STANSTED: Airport campaigners oppose flightpath proposals

1:15pm Tuesday 29th April 2008

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CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans for a second runway at Stansted say flightpath changes proposed for the area will have a "profound effect" acrpss much of East Anglia.

The airspace changes proposed by NATS (National Air Traffic Services) arise from the changes proposed in the flightpaths and stacking holds not just for Stansted but also for Luton, Heathrow, Gatwick, Northolt and London City Airports.

NATS claim that the reason for these changes is the increase in air traffic.

Stop Stansted Expansion is opposed to the expansion of airport capacity on the grounds of unsustainability, and it is therefore opposed to any changes that are designed to accommodate unsustainable expansion.

The group recognises there would be winners and losers from different elements of the proposal. However, because of the great number of flights which they are designed to accommodate there would be far more losers overall.

A spokesman said: "This would be especially the case in rural East Anglia. This is because NATS defines noise impact by the number of people overflown rather than by the noise which they actually experience, with the result that tranquil rural areas would suffer disproportionately.

"It is partly as a result of this that the proposed changes would increase the route mileage flown for aircraft using Stansted. In effect the need to reduce fuel usage, carbon emissions and noise has been subordinated to NATS' main objectives of accommodating more flights and reducing delays for airlines."