Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the risk to local buildings from larger commercial aircraft using RAF Northolt.

There are no plans to increase the size of Business Aviation aircraft using RAF Northolt which will continue to be accepted under the existing strict terms and conditions in place.

The risk to buildings near to RAF Northolt is managed by strict adherence to safeguarding regulations which determine the size and height of buildings that can be built in the vicinity of the station including approach and departure paths. This protects both aircraft and those on the ground. The regulations are outlined in "The town and country planning (safeguarded aerodromes, technical sites and military explosives storage areas) direction 2002" and the "Manual of Aerodrome Design and Safeguarding".