Written question asked by Lord Rowe-Beddoe (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Adonis (Labour) on Monday, 26 October 2009.

Aviation: Flight Paths

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Adonis on 19 October (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 436-38), what other world capitals, of a similar or greater density and quantity of population to London, have flight paths for arriving aircraft at their principal airport passing over their centre or legislative buildings.

Answer: This information is not held by Her Majesty’s Government. UK airspace planning and regulation is a matter for the independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In discharging its duties, the CAA approves only flight profiles that are safe and which conform to internationally agreed International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements as well as national regulations. Inevitably, this results in some over-flight of built up areas by flights servicing UK airports. Aircraft operators—subject to any safety and airspace constraints—are actively encouraged to follow a continuous descent procedure (CDA) for arrivals into UK airports. CDA has been endorsed by both Government and industry as a key noise mitigation method for arriving aircraft.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 5799; 713 c101WA
Session: 2008-09
Related items: Airports: Heathrow
Monday, 19 October 2009
Oral questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Aviation Air routes Safety Urban areas
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk