Aircraft noise at night

The Government states that there should be “a balance between the local and national economic and consumer benefits of night flights” and measures to protect people from the associated aircraft noise. The Department for Transport’s 2021 consultation on future night noise policy provided little or no evidence of economic benefits, although York Aviation published a report, commissioned by industry, in which it set out a number of claims about the economic value of night flights to airlines, airports, and the wider economy. To assess these findings, the Aviation Environment Trust commissioned a study from New Economics Foundation (NEF). NEF found that York Aviation’s assessment fails to take into account critical economic impacts in the domains of noise, greenhouse gases, and outbound tourism. Furthermore, “York Aviation’s estimates of business productivity impacts are dramatically overstated, out of step with the latest academic research, and contain methodological vulnerabilities which have not been sensitivity tested”, NEF found. For the full report, click here.