The operator of London Heathrow Airport has denied claims that it plans to allow an additional 7,500 flights to depart or arrive at night once the third runway is built.
BAA, which also runs six other UK-based airports, has refuted allegations made in The Sunday Times, which suggest that night flights would increase from 27,300 annually to 35,000 when Heathrow’s expansion is complete.
Presently, there are regulations controlling the type and number of planes that can operate at night, so most now depart between 11pm and 11.30pm or 6am and 7am.
A spokesman for BAA claimed that the government’s decision to allow the construction of a third runway by 2020, which will see total flights rise by 220,000, will not have “any impact” on night flight rules.
He told Passenger Terminal Today: “It is impossible to prejudge what night flights might or might not be permitted by a government policy decision in 2012 or beyond.”
