‘Local communities may be affected by noise as airlines will see a change to the routes they fly’ says operations director at Luton London Airport.

Plans have been announced by London Luton Airport’s (LLA) to create a ‘holding stack’ above the skies of Huntingdon.

The proposals have been put forward by LLA and National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and ‘holding stack’ and the airport admits people living in Huntingdon, St Ives, Alconbury could be affected by the noise.

The proposal is part of a 15-week public consultation to help determine new arrival routes for flights into LLA, which was launched yesterday October 19.

Neil Thompson, operations director at London Luton Airport, said: “Any airspace change can have impacts for a wide variety of people.

“Local communities may be affected by noise, airlines will see a change to the routes that they fly and local airspace users may see changes too.

“That’s why over the last 18 months we’ve been working hard with NATS, local community representatives, airlines and others to help develop the final proposals in this consultation. “It’s now really important that we hear from the wider community during the 15-week consultation.”

LLA currently shares arrival routes and holds with Stansted, a unique and unsustainable situation for airports of this size in the UK.

Any delay at one airport, either in the air or on the ground, impacts the other and can cause additional delay, noise and carbon emissions.

The proposed changes will separate routes further out and higher up and create a new hold for Luton arrivals, to ensure that operations for Luton and Stansted don’t impact each other.

Lee Boulton, head of Swanwick Development, NATS, said: “The number of flights into London Luton Airport has increased significantly in recent years and our controllers have had to delay aircraft and manually manage each flight to ensure safety.

“This proposal is all about ensuring safely and the consultation is a great opportunity for people to give us their feedback and help shape the proposed options, so that the airspace around the Airport operates more effectively into the future.”

To comply with COVID-19 health and safety restrictions, representatives from LLA and NATS will host a number of webinars and virtual meetings throughout the consultation period to present the details of the proposal to local communities, airspace users, businesses and MPs.

The consultation runs from October 19 2020 until February 5 2021. Responses can be made using the form on the CAA Website: https://consultations.airspacechange.co.uk/london-luton-airport/ad6_luton_arrivals