WE ARE HACAN EAST

HACAN East is a campaign group made up of concerned residents from East London and South East London mainly concerned about the impact of London City Airport.   Some of us, though, live under the flight paths of both London City and Heathrow airports.  

HACAN East is the successor body to Fight the Flights which mounted a four year campaign to prevent permission being given for a 50% increase in flights using City Airport.

HACAN East is a sister organisation to HACAN, the long-standing organisation which represents people under the Heathrow flight paths – www.hacan.org.uk

HACAN East argues that noise levels in the area are already unacceptable. It opposed the permission a few years back for a 50% increase in the number of planes using the City Airport, permitting 111,000 planes to use it each year.

HACAN East opposes the concentration of City's flight paths without any respite being provided.

HACAN East recognises that airports can bring jobs and help the economy but questions whether the economic benefits of an expanded City Airport will outweigh the environmental problems it will bring.

CITY AIRPORT PROPOSING TO CHANGE GLIDESLOPE FOR BIGGER PLANES

London City wants to attract bigger planes to the aiport. But they could not land as steeply as the current planes do. It has therefore asked the Civil Aviation Authority for permission for these planes to land at a shallower angle. At present planes landing at City use a 5.5 degree angle (known as the glideslope). This is steeper than the 3 degree glideslope used at most airports. The main reason it is used at City is because of the high buildings close to the airport. But it also means that planes are higher for longer, reducing the noise for residents, particularly those living fairly close to the airport. London City has put in an application to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under the CAP1616 process to permit the A320 neo plane (and any other larger type of plane that might want to use the airport) to fly in on a 4.5 degree gradient on arrival. The A320 neo would still use the 5.5 degree gradient on departure. The application needs to be put in to the CAA because the proposal is regarded as an airspace change.

The airport believes if it can attract bigger planes (really big planes will never be able to use the airport due to the size of the runway), it can increase passenger numbers while limiting a similar increase in the number of planes. It believes that if it can attract the A320neo and similar-sized planes, it could limit the number of flights to 79,000 per year by 2035, below the 83,000 that used the airport pre-Covid in 2019 and well below the 111,000 annual cap.

London City will be assessing the noise of the larger A320neo in all areas below 7,000 feet over the the rest of this year, with a view to a public consultation early in 2026.

You can read the details of the proposal: Stage 1 Define: Design Principles (5.3MB PDF)

UPDATE on the concentrated flight paths

The Public Consultation is now not expected until 2026. All airports in the UK are required to change their flight paths as air traffic control moves from a ground-based system to a satellite system. The change needs to take place in a co-ordinated way. London City concentrated its flight paths in 2016. The airport sees the coming consultation as a chance to alternate its flight paths so as to give people a break from the noise. On June 2nd the Government confirmed that UKADS, the body which will co-ordinate the biggest flight path changes in 50 years, will be set up by National Air Traffic Control (NATS) - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-new-approach-to-ensure-regulators-and-regulation-support-growth UKADS will first look at the airspace over London and the South East.

• More Information on our Flightpaths page. Also see our blog.

HACAN EAST IN THE NEWS

Following the announcement of the expansion decision, HACAN East has featured prominently in the media. We appeared on BBC London News and were quoted in the Times, Telegraph and Financial Times as well as many of the local papers.

IMPLICATIONS OF PUBLIC INQUIRY DECISION

On Monday 19th August the Government announced its decision on London City Airport’s application to expand (see our immidate press release below). It endorsed the Public Inquiry Inspector’s recommendations:

 REFUSED permission for planes to operate on Saturday afternoons

 GRANTED permission to operate 3 more planes during the first half hour of operation from 6.30am till 7am

 GRANTED permission to increase annual passenger numbers from 6.5 million to 9 million a year

 Full judgment: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-applications-called-in-decisions-and-recovered-appeals#recovered-planning-appeals

 The preservation of the weekend break is a big win for communities, Newham Council, the planning authority and the many MPs, GLA members and councils who fought to preserve the break from the noise between 12.30pm on Saturday and 12.30 on Sunday.

 At the Inquiry City Airport argued that Saturday afternoon flying was central to its strategy to attract 'high value' leisure passengers to replace the diminishing business market. That argument was not accepted by the Inspector.

 Remember, City was not applying for permission to operate more planes. There is a cap of 111,000 per year. In due course, any extra passengers will largely be accommodated on larger planes. These planes will cause less climate emissions. But they will not be significantly quieter. Although they will be quieter on departure close to the airport, they are unlikely to be noticeably quieter elsewhere. Private jets did not feature in City's application.

What are the implications of the decision?

The weekend break will remain

If the market is there, the airport may reach its annual ceiling of 111,000 within about 6 or 7 years. But there is considerable doubt whether the market will be there. In 2019, the last full year of operation, there were 83,000 flights. Last year it was just over 50,000.

New planes will be gradually phased in. They will be larger (though, because of where the airport is sited, there is a limit to the size of plane that can be accommodated - Ryanair and Easyjet plans, for example, are too big for it. The will be marginally quieter, though the difference in most places will be so small that it will be imperceptible to the human ear; only on departure close to the airport will there be a noticeable difference. They are likely to be more fuel-efficient than the current planes and so emit less CO2 emissions.

• More information on News and London City Public Inquiry pages

FOR A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AIRPORT, read our report

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:b7f60c62-9c88-390c-86e9-94e933a22333