operate in the night period under extenuating circumstances Only a small set of services can be scheduled in the NQP: Historic arrivals in the to time window QC/0 ad-hoc flight operations of the quietest aircraft Exempt flights, e.g. State flights, Head of Military, select VIPs. On a daily basis a small number of services run late into the NQP: Delayed departures, e.g. with technical problems Late in-bound aircraft Airfield congestion in the run up to the NQP

10 Current restrictions The Night Flight restrictions are part of the Government defined noise measures under the Civil Aviation Act There are two time periods (23:00 07:00 and 23:30 06:00) both with restrictions on types of aircraft. The more restrictive period (23:30-06:00) is known as the Night Quota Period (NQP) and has limits on the number of movements which are set by the DfT. The limits are determined by the season. Heathrow is currently limited to 5,800 night flights a year 3,250 in the summer season and 2,550 in the winter season. The number of flights permitted between 23:30-06:00 is set on a seasonal basis summer and winter. Heathrow is also permitted to carry over up to 10% of the left over movements from summer to winter which is why you see that the winter season limits vary more than the summer. The summer season is defined using British Summer Time. The winter season is the period between the end of British Summer Time in one year and the start of British Summer Time in the next.

11 First and last scheduled flights for Summer/Winter 2016 SUMMER 2016 First Arrival 04:50 - BA32 (British Airways from Hong Kong) First Departure 06:00 - TP353 (TAP Air Portugal to Lisbon), OS458 (Austrian to Vienna) LX345 (Swiss to Zurich) Last Arrival 23:05 - AZ210 (Alitalia to Rome) Last Departure 22:50 - PR721 (Philippine Airlines to Manila) WINTER 2016 First Arrival 04:45 - BA32 (British Airways from Hong Kong) First Departure 06:00 - TP353 (TAP Air Portugal to Lisbon), OS458 (Austrian to Vienna) LX345 (Swiss to Zurich) Last Arrival 23:05 - AZ210 (Alitalia to Rome) Last Departure 22:40 - BA83 (British Airways to Abuja) (There is a historic night freighter BCS2107 departure 2250z days 1-5).

12 3. Winter and summer season movement overview

13 Seasonal movements overview The number of night flights permitted at Heathrow is set on a seasonal basis summer and winter. Heathrow is permitted to carry over up to 10% of the left over movements from summer to winter, however, this cannot be accumulate i.e. it cannot then carry over again. The summer season is defined using British Summer Time. The winter season is the period between the end of British Summer Time in one year and the start of British Summer Time in the next.

14 Winter season breakdown Season Movements against limit Movement limit Percentage of limit used* Winter 2006/ Winter 2007/ Winter 2008/ Winter 2009/ Winter 2010/ Winter 2011/ Winter 2012/ Winter 2013/ Winter 2014/ Winter 2015/ * Refers to seasonal movement limit excluding carry over from previous season

15 Summer season breakdown Season Movements against limit Movement limit Percentage of limit used* Summer Summer Summer Summer Summer Summer Summer Summer Summer * Refers to seasonal movement limit excluding carry over from previous season

16 4. Quota Count (QC)

17 Quota Count (QC) As well as limits set on the number of movements during the night period, limits are also set on the quota count The quota count (QC) system assigns a number of points to a specific aircraft based on its individual certificated noise data. The number of points assigned differs depending on whether the aircraft is arriving or departing. Under the QC system, each aircraft type, including different versions of the same model, is assigned a Quota Count according to its noise performance, separately for arrival and departure, as determined by the ICAO noise certification process. For example, a Boeing is classified as QC/0.5 on arrival and as QC/0.5 or QC/1 on departure (depending on its maximum certificated take-off weight), whereas a much larger and older Boeing will vary between QC/2 and QC/8 on arrival, and between QC/4 and QC/16 on departure, depending on engine fit and maximum take-off weight (MTOW).

18 Summer Season Quota Usage

19 Winter Season Quota Usage

20 Example of aircraft type/qc Quota Count Arrival Examples Departure Examples Allowed in Shoulder Periods ( & Allowed in Night Quota Period ( ) 0 Cessna Citation II Gulfstream 4 Yes Yes 0.25 A320, A319, B737, B A320, B738, B767, A330, A380, A350, B788 Learjet 35 B788,A350 A320, B738, B788,A350 1 B744, A340 A320,B767, A330, B738,B788 2 B744, B732 A330, A340, A380, B767 4 B743 A340, B744 Yes Not permitted to be scheduled, late runners allowed 8 B741, B707 B743 Only in very exceptional cases 16 N/A Concorde, B741, B743 Yes Yes Yes Yes Only in very exceptional cases Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

21 5. Noise infringements & fines

22 Night time noise infringements & fines Year Number Fines ( ) * *In October 2014, we introduced increased noise fines for aircraft that break the noise limits. In the night period airlines will now be fined 4000 per dba excess an increase from previous regime of: 0.1 to 3.0dBA excess = 500 and for more than 3.0dBA excess = 1000

23 6. Dispensation

24 Dispensation Sometimes, for reasons of disruption, emergency or passenger hardship, flights are allowed by DfT to operate outside of the constraints of the QC and movement limits. Section 78(4) and 78(5) of the Civil Aviation Act provides a legal basis for disregarding flights from the night flight regime. Dispensations are for recovery from disruption when it was not possible to plan ahead. Dispensations can only be applied in very specific circumstances. They are not to enable a smooth running day.

25 Dispensation two types. There are two basic types of dispensation: 1.Those given by the Secretary of State which typically are for flights considered of national or international importance 2.Those given by airport managers. For this, Heathrow has been given delegated powers but these powers can only be applied: Retrospectively i.e. after the event once the dispensations can be justified To delayed aircraft which are likely to lead to serious congestion on the airfield or serious hardship or suffering to passengers or animals. To delayed aircraft resulting from widespread and prolonged disruption of air traffic

26 Dispensations reasons Immediate danger to life or health, whether human or animal, The person on board is being met by a Government representative e.g. Senior members of foreign Royal Families, Heads of State The flight is carrying medical supplies required urgently for the relief of suffering during a period of emergency for example during a refugee crisis or following an earthquake The flight is a civil aircraft affected by hostilities Air Traffic congestion is arising from fog or when low visibility procedures are in operation. It may also include disruptions to air traffic from strong winds, snow and ice Diversions are incurred from other airports for ATC congestion arising from fog or when low visibility procedures are in operation Aircraft are experiencing delays which are likely to lead to serious congestion at the aerodrome or serious hardship or suffering to passengers or animals Aircraft are experiencing delays resulting from disruption to air traffic flow e.g. strikes by Air Traffic controllers or form political difficulties abroad or ATC computer problems Where there is a temporary change in airspace as a result of Government decision, with consequences for airline schedules e.g. a flypast for the Queen s jubilee celebrations Exceptional circumstances to enable aerodromes to recover from long periods of disruption e.g. Volcanic Ash crisis in 2010

27 7. Night noise exposure contours

28 Noise change map for 2015 vs 2006 Lnight This shows the change in night time noise level, Lnight (8hr) between 2006 and Green shows areas of decreased noise (up to 3 db decrease); purple shows areas of increased noise (up to 1 db increase). The outer boundary is the 2015 Lnight (8hr) 50 dba contour.

29 Change in area, population and houses Lnight (2006 vs 2015) This table shows the changes in area, population and number of houses inside various Lnight (8hr) contours between 2006 and The blue numbers indicate the changes that would have been if there had been no population or new household influx during the period.

30 Change in area, population and houses inside the Leq (6.5hr night) 48 dba (2006 vs 2015) This table shows the change in area, population and number of houses inside the Leq(6.5hr night) 48 dba contour between 2006 and The blue numbers indicate the changes that would have been if there had been no population or new household influx during the period.

31 8. Suggested reading

32 Health effects of night flights Basner, A. Samel, U. Isermann (2006). Aircraft noise effects on sleep: Application of the results of a large polysomnographic field study. J Acoust. Soc. Am. 119(5) pp Basner, M., Müller, U., & Elmenhorst, E.M. (2011). Single and combined effects of air, road, and rail traffic noise on sleep and recuperation. Sleep, 34, CAA (2013) Aircraft Noise, Sleep Disturbance and Health Effects: A Review ERCD Report 1208 Clark, C., Stansfeld, S. (2011) The Effect of Nocturnal Aircraft Noise on Health: A review of recent evidence Queen Mary University of London EEA (2010), Good Practice Guide on noise exposure and potential health effects, EEA Technical Report 11/2010 Hume, K., Van, F., Watson, A., (2003) Effects of aircraft noise on sleep: EEG-based measurements, Manchester Metropolitan University Janssen, Centen, Vos, van Kamp (2014) The effect of the number of aircraft noise events on sleep quality, Applied Acoustics,

33 Health effects of night flights continued Ollerhead J B et al (1992); Report of a Field Study of Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance. Department of Transport, December Miedema H & Vos H (2007), Associations between self-reported sleep disturbance and environmental noise based on reanalyes of pooled data from 24 studies, Behavioural Sleep Medicine 5(1), pp 1-20 NORAH (2015) Knowledge no.10: NORAH noise impact study: Aviation noise and nocturnal sleep Results Porter N D, Kershaw A K, Ollerhead JB, (2000) Adverse effects of night-time aircraft noise, ERCD report 9964, March Rice C. G. & Morgan P. A. (1982), A synthesis of studies on noise-induced sleep disturbance, ISVR Memorandum No. 623 Other useful information: World Health Organization Europe (2009) Night Noise Guidelines for Europe WHO. Burden of Disease from environmental Noise (2011)

34 Economics benefits of night flights Oxford Economics Report (full reference details at HACAN S CE Delft (full reference details at CE Delft (Committed to the Environment): Frontier Report

35 9. Reducing the impact of night flights

36 Reducing the impact of night flights We remain focused on reducing our noise impacts, particularly at night, and our noise blueprint and statutory noise action plan ( ) demonstrate how we are challenging ourselves and everyone we work with to be quieter sooner. Over the years Heathrow has added voluntary restrictions to the Government framework above, including the requirement not to touch down before 04:30 (historically aircraft regularly arrived before 04:00) and not scheduling cargo operations or QC4 aircraft. Since 1993 the number of movements permitted has remained constant whilst developments in technology have enabled the QC seasonal allocation to be reduced. This has led to the establishment of a new QC category (0.25) for the quietest new aircraft. The result of this fall in QC is that the area within the night noise contours has reduced significantly. Since 2006 alone, the Lnight (6.5 hour) 48dBA contour has reduced by 36%, taking over 30,000 people out of the contour. (The number of people exposed to night time levels of noise would have been lower still (almost 55,000 fewer people) had population growth and new household development in this area not occurred over the same period.) We therefore believe that the benefits of quieter aircraft have been shared with communities to date, a trend that we expect to continue.

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