Following Crispin Blunt’s continuing efforts pressing for urgent changes to the Gatwick westerly departure flight path, Gatwick Airport have finally indicated an implementation time at the end of May for the new flight path recommended by the Civil Aviation Authority last year.
In November the CAA Board adopted a recommendation on departure Route 4, paving the way for a new (Noise Preferential) Route to be implementation by Gatwick Airport from the end of May 2016. This will make the Standard Instrument Departure turning circle tighter and ensure that planes taking off to the west and heading east, fly back over the constituency further to the south, avoiding the densely populated urban areas of Reigate and Redhill.
Gatwick Airport presented the new flight path plans to the public at a community drop-in at Reigate Manor Hotel on 7th March and will be repeating the exercise at The Burford Bridge Hotel in Dorking on 15th March from 6pm onwards.
Crispin Blunt commented:
“This is a good result which should mean that noise pollution will be less concentrated over the densely populated areas of south Reigate and Redhill from June onwards. It is astonishing that it has taken so long to implement a new flight path since concerns were raised in 2014.
“I will continue to monitor the impact of this and other concentrated PR-NAV satellite based routes from local airports and I have made representations to Government seeking a policy which provides for greater dispersal and multiple respites for affected areas so as to alleviate aviation noise on local communities in the future.
“I also look forward to Gatwick’s review of all its departure flight paths during the course of this year.”