Heathrow could apply to lift flight limit allowing 50 more planes to use the airport every day

More flights: Heathrow airport could apply to lift a limit on the number of flights allowed to use the airport each day
PA
Fiona Simpson10 September 2016

Heathrow airport could apply for a cap on the number of flights allowed to use the airport each year to be lifted.

The airport’s chairman Lord Deighton told The Times that an application might be submitted to have the cap lifted for the four years before a third runway was opened - if it was given the go-ahead.

He told the newspaper an additional 50 flights a day could use the airport and that the move was needed to show Britain was "open for business" after Brexit.

At present up to 480,000 flights are allowed to use Heathrow each year.

The limit was set in 2001 as part of the agreement which allowed Terminal 5 to be built.

However, the actual number of flights using the airport has hovered around 475,000 for the last few years.

Lord Deighton said: "The whole point of it is to respond to how this economy needs to shape itself.

“It would be possible to introduce new regional flights which would connect up some places like Newquay and Liverpool.

"It would be possible to also go to some of those emerging market destinations which everybody uses a bit earlier."

But John Stewart, chair of the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (HACAN), said, "Residents will be dismayed at losing the protection the cap has brought.

"If it is introduced in advance of a third runway, the third runway mitigation measures must also be brought forward."

He explained that if the cap was lifted, HACAN would be pressing for key measures to be introduced, including a tougher night flight regime, the release of the £700 million promised to improve insulation of properties under the flight paths, and a guarantee that the runway alternation currently available to residents in west London will remain.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT