Albury Parish Council MAG Stansted Airport Night Flights Objection

We are writing to you regarding the MAG request to seek relaxation of the current night flight restrictions for its operations at Stansted Airport from October 2026.

After careful consideration and with a balanced view on the employment and business benefits Stansted Airport contributes to the area. As a Parish Council representing the views of residents that live under the BUZAD NPR we hereby tender our objection to the MAG request to relax the current night flight restrictions.

Our view as a Parish Council is as follows:

Proposed Option 1 – to remove all restrictions for night flights on October 2026 would be catastrophic to the health and well-being of residents. Whilst the government study and paper is due to be published in 2025, which will conclude the outcome of a comprehensive study into night flight impact on health, we conclude based on lived experience, that night flights already impact residents’ health. Given the fact that CDA is not used for any flights when using BUZAD, the residents are already subjected to noise levels higher than those at Heathrow and Gatwick. With the parish being in a rural area, this noise is amplified by the quiet ambience with no background traffic or urban noise to counterbalance the effects. Therefore, it would seem logical that any flights throughout the night would wake residents, disrupt sleep and impact in a negative manner on those affected.

WE STRONGLY OBJECT TO OPTION 1.

Proposed Option 2 – Remove the controls on October 2025 whilst keeping noise level limits. Whilst this option does keep noise level limits in place, due to the lack of CDA for BUZAD NPR and the night aircraft being predominantly 777 cargo planes, the limit would simply be for data purposes. The night flights would still impact negatively, with the 777 cargo planes, known within the industry as being particularly noisy with a piercing whine, the limit will not stop this disrupting noise.

WE STRONGLY OBJECT TO OPTION 2.

Proposed Option 3 – Keep all existing controls and limits.

WE STRONGLY URGE THAT OPTION 3 IS CHOSEN.

It is our opinion that restrictions to night flights should remain in place in the absence of convincing evidence that night flights are safer than current evidence and live experience suggest. We also note that the MAG application is also in direct contrast to Section 106 agreement with Uttlesford District Council planning agreement, that the airport under any owner/operator cannot seek a relaxation of night flight restrictions. As such, we find that the application is disingenuous and seeks profit over people and their health. Stansted already has 13,700 night flights permitted per year, versus 5,800 at Heathrow and as such this level seems already to Stansted Airport’s advantage and we urge MAG to improve the efficiency of their operations, rather than apply for more flights that will not only blight residents and rural areas but would be in direct contrast to the UK government target to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030.