Communities say no to night flights
12th February, 2021
A growing body of evidence shows a link between night noise from aviation and adverse effects on sleep and health. The World Health Organisation recommends 7 – 9 hours of sleep a night for adults, yet for many of our members, night flights make this impossible to achieve. As we recover from the pandemic, it is essential that we prioritise public health.
Night Flight Consultation
Night-time flights at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are controlled for the purposes of limiting noise, and the Department for Transport is carrying out a consultation on a proposal to maintain the existing night flight restrictions for the designated airports until 2024 (part one), and policy options for the Government’s future night flight policy at the designated airports beyond 2024, and nationally (part two). Comments on part one of this consultation are due by 3rd March 2021, with part two comments due by 31st May.
AEF will be submitting a response to the Government’s night flight consultation, and will seek our members’ input for this.
You can submit your response to the consultation here.
No Night Flights Petition
To coincide with the consultation, the Aviation Communities Forum (ACF) has launched a petition calling for the Secretary of State for Transport to protect public health by introducing a ban on night flights.
You can add your name to the petition here.
Support the campaign
To support the campaign on social media, you can share the images below created by ACF, adding your reasons for supporting a ban, alongside the hashtag #NoNightFlights.
AEF, along with ACF and community groups across the country, also wrote to the aviation minister Robert Courts in November 2020 calling for an end to night flights at UK airports, except in cases of emergency or for humanitarian purposes. This letter can be read here.
ACF materials:
