Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the rates of climb of aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport compared to other (a) UK and (b) European airports.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has not made any assessment of rates of climb from Heathrow airport compared to any other airports. The Government is aware of an independent report published last year on climb rates at Heathrow airport.

The airport is working with the industry and the CAA to understand the issues and what this means from a noise perspective. DfT sits on the Heathrow Noise Community Forum where this work programme is being taken forward.