It’s long been scientifically established that noise can be bad for your health. Traffic and industrial noise have received a lot of attention but aircraft noise is increasingly regarded as a risk. Studies are showing that it can lead to an increased risk of heart disease. Poor sleep is well known to be a health risk.
So, aircraft noise is not just a nuisance, it can be bad for you even if you don’t think you are bothered by it. See this item on the BBC website here.
We are seeing a large increase in the number of noise complaints going to Newcastle Airport via our website – thank you all for doing this, it really helps. We also don’t know (yet) how many complaints are going direct to the Airport that we don’t see. We’ve asked for those figures.
The replies the Airport sends in response to complaints all tell you that the aircraft was on the right track, in the right place. This is their default standard response. What they haven’t acknowledged yet is that it’s the positioning and the narrowness of the flightpath that’s the main problem. Or even that there is a problem!
You won’t see any immediate change as a result of your complaints – we are continuing to work on that. But it’s really important that you keep complaining so that the Airport can’t claim that it is running an operation that everybody is happy with. Aircraft noise is a major health issue and we need to keep pressurising them to make changes.
We are also beginning to see a few more night flights after 11 p.m., some in the early hours - not many but they are noticeable. We know that the aviation industry is pressing for increases in night flights so we will be keeping a close eye on this and hoping that these flights are not the thin end of the wedge (see below).
There are no planning or other restrictions on flights into and out of Newcastle Airport. This means that the Airport can, in theory, fly planes in and out at any time of day or night if it so chooses.
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