---

Civil Aviation Bill

Lords amendment No. 1 was made by the Lords in the belief that aerodrome operators would not voluntarily make use of the provisions in the Bill to fix their charges by reference to the noise or emissions of aircraft. The Government take a different view. The power to charge by reference to noise has been available to airports since 1982 and many of the larger airports already use it, such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The provisions of the Bill have been brought forward to provide clear powers for airports to fix their charges by reference to aircraft emissions as well as aircraft noise. I am confident that airports will, again, make use of these provisions when appropriate, with no need for compulsion from the Government. The Government’s policy for many years—not solely under the current Administration—has been that the local issue of the environmental impact of an airport should be resolved locally whenever possible. That policy reflects the diverse nature of airports and their operations. There are more than 140 licensed aerodromes in the United Kingdom to which the provisions of clause 1 will apply. They range from the busiest international airport in the world—Heathrow—to airports with only a handful of flights a day. Lords amendment No. 1, which would place an absolute duty upon airport operators to fix their charges with reference to the noise or emissions of aircraft, would run the risk of placing an undue regulatory burden on some airports, especially small airports. Not all airports are located or used in such a way that nuisance is caused to others. It will not always be appropriate to charge by reference to noise, for instance if the airport is used by only one class of aircraft causing comparable amounts of noise.