Clause 2 - Regulation by Secretary of State
Civil Aviation Bill
4:00 pm
John Pugh (Shadow Minister, Transport; Southport, Liberal Democrat)
As I understand it, this is an amendment to an amendment to the Civil Aviation 1982. I read the original script fairly carefully. However one reads it, it appears that the sole, if not the main, tool with which one can mitigate the effect of traffic flights on people living near airports is by limiting the number of flights taking off, particularly at night.
The Government amendment appears to leave that tool there but to make it an option. The other option available is to limit the effect of noise on the surrounding airport by taking noise quotas into account. One is in effect replacing the clear criterion of movement—one knows how many planes have been in—by a less clear criterion. Presumably a quantum of noise is fixed and within that quantum there may be appreciable variation at inopportune times. That causes anxiety. It is not just a matter of what might be the subjective effect of particular noise, or how it might be felt in particular areas, but the fact that within that quantum there could be a significant and disturbing variation.
There is the suspicion that the Government intend to make it easier for big carriers to have more flights late at night, perhaps on quieter airlines that use quieter planes, but none the less to increase the total volume of traffic. There is an argument against doing that. There is a quite clear environmental argument that says that we should give an incentive to carriers not to increase the number of flights but to ensure that planes are run full at night rather than, as often happens, at only 80 per cent. or 70 per cent. capacity.
The Government could quite easily get rid of the suspicion by adopting a belt and braces approach. They could keep the limit on flights but bring that limit further down if those flights do not fit in with the noise quota. They can get round the difficulties that they have had in court over setting noise quotas and at the same time keep the advantages of the current system. From a tactical point of view too, as the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) pointed out, with consultation now going on about night flights, this is possibly not the right signal to send.
We support the amendment and would like some strong reassurance from the Government, which the public also wants, that this is not a kind of Trojan horse by which we can increase the total volume of air traffic under the excuse that it fits in with some overall noise ceiling.