Heathrow

We have campaigned against the expansion of Heathrow Airport for many years.

Background

The government has carried out several consultations on the future expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Read our previous news stories relating to Heathrow.

Heathrow application to Hillingdon

Heathrow has recently submitted a planning application to the London Borough of Hillingdon to implement the infrastructure required to begin alternating between the runways when on easterly operations. 

This would mirror the westerly operating patterns, although would result in new departures over communities that have not routinely experienced them. 

To enable the changes, certain ground infrastructure works are required. These include the construction of a new, larger noise barrier in Longford and taxiway adjustments on the airfield to allow for the movement of aircraft between terminals and the northern runway.

Comments on the planning application should be made directly to the London Borough of Hillingdon and should be submitted by Wednesday 20 January 2025.

Full Council meeting on Heathrow

In December 2024, during Richmond's Full Council meeting, we resolved on the following actions: 

Airspace modernisation

We agreed to call on Heathrow to:

• Set out a clear timetable for consultation on plans for airspace modernisation
• Categorically rule out seeking to increase the overall number of flights
• Commit to including a ‘do minimum’ option within this, and if this is not its preferred outcome properly justify why
• Ensure that the preferred option properly protects the environment (including Richmond Park)

Easterly alternation

We welcome the renewed efforts to provide greater predictable respite to residents whilst on easterly operations, and calls on the airport to implement these measures as soon as practicable, independent of any other development plans.

Night flights

We reiterated our long-standing opposition to night flights and urge the airport to go further to protect residents from the disruption of night flights. We call on the government to review the early findings of the most recent noise studies and ensure these inform the future night-flight regime at the earliest opportunity.

Third runway

We reaffirmed our long-standing opposition to a third runway and calls on the airport to reconsider its intention to resume work on a Development Consent Order (DCO). We also call on the government to review and revoke the Airport National Policy Statement and recognise that, as in 2018, this is incompatible with the four tests the party set itself for supporting Heathrow expansion.

Special standing committee

We held a special standing committee on Heathrow on Tuesday 12 November 2024.

The special standing committee provides a forum to work on issues relating to Heathrow Airport that affect our borough.

The committee session considered the following developments on Heathrow:

• Airspace modernisation
• Easterly alternations
• Airport expansion
• Night flights

The committee considered the report regarding developments planned by Heathrow, and how these developments might affect Richmond upon Thames. The committee noted that the information provided by Heathrow needed to be clearer, including a timeline, to enable consultees to be able to make informed responses, including that the Treasury Green Book guidelines and Gunning Principles needed to be followed. The ‘do minimum’ option should be offered.

We wished to adopt the position that we were opposed to any expansion due to environmental concerns relating to carbon emissions, noise pollution and impact on Richmond Park. We retained our position that there should be no increased night flights.

Noise complaints

Aviation noise is not currently a statutory nuisance in the UK and is not covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or the Noise Act 1996. This means that local authorities do not have the legal power to take action on matters of aircraft noise and cannot handle any complaints relating to this. 

If you wish to complain about aircraft noise, we recommend directly contacting Heathrow. You can find details of Heathrow's own noise complaints process on their website. 

You may also wish to raise your complaint with your local MP.

Heathrow’s Webtrak My Neighbourhood tool allows you to check which flight path you are under and which aircraft is responsible for noise you are experiencing. 

Airport expansion update

In February 2020 the Court of Appeal ruled that the government’s decision to allow the expansion of Heathrow’s third runway was unlawful. This was because it did not take existing climate commitments into account. 

However, in December 2020, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal. This means that currently the Airport National Policy Statement is government policy again. Heathrow Airport has said that it is reflecting on its next steps following the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of late 2024, flight and passenger numbers at Heathrow are approaching pre-pandemic levels, with 82 million expected to travel through the airport in 2024. The airport has indicated that its initial priority is to make adjustments to its buildings and operations which would allow it to increase this to close to 100 million passengers a year, but that it is also recommencing work on its plans for a third runway.

The Labour government did not set out its position on Heathrow expansion in its 2024 manifesto, but had previously indicated that it would only back expansion if the plans could show that they met four tests:

• Increased capacity will be delivered
• The UK can meet its CO2 reduction commitments
• Noise and local environmental impact is minimised
• The benefits of expansion are felt across the regions of the UK, not just the South East and London

Alongside other councils and organisations, we continue to oppose the third runway. 

See:

• Our policy on Heathrow expansion
  
• Local impact of expansion 
  
• Key facts about expansion 
  
• Alternatives to expansion  

Airspace Modernisation Programme

As directed by the Secretary of State, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) published its Airspace Modernisation Strategy in 2018. This sets out how to modernise the airspace through design, technology and operations.

To deliver the strategy, Heathrow Airport is currently undertaking its Airspace Modernisation Programme. While it initially aimed to set out its modernisation plan as part of its broader expansion, the delays of the expansion due to both opposition and COVID-19 means it is now doing this separately. The modernisation programme may result in new flight paths being used for landing and take-off, and these may use Performance Based Navigation (PBN). PBN uses ground-based navigation beacons to direct aircraft, resulting in narrower and more consistent flight paths. This may mean that some areas see an increased frequency in planes overhead, whilst others are less overflown.

Seven-stage process

To do these modernisation works, Heathrow is required to undergo the CAA’s seven-stage process. It submitted its initial statement of needs, Step 1, to the CAA in July 2021.

Stage 2 required Heathrow to engage with stakeholders to develop and assess potential arrival and departure route options. We attended a stakeholder engagement session in March 2023. However, the CAA did not pass Heathrow at the Stage 2 assessment gateway and requested that it re-engage with stakeholders on their proposed approach to shortlisting options. Heathrow subsequently completed this in June 2024 and re-submitted their second Stage 2 submission.

During Stage 2 Heathrow also engaged with several local groups including Friends of Richmond Park, Teddington Action Group, Richmond Heathrow Campaign and HACAN. Heathrow has now completed Step 2 and is currently at the preparation for consultation and engagement stage, during which it is preparing a strategy and full options appraisal. A full consultation is expected to launch in late 2024/early 2025.

As part of the programme, Heathrow is evaluating and changing its approach to modernisation. It has published a comprehensive list of options consisting of 181 options for airspace design.

We continue to engage with Heathrow as it submits is modernisation plans.

Runway changes

The ways runways are used can have a big impact on local residents.

Resurfacing

Heathrow re-surfaces its runway every ten years. While the immediate noise impact of the works is likely to be minimal for Richmond residents, the works mean changing to runway patterns for night-time flights. The resurfacing of the northern runway is expected to be complete by the end of 2025. While the Northern runway is being resurfaced those living under the flightpath for the Southern runway will experience more night-time aircraft noise than usual. This is reversed when the Southern runway is being replaced. Find out more about Heathrow's runway resurfacing process.

You can use Heathrow’s Webtrak My Neighbourhood tool to check which flight path you are under and display general information about where aircraft fly and how often particular flight paths are used.

Impact of wind direction

Most of the time, Heathrow operates on westerly operations due to the wind direction. This means one runway is used for landing and one for take-offs. However, at times when the prevailing wind is from the east, Heathrow changes to easterly operations, meaning planes approach over Windsor to land and take off towards London. Easterly operations are used approximately 30% of the time over the course of the year, however the proportion varies, with easterly winds and operations more likely to occur in late spring.

Proposal for alternating easterly operations

The Cranford Agreement was a verbal agreement established in 1952 which meant that aircraft could not take off over the village of Cranford in Hounslow. This means that when on easterly operations, planes take off from the southern runway and land on the northern runway. Following a consultation, in 2009 the government ended the Cranford agreement to ensure that noise was more predictable to all communities surrounding Heathrow.

Heathrow is now proposing to introduce alternating easterly runway operations, switching between the southern and northern runways. This will mean some areas to the north-east of the airport not currently overflown when on easterly operations may start to be flown over, whilst other areas experience a reduction in the number of flights overhead.

As introducing easterly alternations requires changes to the existing infrastructure at the airport including building new taxiways and noise barriers, Heathrow recently submitted a planning application to the London Borough of Hillingdon which will be open to comment from members of the public. Heathrow previously applied for and received planning permission for similar proposals in 2017, however Heathrow did not begin works and this permission has now expired.

We are working closely with stakeholders, including both Heathrow and neighbouring local authorities, to evaluate the likely impact of the introduction of easterly alternations. We will inform residents when this consultation is launched and how you can share your views.

In 2023, the Leader of Richmond Council Cllr Gareth Roberts signed a joint response to Heathrow’s Noise Action Plan to the Chief Executive of Heathrow which discussed potential noise impacts of Heathrow easterly runway operations. Read the full text of the response to Heathrow’s Noise Action plan.

Heathrow also have a dedicated webpage to explain the background of the proposals and next steps. It also has a useful video explaining how easterly operations work and a map highlighting communities which may experience new noise overhead. Read Heathrow's easterly operations page.

Night flights

The government has the power to set night flight restrictions at Heathrow airport. Currently, only a limited number of flights are allowed to take off between 11.30pm and 6am.

Following the government's previous consultation on night flight restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted (held in 2020 to 2021) a decision was taken in July 2021 to roll over existing night flight restrictions for a period of three years due to COVID-19. This decision put in place the current night flight regime which runs from October 2022 to October 2025.

The government consulted again in 2024 on the new regime for night flights. It has also commissioned a study of the impact of night flights on sleep disturbance and noise. This survey is being conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and it is anticipated to be published in 2025 to 2026.

The government has since published its decision on the night flights regime. The government intends to proceed with a bridging night flight regime of 3-years that will cover October 2025 to October 2028. This means that  movement and quota limits for Heathrow Airport during the night quota period (11.30pm to 6am) will remain the same as they are now.

The decision to propose to keep existing movement limits and noise quota limits was taken because the government are awaiting evidence from the ANNE study and from the aviation noise attitudes survey. 

We are against an increase in the number of permitted night flights. Find out more on our key facts about night flights page.