Record breaking Stansted stays on track

Latest statistics from London Stansted Airport have revealed a record number of planes departed the airport flying on track during 2011. The record year also saw more aircraft reducing their noise impacts on approach to landing.

Figures published by Stansted's aircraft noise department show that in 2011, over 99 percent of all aircraft taking off from the airport kept to their flight path and 94 percent performed a Continuous Descent Approach during landing - beating the targets set. 

Head of Planning and Sustainability at Stansted Airport, Dr Andy Jefferson, said:

“It's fantastic to see such an excellent performance by our airlines here at Stansted. Our noise work is one of Stansted’s real success stories but we’ll continue to work hard to minimise the effects as far as we possibly can. 

“These extremely high levels of track keeping is a direct result of working closely with the aviation industry, our airline partners and with the members of our independent motoring body, the Noise and Track Keeping Working Group*. We are committed to seeking further improvements and exploring opportunities that will allow our modern fleet of quiet and fuel efficient aircraft to fully utilise their state of the art on-board navigation systems.”

The airport constantly monitors aircraft noise levels, flight paths and responds to public complaints.  It produces a monthly log of track keeping performance for each airline, and there is an extra incentive for airlines as they can be fined for deviating off track. The money funds local community causes.

The procedure known as a Continuous Descent Approach or CDA encourages airlines to descend gradually when coming into land, reducing noise, fuel burn and emissions.