Archived press release

Airport Campaigners Stage Sleep-In

27 February 2004

Campaigners today (Friday 27^th February) stage a 'sleep-in' outside a government conference on night flights [1] at the launch of a Europe-wide campaign to ban night flights at all European airports. Representatives of HACAN ClearSkies, Friends of the Earth and Stop Stansted Expansion will be joined by MPs and MEPs, including Caroline Lucas, Green MEP for South East England, who is launching the Europe-wide campaign [2].

Night noise from aircraft is proven to be responsible for sleep disturbance, increased heart rates, and day-after affects such as depressed moods [3]. The World Health Organisation recommends that night noise heard in bedrooms should not exceed 45 decibels. But the noise of a plane landing at an airport can be over 60 decibels, 15 miles away [4].

John Stewart, Chair of HACAN ClearSkies [5] said:

"Night flights are hugely unpopular. Most people believe they should be banned. It beggars belief that the dinosaurs from the Department for Transport should set aside a whole day for a conference like this. Of the 11 speakers on the conference agenda, 9 represent either government or the aviation industry."

Caroline Lucas said:

"Right across Europe people are calling for a ban on night flights. Today marks the start of a Europe-wide campaign to bring them to an end. There is considerable support within the European Parliament for a ban."

Friends of the Earth Aviation Campaigner Richard Dyer said:

"It's ironic that a `sleep in' demonstration outside a night flights conference will be the only opportunity that many of those protesting here today get to rest. Noise disturbance from aircraft is a serious and escalating health issue. People concerned about this nuisance should demand that their MEP supports the call for a Europe wide ban on night flights."

Friends of the Earth is urging people to email their MEPs to support the ban on night flights [6].

Notes

[1] The 'sleep-in' will take place opposite the Thistle Hotel in Buckingham Palace Road between 8.45 and 9.30am. The photo-call will be on Lower Belgrave Road opposite the hotel, just off Buckingham Palace Road. Campaigners will be dressed in night attire. The Conference, being organised by the Department for Transport, will be held in the Thistle Hotel from 9.30am until 4pm, with registration from 9.00am.

[2] Copies of a `Written Declaration' calling on the European Parliament to introduce legislation for a ban on night flights at all airports in the European Union between 11.00pm and 7.00am are available from Richard Dyer at Friends of the Earth.. If 318 MEPs from across Europe sign it, it will be debated in the European Parliament before the European Elections in June.

At a Europe-wide Conference of campaign organisations, co-hosted by Caroline Lucas, night flights were regarded as one of the biggest problems facing community groups across Europe. Few major airports have no night flights. Direct comparisons are difficult because countries define 'night' in different ways. But the number of night flights ranges from 16 at Heathrow (overflying 500,000 people - more than anywhere else in Europe) to over 100 at Frankfurt. At the UK airports, night flight numbers per night average out over the year at Heathrow (16), East Midlands (60 mostly freight), Gatwick (over 40) and Stansted (over 30) - with the latter two airports, there are many more flights in the summer than in winter.

[3]Reported in `Public Health Impacts of Large Airports' - Health Council of the Netherlands (1999)

[4] From 'Guidelines for Community Noise', published by the World Health Organisation (2000).

[5] HACAN ClearSkies, which represents residents under the Heathrow flight path, took the UK Government to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, arguing that night flights were a breach of Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention which entitles individuals to the peaceful enjoyment of their own homes. In October 2001, the Court ruled in HACAN ClearSkies' favour. But the UK Government appealed and, last year, the Appeal Court ruled in its favour. Later this year the Department for Transport is expected to consult on the night flight regime between 2005 and 2010 at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick.

[6] See www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/transport/press_for_change/night_flights/

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust