---

Civil Aviation Bill

Clause 2 amends section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, which enables the Secretary of State to take steps to limit or mitigate the effect of noise and vibration connected with the taking off or landing of aircraft at designated airports. The current legislation—section 78(3) of the 1982 Act—requires that the operating restrictions set for that purpose include a numerical limit on aircraft movements. At present, therefore, the night-flying restrictions at the designated airports—currently Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted—are based on both a numerical movements limit and a noise quota set for each summer and winter season. The noise quota is designed to encourage the use of quieter aircraft. In the White Paper, ““The Future of Air Transport””, the Government said that we would amend the current legislation, so that operating restrictions could be set on a different basis in future—for example, one more directly related to the noise nuisance caused. That is what clause 2 will achieve.