Consultation plans have been published that would see major changes to the flight paths around some of the UK’s busiest airports.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is to look into how aircraft operate around a region that covers a large part of London and southern and eastern England, an area with a population of 12 million people.
NATS is seeking feedback on its proposals before submitting then to the UK airspace regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, who will then make a decision on if aircraft flight paths should be re-routed.
Many of the UK’s most popular airports fall under the proposals, including Heathrow, Stansted and Luton and NATS says change is needed due to the increase in the number of flights now operating out of the region.
The redrawing of the routes will enable them to operate more efficiently and also provide an opportunity to establish flight paths that would avoid passing over as many towns and villages as possible, especially at lower levels.
The consultation period runs until May 22 and it will seek the views of local people living near the airports via a special Airspace Change Proposal website set-up by NATS, which offers details of the proposed changes and lets people send comments and feedback.
