A CAMPAIGN group wants nighttime flights at Stansted phased out by 2030.

Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) have asked district, parish and town councils to take part in a government consultation and contribute to plans to reduce night flight impact on the surrounding area.

A spokesman for the group said: "SSE has long argued to the Government that night flights have a far greater impact on local residents around Stansted because of its rural location where background noise levels at night are generally very low.

"A large number of Stansted’s night flights are large, noisy cargo aircraft, many of which are very old.

"Unsurprisingly, these give rise to a disproportionately high level of noise complaints."

Proposed new Department for Transport limits would not change the amount of flights Stansted is allowed, currently 12,000, but would mean that there are no longer exemptions placed on less noisy aircraft movements.

The spokesman said: "This aspect of the government’s proposals is welcome since the number of exempt aircraft has been increasing at Stansted Airport in recent years and all aircraft movements at night – the least noisy as well as the most noisy – create noise nuisance and cause widespread sleep disturbance for local residents.

"Our main criticism of the government’s latest night flights proposals is that they do not go nearly far enough to tackle the very serious impacts of night flights in terms of sleep disturbance for local residents around Stansted and under flight paths."

Along with calling for all night flights to end by 2030 except in emergencies, the group also want the hours classified as night to be extended.

SSE have also asked for the averaging method of measuring noise to be amended to more accurately represent what residents experience.

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