Luton Holding Stack
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NATS HAVE NOW ANNOUNCED PLANS FOR A NEW CONSULTATION DETAILS WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY AT I WILL UPDATE THIS SITE WHEN I HAVE MORE INFORMATION |
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What has NATS or National Air Traffic Services proposed? NATS has proposed changing the arrivals flight paths for Luton Airport. At the moment, aircraft travel to Luton south of us via a holding point near Royston (the Lorel stack). NATS wants to move that flight path to an area north of its current position. As part of that flight path, they have suggested that most aircraft arriving at Luton should be held in a hold or stack to await landing. Those aircraft could be held in a queue circling from 14,000 feet to as low as 7,000 feet above us. NATS says 'All arrivals have to plan to fly a route via a hold in case queuing is required' (part D para 5.1). NATS even admits that some aircraft might fly north past Luton, join the stack and then fly back south to Luton, without taking a direct route. What would that mean for us? This stack would be directly above our homes. NATS made clear in its original consultation document that normal operations would start as early as 6am and finish as late as midnight. During that period aircraft would land at the aiport at an average rate of 10.3 per hour or one every 6 minutes. At peak times, NATS expected aircraft to land at a rate of 25 per hour or 1 every 2.5 minutes. Even after midnight NATS estimates that 8-9 aircraft will land between 12am and 6am. How noisy would this be? NATS suggested that noise would range from 55dBA to 61dBA from each aircraft. To give an idea of how loud this is, NATS suggested that 60dBA is the noise generated by a busy general office. Bear in mind, though, that in rural areas there would be little or no background noise to offset the sound of aircraft, and the sound is from one aircraft not many. In other words, the sound would be very noticeable. It would also be continuous, as aircraft circle around the stack. What can you do? The deadline for making complaints about the original consultation has now passed. NATS has now published its initial feedback report. It can be downloaded from their website. Following that feedback process, they have announced a new consultation. The date it starts will be announced shortly. Last update: 23rd February 2009
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