Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures her Department is taking to ensure that an appropriate balance is struck between helicopter operations and the impact of aviation noise on communities located beneath established helicopter routes.

The Government’s overall policy on aviation noise is to balance the economic and consumer benefits of aviation against its social and health implications.

The Air Navigation Guidance 2017 provided by the Department to the Civil Aviation Authority urges helicopter operators to fly with consideration for communities that may live under their flightpath. The Department has also sought to encourage pilots to follow other available guidance, such as that produced by the British Helicopter Association which encourages pilots to fly as high as possible within safety and operational limits.

Aircraft and traffic noise is not included as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Government believes it is not practical for local authorities to enforce noise from these sources, and that aviation noise is better managed through specific Government policies tailored to individual noise sources. Powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are devolved in Scotland.