Flight Paths Explained

• Heathrow is planning a new arrivals flight path directly over Bayswater from 2021/2022, irrespective of the third runway going ahead,
• The flight path will be directly over our area, which has not been directly overflown before,
• Arrivals concentrated in the early morning with 18 flights between 6:00-7:00 am directly above our homes. Sometimes earlier!
• Planes will be on a very low landing path at only 2000ft to 3000ft above our heads,
• Heathrow’s consultation papers show that some airplane noise levels in our area will exceed 65 decibels. This compares to the noise a vacuum cleaner makes 1m away. Between 6am - 7am we will hear a plane roughly every three minutes roaring above our bedrooms, interrupting our sleep.

To experience the noise level video please visit: https://vimeo.com/480369448

A bit more background:

Whether Heathrow gets a third runway or remains a two-runway airport, they will be introducing the biggest changes to flight paths since it opened back in 1946. These changes are enabled by new Independent Parallel Approach (IPA) technology and driven by Heathrow’s desire to increase its international transit business (passengers that only change flights in Heathrow) and its cargo business. Irrespective of a third runway, Heathrow is seeking to increase its flight capacity by 25,000 a year, mostly arrival flights between 6am and 7am (the busiest hour of the day).

To be able to do so Heathrow has to introduce new flight paths over London. This will mean new flight paths at low altitude over West London areas that are not currently overflown, particularly Bayswater which has not previously been directly overflown.

For more information on these new flightpaths please visit the official website

An IPA allows aircraft to land simultaneously on both of Heathrow’s existing two runways during busy periods. The busiest flight arrival time for Heathrow is between 6am and 7am. The ‘IPA A1’ flight route affecting Bayswater (see diagram above) is one of Heathrow’s new flight paths for the northern runway during aircraft landings in westerly operations. Westerly operations are in place when the wind blows from the West, roughly 70% of the year. The introduction of ‘IPA A1’ will cause excessive noise pollution to Bayswater, which has never previously suffered aircraft landing noise.
In summary: Bayswater residents will have arriving aircraft as low as 2000ft above their roofs with an arrival approximately every 3 minutes between 6am and 7am. After 7am there is an expected maximum of 6 aircraft per hour on the ‘IPA A1’ flight path until 11pm.