Stansted 'extra noise for 2p savings'
05.11.09
Airlines are depriving residents of their peace and quiet to save just 2 pence per passenger, campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) says. A new departure procedure means airlines have been ordering their pilots to climb slower, meaning that they fly lower for longer over villages including Hatfield Heath, Hatfield Broad Oak and the Hallingburys in a bid to save fuel. The manoeuvre cuts costs and reduces carbon emissions.
The campaigners have calculated that the average fuel saving is about 6.5kg for each aircraft using this new departure procedure, based on a recent Cranfield University report for the Department for Transport on the potential for aircraft to achieve fuel savings during take-off and on figures published by the EU Environment Agency on the amount of fuel used by various aircraft types during the take-off phase.
The protesters estimate a saving of 6.5kg is worth about £2.65, and since the average aircraft leaving Stansted is carrying 135 passengers, SSE says the saving is less than 2 pence per passenger. In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, the saving is less than one tenth of one per cent of Stansted’s annual emissions, it adds.
The group say the procedure is also in breach of Government policy as set down in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper aimed at ‘encouraging airport operators, airlines and air traffic managers to adopt the cleanest and quietest operational practices’.
To book a stansted airport hotel or stansted airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great stansted airport car parking and stansted airport hotel price comparison pages.
