Respite must be front and central to any Heathrow Third Runway plans

Who knows if a third runway will go ahead at Heathrow? If it does, respite must be in the forefront of Heathrow's plans.

In 2019 before Covid scuppered the last attempt to get a third runway, Heathrow guaranteed that all overflown communities would get periods of respite from the planes.

See https://hacan.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Heathrow-Airspace-and-Future-Operations-Consultation-document-Final-low-res-1.pdf and in particular pages 22 and 23.

That guarantee must remain. It may be little comfort to those on the Third Runway's immediate approach and departure paths or to those in West London who may see their half day's break from the noise reduced. But all day flying for any of those communities would be much, much worse.

And for the hundreds of thousands of people who live further from the airport and who currently get all-day flying - in some areas around 30 planes an hour - guaranteed periods of respite would be a potential game-changer.

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