Operational Freedoms trial
Details of Phase 2 confirmed at Heathrow
Details of Phase 2 of the Operational Freedoms trial were announced by the Minister of State for Transport, Theresa Villiers, on 15 May 2012 as part of a Written Ministerial Statement (see dft.gov.uk). Following a recommendation by the CAA, the Minister also confirmed a 6 month extension of Phase 2 which will now run from 1 July 2012 to 31 March 2013.
The trial is a recommendation of the Government’s South East Airport Taskforce which was set up in 2010. It explores whether new procedures can be used to bring benefits to passengers, by providing a more punctual service; the local community through less late-running flights; and to the environment, by reducing aircraft stacking times and reducing emissions.
Findings from Phase 1
Phase 1 of the trial ran between 1 November 2011 – 29 February 2012. A report into Phase 1 (3.88MB PDF) has been produced by BAA, as well as Appendix 14 which explains the effects on noise (7.99MB PDF). As part of its role overseeing the two phases of the Operational Freedoms trial, the CAA has produced a report on Phase 1 of the trial. The report can be found at www.caa.co.uk/apfg
Trial details
Data collection
Data is being collected and produced throughout the trial on a daily and monthly basis. Daily and monthly data reports from Phase 1 are available at heathrowtrial.com. Phase 2 data will be available from July 2012.
General Q&A
Q: What is the South East Airports Taskforce?
A: This was set up by the Government in 2010, after the Coalition Government cancelled plans for a third runway at Heathrow and said that it would not allow new runways at Gatwick and Stansted.
Part of SEAT’s work was to look at ways to improve punctuality and reduce aircraft delays, particularly at Heathrow. Heathrow is the most constrained of the three main London airports. Passengers are often delayed because aircraft circle the skies in holding stacks as there is limited runway or stand availability at the airport. This means delays frequently build up at Heathrow.
Similarly, busy terminals mean that planes are often late leaving the airport. The result of this is that there are flights regularly leaving Heathrow after 23:00, despite the last departure being scheduled at 22:30. These late flights can be very disruptive to local residents.
The report published by SEAT in July 2011 covers a range of issues, including work to improve security and the immigration processes. It also sets out the rationale for the trial that will run at Heathrow during 2011/2012, but does not define what procedures should be used.
Q: Which communities will be impacted by these trials and what will be the impacts on them?
A: The communities most affected are those located close to the ends of Heathrow’s runways and those under the final landing approaches to the airport.
This trial will not mean any increase in the number of flights at Heathrow – Heathrow will remain capped at 480,000 aircraft movements a year. Possible impacts and benefits to local communities include:
- Loss of respite periods - the number of flights out of the usual runway alternation pattern may increase.
- The use of early vectoring and dual departures could mean the number of late-running flights after 23:00 will reduce.
- The trial will be used during both easterly and westerly operations. There will be occasions therefore when the northern runway is used for departures in an easterly direction. At present, this does not occur.
- Aircraft emissions may reduce if aircraft spend less time in holding stacks.
Q: How will the trial be monitored and what data will be shared publicly?
A: The impacts of the trial will be carefully monitored and measured. The Government has appointed the CAA to have oversight of the trial and they will review the data collected at the end of the trial.
Data is being produced on a daily and monthly basis. Daily data reports are available at heathrowtrial.com. A report will also be produced at the end of the trial.
Q: What safeguards have been agreed for the trial?
A number of safeguards and limitations have been agreed by the DfT and CAA and to ensure that the trial is bounded. These are as follows:
- There will be no increase in the flights at Heathrow – the airport is capped at 480,000 flights a year.
- There will be no increase in the hourly scheduled capacity of the airport during the trials.
- In the context of this trial, BAA has undertaken to only use two runways for arrivals or two runways for departures at any one time and not to test two operating scenarios concurrently.
Additional safeguards have been agreed with the DfT for particular Operational Freedoms in Phase 2 and are set out within each explanation of these procedures .
Further information
The procedures being trialled at Heathrow have the potential to bring benefits to passengers, by providing a more punctual service; to the local community through less late-running flights; and to the environment, by reducing aircraft staking times and reducing emissions.
Heathrow has a dedicated team that will answer your specific queries regarding aircraft noise – please contact 0800 344844 or email noise_complaints@baa.com.
For general feedback about the trials, please email or call BAA’s Community Relations team on 020 8745 5791 or heathrowcommunityrelations@baa.com.
For information on the South East Airports Task Force visit www.dft.gov.uk/publications/south-east-airports-taskforce
