LADACAN
LADACAN is a residents’ group primarily concerned with the impact of Luton Airport on the surrounding communities. We believe that the Airport’s location is unsuited to its purpose and oppose further growth in air traffic. More details about LADACAN and its views can be found on other pages of our web site which can be accessed through the navigation buttons on the left.
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How to really offset the climate change impact of your flight:
NATS consultation closed
The consultation on flight path and hold changes being carried out by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) closed on 19 June. LADACAN’s response can be found here.
NATS expects to publish its report on the consultation in July and is then expected to apply to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for permission to implement its plans.
The information we published on this web site during the consultation has been archived.
Yet more noise - official
While the NATS consultation was going on, the Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) for 2007 was published by Luton Borough Council and the Airport. This shows that the noise which the Airport inflicts on its neighbours has increased dramatically.
Even the wholly inadequate average noise indicator beloved of the aviation industry and governments demonstrates the increase: the number of people suffering high noise levels during the daytime rose by nearly half between 2006 and 2007.
The number suffering high noise levels at night increased by 17 per cent and the number of flights complained about rose by 83 per cent. As in 2006, many of these complaints arise from helicopter movements which have been an increasing source of disturbance since the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) lowered the minimum height at which they can fly over built-up areas from 1,000 feet to 500 feet.
The only good news is that the rate of increase in passenger numbers has slowed for the second year running and is now at about half the rate of the last 5 years.
Airport jobs outlook is bleak
The Annual Monitoring Report for 2007 estimates that the number of jobs around the Airport increased to 8,800 from 7,700 in 2006. However, as the area surveyed to produce the figures has been expanded to include Wigmore Place for the first time, the numbers are not directly comparable.
Even when this apparent increase is added to the data used to predict future prospects for job generation, the outlook for Airport-related employment does not improve. Applying methods used by consultants Halcrow for the East of England Plan, we show that job numbers can be expected to remain static until around 2015 and then to slowly decline as growth in passenger numbers peaks and productivity improvements continue to bite.
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Luton & District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise - site updated 06 July, 2008
