Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of the the effect of new flight path design envelopes for Heathrow airport on (1) air quality, (2) decibel levels, and (3) house prices in (a) Chiswick, (b) Hammersmith, (c) Acton, and (d) Ealing.

Airports are responsible for the specific arrangements for low-level flightpaths and proposals to alter these arrangements must be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Airspace Change Process. The Department fopr Transport has oversight of this process, and published revised air navigation guidance in 2017 underpinning the process, to ensure that a full assessment of the health effects of proposals to change flight paths is carried out.

This guidance requires airports who are seeking to make alterations to their flightpath arrangements to assess the impacts of different design options from an environmental perspective addressing issues such as aircraft noise and emissions. There is also a requirement for airports to consult with those communities who may be affected by the proposed changes to airspace and to take their views into account when finalising their proposals. This will then be taken into consideration by the CAA when making its final regulatory decision on the proposal.

Heathrow Airport Limited is responsible for taking forward the airspace arrangements it needs and is currently at the start of the second stage of the process, which is ‘Option Development’.