FLIGHT PERFORMANCE TEAM REPORT 2012 - Gatwick Airport · Flight Performance Team Report 2012 Tables A3 and A4 show how the direction of the airport’s operations varies from month

F L I G H T P E R F O R M A N C E T E A M R E P O R T 2 0 1 2

Flight Performance Team Report 2012

Contents:

Section AAir Traffic Movement data 3

Section BNight flights 5

Section CArrivals and departures 9

Section DAircraft noise 17

Section EComplaints 19Glossary of terms 21

Gatwick Airport is the UK’s second largest airport and the busiest single-runwayinternational airport in theworld. It has about 90 airlinesserving more than 200destinations in 90 countries.During 2012 around 34 millionpassengers passed through the airport.

It is also a major economicdriver for the South-East region,generating around 23,000 on-airport jobs and a further13,000 jobs through relatedactivities. The airport is 28 milessouth of London with excellentpublic transport links.

Gatwick Airport is owned by agroup of internationalinvestment funds, of whichGlobal Infrastructure Partners isthe controlling shareholder.Over the next 10 years we wantGatwick to become London’sairport of choice, deliveringgreat service to more than 40million passengers each year.

Security, safety and responsiblymanaging our environmentalimpact are always our toppriorities.

2 Introduction

About this report This report is produced by Gatwick’s Flight PerformanceTeam (FPT). This team is responsible for recording,investigating and responding to aircraft noise enquiries aswell as monitoring airline compliance to noise mitigationmeasures as detailed in the UK Aeronautical InformationPublication (UK AIP). This department also actively engageswith the airlines to improve their adherence to the abovenoise mitigation measures and in addition manages thenight-time restrictions on flying at Gatwick.

This report contains detailed data on aircraft activity at Gatwick including the fleet mix, direction of operation of the airport, the number and types of night flights that took place, aircraft adherence to the noise mitigationmeasures detailed in the UK AIP and also an analysis ofcomplaints received during the year.

The majority of this data is circulated throughout the yearto various committees including the Flight OperationsPerformance & Safety Committee (FLOPSC), the Noise &Track Monitoring Advisory Group (NaTMAG) and theGatwick Airport Consultative Committee (GATCOM).

For further information contact the Flight PerformanceTeam:

Freephone: 0800 393070

Email: [email protected]

Address: Flight Performance Team Destinations PlaceGatwick AirportWest SussexRH6 0NP


This section of Gatwick’s FPT Report providesdetailed statistics on the number and types of aircraft operating in and out of the airport, as well as relevant information about runway usage and westerly-easterly operations during 2012 andprevious years.

Table A1 shows the average number of aircraftmovements per day at Gatwick during the past threeyears. Overall in 2012 there was a decrease of about2% in aircraft movements from 251,500 to 246,792.

As tends to be the case at Gatwick, the peak monthswere from July to September when on average therewere more than 780 movements per day.

Table A2 shows a breakdown of movements byaircraft type. In recent years increasing numbers ofmodern aircraft have operated at the airport andthat trend continued in 2012. The Airbus 319, whichis the main aircraft used by EasyJet, Gatwick’s largestoperator, was again the aircraft type with thegreatest number of movements. There were alsoincreased movements from the next three mostpopular planes flying from Gatwick, namely theBoeing 737-400, the Airbus 320 and the Boeing737-800.

Both the Airbus 380 and Boeing 787 Dreamlinermade visits to Gatwick during the year. A dedicatedstand for A380s is now operational at the airport.

The number of movements by Embraer ERJ195s,introduced at the airport by Flybe in 2007, continuedto rise in 2012. And, in keeping with the trend ofrecent years, there were fewer movements by older,noisier planes.

Table A2Annual aircraft movements by aircraft type

Aircraft Type 2010 2011 2012

Airbus 319 70,484 78,869 74,948Airbus 320 27,359 32,930 42,112Boeing 737-400 32,032 33,868 31,931Boeing 737-800 16,915 19,543 23,671DHC-8/Dash 8-300/400 18,665 13,679 11,727Boeing 757 15,532 14,044 10,761Boeing 777 7,378 7,959 8,734Airbus 321 9,214 6,823 7,605Embraer ERJ195 9,528 9,776 5,373Airbus 330 5,316 4,923 4,645Embraer EMB175 38 164 3,964ATR 72 3,240 3,834 3,716Boeing 747-400 4,207 3,875 3,694Boeing 737-300 5,607 5,449 2,853Boeing 767-300 3,147 2,236 1,913Airbus 300 1,690 1,813 1,595Boeing 737-500 1,183 1,198 1,062Boeing 737-700 3,100 2,586 1,000Boeing 767-400 370 1,420 993Others 780 842 921Canadair Jet 1,796 1,930 480Cessna Citation 548 580 464Boeing 747-300 Feighter 445Fokker 100 248 286 340Airbus 310 542 328 334Airbus 340 42 175 245Gulfstream 208 192 238Dassault Falcon 67 203 228Hawker 125 258 232 203Bombardier Chall 132Boeing 767-200 464 244 74Learjet 182 134 72Arvoliner RJ series 38 48 62Airbus 318 62Embraer EMB190 304 60Embraer EMB135 38 59 48MD 80 all series 107 120 38Boeing 737-600 292 302 36Illyushin IL96 86 102 32DC10 all series 0 0 0M90 0 0 0Boeing 737-200 0 0 0Boeing 747-300 0 0 0Boeing 747-200 0 0 0

Total 240,505 251,070 246,811*

*These figures are taken from the airport’s stand allocation system and willdiffer slightly from runway movements.

Table A1Average number of aircraft movements per day

2010 2011 2012

January 542 595 558February 618 618 578March 619 633 610April 549 697 675May 695 726 719June 744 761 764July 771 789 789August 793 808 808September 766 780 781October 704 706 702November 583 556 549December 517 579 555

Table A3Monthly runway modal split, 2012

Month Movements Westerly Easterly

January 17,306 74.1% 25.9%February 16,760 64.8% 35.2%March 18,895 55.4% 44.6%April 20,244 60.4% 39.6%May 22,274 54.0% 46.0%June 22,919 66.0% 34.0%July 24,451 86.9% 13.1%August 25,043 82.2% 17.8%September 23,432 87.7% 12.3%October 21,775 56.3% 43.7%November 16,481 81.8% 18.2%December 17,212 83.2% 16.8%

3 Section A: Air Traffic Movement data

4


Tables A3 and A4 show how the direction of the airport’soperations varies from month to month due to winddirection. In 2012, the highest percentage of westerlyoperations was in September and the highest easterly usagewas in May. The westerly-easterly split for 2012 was 71% infavour of westerly operations, which is comparable to thelong-term average of 70% in favour of westerly operations.

In any given month, the percentage of westerly operationscan vary dramatically and there has been no set patternover the years – as Table A4 shows. The month with thehighest percentage of westerly operations since 1998occurred in December 2011 and similarly high figures wererecorded in July 2010 and August 2009. The lowestpercentage of westerly operations remains May 2008.

Table A5 shows the annual westerly-easterly split over thelast six years. The average split in 2012 operations was71.3% westerly and 28.3% easterly, which is slightly higherthan the previous year.

Northern runway useDuring any given year of Gatwick’s operations, there areoccasions when the main runway is temporarily closed foruse, for example during maintenance projects. When thishappens, operations are switched to the northern (standby)runway. The two runways are not used simultaneously.

Table A6 shows northern runway usage over the past sixyears. In 2012, there was a significant increase in the usageof the runway on previous years, both in terms of thenumber of days it was used and the number ofmovements. This was due to the main runway beingresurfaced over the course of several months from April toOctober. Most of these works took place during theevening and night time between 21:30 and 04:30. Usage ofthe northern runway, particularly during the night period,usually has an adverse affect on Gatwick’s joining point andContinuous Descent Approach performance (CDA reducesnoise from arriving aircraft by keeping them higher forlonger). The reason for the adverse effect is that thenorthern runway is not equipped with Instrument LandingSystem (ILS) equipment.

Aircraft go-aroundsOn some occasions it is not possible for an inbound aircraftto land. In these circumstances the aircraft will abort thelanding, carrying out a procedure known as a go-around.There are a number of reasons for go-arounds but the mostcommon are when arriving aircraft are slow to leave therunway, departing aircraft are slow to roll and when someaircraft are unstable in the final stages of their approachdue to adverse weather conditions.

Table A6Use of northern runway

Year Days used Movements % of annual movements

2007 70 1,286 0.482008 71 1,008 0.382009 101 904 0.362010 73 1,012 0.422011 102 2,444 0.972012 267 14,836 6.01

Table A7Aircraft go-arounds

Year Go-arounds % of total arrivals

2007 434 0.332008 415 0.312009 455 0.362010 364 0.302011 386 0.312012 521 0.42

Table A5Annual split in easterly and westerly operations (%)

Table A4Variations in monthly runway modal split, April 1998-December 2012

Month Highest Westerly Lowest Westerly Range

January 2008 90.2% 2006 43.1% 47.1%February 2000 97.9% 2003 52.6% 45.3%March 1999 84.9 % 2001 54.6% 30.3%April 2001 82.9% 2007 36.3% 46.6%May 2003 86.9% 2008 15.1% 71.8%June 2002 89.9% 2006 54.3% 35.6%July 2010 96.9% 2006 57.6% 39.3%August 2009 93.2% 2003 50.4% 42.8%September 2012 87.7% 2002 32.0% 48.6%October 2000 93.1% 2007 42.6% 50.5%November 2006 92.1% 2003 63.4% 28.7%December 2011 98.8% 2001 48.5% 50.3%

20%

30%

40%

0%

10%

50%

60%

80%

100%

Westerly

Easterly

90%

70%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Table A7 shows aircraft go-arounds for the past six years.The increase in go-arounds during 2012 was due to thelarge number of flights that used the northern runway,which is not equipped with an ILS.

5 Section B: Night flights


Night flights are classified as those which take off and landbetween 23:00 and 07:00 (known as the night restrictionsperiod). Government restrictions specify that between23:30 and 06:00 (known as the night quota period), aircraftmovements are restricted by both a movements limit and anoise quota. During the night quota period, a limitednumber of flights are allowed and the noisiest aircraft arenot allowed to fly. This system encourages the airlines whodo want to fly at night to use quieter, more modern aircraft.

The noise quota of an individual type of aircraft is based onits official certification data, with separate classifications forlanding and take-off in the form of quota count (QC)values. Table B1 shows the different QC categories. Thenew night restriction period, which began in Winter2006/07, established a new QC0.25 category whichreclassified some QC0.5 and QC0 aircraft as QC0.25.

In general terms, the smaller or newer the aircraft, thelower its QC value will be. For each aircraft type, thedeparture QC tends to be higher than that for arrival. Thetotal number of all aircraft movements in the night quotaperiod over the last 24 seasons is shown in Table B2 (seenext page). The table is subdivided into arrivals anddepartures and the totals include all aircraft subject tomovement and quota limits, as well as those exempt orgranted dispensation.

In the Summer 2012 period the number of night quotaperiod movements was similar to those in Summer 2011 butremained well below the number of night quotamovements in the Summer season from 2004-2008. Thenumber of movements during the Winter 2012/13 seasonwas slightly higher than the previous year, whichrepresented the smallest number of winter night flights forten years.

Planes with a QC0 classification are also known as exemptaircraft as they do not count against either the movementor QC limits. Aircraft can also be granted a dispensation tooperate during the night quota period but only in specialcircumstances.

Tables B3 and B4 show exempt aircraft and dispensedmovements. The significant reduction in the overall numberof movements from the Winter 2006/07 season onwardsshown in Table B3 is the result of some previously exemptaircraft being reclassified as QC0.25 aircraft. In the Summer2012 and Winter 2012/13 periods there were similarnumbers of exempt night-time movements to the previousyear. Table B4 shows that in the 2012/13 season, as in theprevious year, there were no flight dispensations granted bythe Department for Transport (DfT). Dispensations can beallowed for exceptional reasons such as alleviating terminalcongestion or preventing passenger hardship, based on DfTguidelines.

Movement limits and noise quotasThe usage and allocation of night movements and quotacounts for the previous 22 seasons are shown in Tables B5and B6. The Winter 2006/07 season was the first to operateunder the DfT’s new quotas and movement limits and thefigures from that season onwards include the new QC0.25category.

The introduction of the new quota and movement limitsmeant a reduction in the number of movements permittedand QC allowance. Figure B7 shows that compared toSummer 2011 the average QC rating remained relativelystable and continued the trend for quieter aircraft used atnight. However in the Winter 2012/13 season there was anincrease in the average QC rating. Compared to theprevious years, there were a similar number of QC0.25 andQC2 movements but there was an increase in the numberof QC0.5 and QC1 types of aircraft. As a result, inpercentage terms, the overall QC rating for Winter 2012/13has increased.

Table B8 (on page 8) shows a breakdown of nightmovements and QC usage by category from 2007 onwards.As already mentioned, more airlines are now operating inthe QC0.25 category. Although QC4 aircraft can stilloperate at night, they have not been allowed to operatescheduled flights during this period since October 2006.There were no QC4 movements during the Summer 2012or Winter 2012/13 seasons.

Table B9 (on page 7) shows the percentage of movementsin each QC category over the past 22 seasons. Comparedto the previous corresponding seasons, Summer 2012 saw asmall decrease in the percentage of QC0.25 and QC2movements but an increase in QC0.5 and QC1 usage.Around 80% of all movements were classified as QC0.5 orbelow. The Winter 2012/13 season saw a reduction inQC0.25 and QC2 usage and increases in QC0.5 and QC1usage. Just under 75% of movements in the season wererated at QC0.5 or less.

Table B1QC categories

Certificated noise level (EPNdB) Quota count QC

Less than 84 084 to 86.9 0.2587 to 89.9 0.590 to 92.9 193 to 95.9 296 to 98.9 499 to 101.9 8Greater than 101.9 16

6


Table B2Arrivals and departures in the night quota period

% % Season Arrivals Departures Total arrivals departures Weeks

Summer 2001 8,812 2,726 11,538 76.40 23.60 31Winter 2001/02 2,504 775 3,279 76.40 23.60 22Summer 2002 7,457 2,488 9,946 75.00 25.00 30Winter 2002/03 2,638 727 3,365 78.40 21.60 22Summer 2003 7,352 2,151 9,503 77.40 22.60 30Winter 2003/04 2,283 776 3,059 74.60 25.40 22Summer 2004 8,451 2,227 10,678 79.10 20.90 31Winter 2004/05 2,328 828 3,155 73.80 26.20 21Summer 2005 9,061 2,077 11,138 81.40 18.60 31Winter 2005/06 2,883 737 3620 79.60 20.40 21Summer 2006 9,442 1,873 11,315 83.45 16.55 31Winter 2006/07 2,475 309 2,784 88.90 11.10 21Summer 2007 8,866 1,416 10,282 86.20 13.80 31Winter 2007/08 2,575 416 2,991 86.10 13.90 22Summer 2008 8,883 1,735 10,618 83.66 16.34 30Winter 2008/09 1,993 274 2,267 87.91 12.09 22Summer 2009 7,084 1,371 9,175 85.06 14.94 30Winter 2009/10 2,013 289 2,302 87.45 12.55 22Summer 2010 8,893 1,102 9,995 88.97 11.01 31Winter 2010/11 1,790 281 2,251 87.52 12.48 21Summer 2011 8,448 1,496 9,944 84.96 15.04 31Winter 2011/12 1,332 141 1,473 90.43 9.57 21Summer 2012 8,616 1,313 9,929 86.78 13.22 31Winter 2012/13 1,463 193 1,656 90.20 9.80 22

Table B3Exempt aircraft movements

Season Movements

Summer 2002 584Winter 2002/03 389Summer 2003 525Winter 2003/04 329Summer 2004 429Winter 2004/05 156Summer 2005 199Winter 2005/06 363Summer 2006 379Winter 2006/07 50Summer 2007 107Winter 2007/08 50Summer 2008 83Winter 2008/09 62Summer 2009 74Winter 2009/10 103Summer 2010 74Winter 2010/11 43Summer 2011 85Winter 2011/12 62Summer 2012 92Winter 2012/13 53

Table B4Dispensations

Year Number of dispensations

2001/02 32002/03 42003/04 02004/05 02005/06 02006/07 182007/08 142008/09 72009/10 22010/11 332011/12 02012/13 0

Table B5Night movements limits and usage

Movements Actual Percentage use Season limit movements of movements

Summer 2002 11,200 9,358 83.55Winter 2002/03 5,250 2,976 56.69Summer 2003 11,200 8,978 80.16Winter 2003/04 5,250 2,730 52.00Summer 2004 11,200 10,249 91.50Winter 2004/05 5,250 3,000 57.14Summer 2005 11,200 10,939 97.67Winter 2005/06 5,250 3,257 62.04Summer 2006 11,200 10,918 97.48Winter 2006/07 3,250 2,734 84.12Summer 2007 11,200 10,173 90.83Winter 2007/08 3,250 2,240 68.92Summer 2008 11,200 10,618 94.8Winter 2008/09 3,250 2,145 66.00Summer 2009 11,200 9,099 81.24Winter 2009/10 3,250 2,199 67.66Summer 2010 11,200 9,875 88.17Winter 2010/11 3,250 2,160 66.46Summer 2011 11,200 9,859 88.03Winter 2011/12 3,250 1,411 43.42Summer 2012 11,200 9,837 87.83Winter 2012/13 3,250 1,603 49.32

7


Table B6Night QC allocation and usage

Season QC allocation QC use % use

Summer 2002 9,060 6,905.0 76.21Winter 2002/03 6,660 2,358.0 35.41Summer 2003 9,030 6,357.5 70.40Winter 2003/04 6,640 2,468.0 37.17Summer 2004 9,000 7,863.0 87.36Winter 2004/05 6,640 2,614.5 39.38Summer 2005 9,000 8,255.5 91.72Winter 2005/06 6,640 2,677.0 40.32Summer 2006 9,000 7,749.5 86.11Winter 2006/07 2,300 1,355.3 58.92Summer 2007 6,700 5,328.5 79.53Winter 2007/08 2,240 1,542.3 68.85Summer 2008 6,600 5,659.8 85.76Winter 2008/09 2,180 1,169.0 53.62Summer 2009 6,500 4,786.50 73.64Winter 2009/10 2,120 1,236.75 58.34Summer 2010 6,400 4,824 75.38Winter 2010/11 2,060 1,280.8 62.17Summer 2011 6,300 4,998.5 79.34Winter 2011/12 2,000 920.25 46.01Summer 2012 6,200 4,993.5 80.54Winter 2012/13 2,000 1,004 52.20

Figure B7 Average QC per movement by season

Sum

mer

20

000.

88

Win

ter

2000

/01

1.07

Sum

mer

20

010.

82

Win

ter

2005

/06

0.82

Win

ter

2001

/02

0.9

Win

ter

2003

/04

0.9

Sum

mer

20

020.

74

Win

ter

2002

/03

0.79

Sum

mer

20

030.

71

Sum

mer

20

060.

71

Sum

mer

20

040.

77

Win

ter

2004

/05

0.87

Sum

mer

20

050.

75

Win

ter

2006

/07

0.49

Sum

mer

20

070.

52

Win

ter

2007

/08

0.53

Win

ter

2008

/09

0.54

Sum

mer

20

080.

53

Win

ter

2009

/10

0.54

Sum

mer

20

090.

53

Win

ter

2009

/10

0.54

Sum

mer

20

090.

53

Win

ter

2010

/11

0.59

Sum

mer

20

100.

49

Win

ter

2011

/12

0.65

Sum

mer

20

110.

50Su

mm

er

2011

0.50

Win

ter

2012

/13

0.91

Sum

mer

20

120.

51

Table B9Percentage movements by QC category

Season QC0.25 QC0.5 QC1 QC2 QC4 QC8 QC16 EarliesSummer 2001 n/a 63.85 25.42 8.87 1.70 0.01 0.00 0.16Winter 2001/02 n/a 66.06 18.58 11.31 3.98 0.00 0.00 0.07Summer 2002 n/a 73.01 19.35 5.67 1.65 0.00 0.00 0.26Winter 2002/03 n/a 73.42 17.81 4.84 3.76 0.00 0.00 0.13Summer 2003 n/a 76.44 17.96 3.71 1.80 0.00 0.00 0.09Winter 2003/04 n/a 70.55 13.96 9.74 5.42 0.00 0.00 0.33Summer 2004 n/a 70.09 22.82 4.51 2.46 0.00 0.00 0.12Winter 2004/05 n/a 73.70 10.90 10.57 4.57 0.00 0.00 0.27Summer 2005 n/a 71.98 22.75 4.45 0.76 0.00 0.02 0.04Winter 2005/06 55.93 28.68 9.62 5.74 0.04 0.00 0.00 *n/aSummer 2007 51.82 24.45 20.52 3.08 0.13 0.00 0.00 *n/aWinter 2007/08 51.86 29.19 12.80 6.15 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aSummer 2008 48.63 28.65 18.65 3.99 0.04 0.00 0.00 *n/aWinter 2008/09 42.75 40.37 10.12 6.76 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aSummer 2009 47.70 32.54 15.44 4.29 0.01 0.00 0.02 *n/aWinter 2009/10 52.16 28.58 9.23 9.78 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aSummer 2010 59.12 21.11 16.02 3.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aWinter 2010/11 49.68 30.60 7.87 11.85 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aSummer 2011 54.22 23.86 18.66 3.24 0.02 0,00 0.00 *n/aWinter 2011/12 46.14 28.70 10.99 14.17 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aSummer 2012 50.24 28.38 18.75 2.63 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/aWinter 2012/13 40.22 33.98 13.43 12.37 0.00 0.00 0.00 *n/a*Earlies no longer counted in new regime

8

Table B8Night movements and QC usage, by QC category

Category Movements Movements Quota QuotaSummer 2007 Winter 2007/08 Summer 2007 Winter 2007/08

0.25 5,272 1519 1318 379.750.5 2,487 855 1243.5 427.501 2,087 375 2087 3752 314 180 628 3604 13 0 52 08 0 0 0 016 0 0 0 0Total: 10,173 2,929 5,328.5 1,542.25


0.25 5,164 917 1,291 2290.5 3,042 866 1,521 4331 1,984 217 1,984 2172 424 145 848 2904 4 0 16 08 0 0 0 016 0 0 0 0Total: 10,618 2,145 5,644 1,169


0.25 4,340 1,147 1,085 286.75

0.5 2,961 317 1,480.5 634

1 1,405 203 1,405 317

2 390 430 780 215

4 1 0 4 0

8 0 0 0 0

16 2* 0 0 0

Total: 9,097 2,097 4,786.5 1,452.7


0.25 5,838 1,073 1,459.5 268.25

0.5 2,085 661 1,042.5 330.5

1 1,582 170 1,582 170

2 370 256 740 512

4 0 0 0 0

8 0 0 0 0

16 0 0 0 0

Total: 9,875 2,160 4,824 1,280.75


0.25 5,346 651 1,336.5 162.75

0.5 2,352 405 1,170.0 202.5

1 1,840 155 1,840 155

2 319 200 638 400

4 2 0 8.0 0

8 0 0 0 0

16 0 0 0 0

Total: 9,859 1,411 4,998.5 920.25


0.25 4,942 644 1,235.5 161.00

0.5 2,792 544 1,396.0 272.0

1 1,844 215 1,844 215

2 259 198 518 396

4 2 0 8.0 0

8 0 0 0 0

16 0 0 0 0

Total: 9,837 1,601 4,993.5 1044.00

* Unclassified military aircraft

9


Section C: Arrivals and departures

As Gatwick is a designated airport, the Department forTransport (DfT) has overall responsibility for its noisepolicies. The DfT has established a number of keyprocedures and measures to help minimise the disturbancecaused by aircraft taking off and landing at all UK airports.Gatwick’s Flight Performance Team (FPT) plays a key role inmonitoring and enhancing its performance against theseprocedures and measures.

Figures C1 and C2 below show a typical day of westerlyand easterly operations at Gatwick. These maps show thatthe operational patterns for arriving aircraft (shown in red)are very different to those for departing aircraft (green). Itshould always be remembered that Gatwick does notoperate in isolation – its day-to-day operations areintegrated with traffic travelling to and from other airports.

If you would like to find out more information about specific aircraft flights flying over where you live, visitwww.gatwickairport.com/noise, enter your postcode andyou will be able to access detailed information.

Departing aircraftAll aircraft departing from Gatwick follow one of a numberof Noise Preferential Routes (NPRs) on leaving the runway. The way that track deviations are recorded was changed inOctober 2008. Prior to this date, aircraft that wereinstructed to leave the NPR early by Air Traffic Control, dueto weather avoidance; and propeller-driven aircraft thatwere not required to follow the normal NPRs, were notincluded within the statistics. This has contributed to theincrease in deviations from 2009 onwards compared toprevious years.

Traditionally, most of Gatwick’s deviations take place on thewesterly LAM route as a result of technical issues.

Table C3 (on page 10) shows the annual average of on-track aircraft as a percentage of departures from thewesterly and easterly runways over the last five years. In2012, there was a slight improvement in the track-keepingperformance on the westerly runway (26) and a slightdecrease on the easterly runway (08). There was a greaterpercentage of deviations on westerly routes during 2012due to ongoing technical issues on the 26LAM route. Thisroute has the tightest turn of all the NPRs and in terms oftrack keeping represents the greatest challenge for modernaircraft operating at Gatwick.

Table C4 shows track deviations by airlines operating fromGatwick in 2012 and Table C5 shows track deviations byaircraft type over the last two years. Table C5 shows thatGatwick’s largest airlines – EasyJet, British Airways andFlybe – all continue to have above average track-keepingperformances.

Track deviations tend to come from larger types of aircraftthat climb slower and take longer to reach their designatedheights. The A319 remains the most widely used aircraft atGatwick and in 2012 there were only 489 deviations from37,475 departures. Propeller-driven aircraft are nowincluded in track deviation statistics, hence the inclusion ofthe DHC-8 Dash 8-400/300. These aircraft are not requiredto adhere to the NPRs and may be vectored off by ATC butthese are still recorded in track-keeping deviations.

Overall there was a very small improvement in track-keeping performance in 2012.

Figure C1 Gatwick westerly operations – typical day

Figure C2 Gatwick easterly operations – typical day

10


Table C4Track deviations by airline

Total Total %departures deviations on track

Airline 2012 2012 2012

EasyJet 47,555 840 98.23British Airways 21,196 402 98.10Flybe 10,204 100 99.02Thomson Airways 6,624 190 97.13Monarch Airlines 5,853 143 97.56Norwegian Air Shuttle 4,704 64 98.64Ryanair 3,568 30 99.16Thomas Cook Airlines 3,394 144 95.76Aer Lingus 2,972 37 98.76Others 2,884 258 91.05Virgin Atlantic Airways 2,053 62 96.98Aurigny Air Service 1,866 69 96.30TAP Air Portugal 1,224 12 99.02Emirates 1,098 19 99.02Air Europa 728 2 99.73Air Transat 707 26 96.32Meridiana Fly S.p.a 646 8 98.76Lufthansa 602 55 90.86Turkish Airlines 598 17 97.16Air Berlin 595 76 87.23Ukraine International 397 9 97.73Air Baltic 372 9 97.58Air Malta 367 1 99.73US Airways 355 10 97.18Air One Spa 348 3 99.14Strategic Airlines SA 334 40 88.02Iceland Express 258 0 100Croatia Airlines 218 18 91.74Vietnam Airlines 204 4 98.04Rossiya Russian Airline 198 7 96.46Jet2.com 170 10 94.12Belavia Belarussian Airline 166 1 99.40Cimber Air S/A 159 2 98.74Hong Kong Airlines 153 21 86.27Air China 128 7 94.53Estonian Air 117 4 96.58Korean Airlines 101 4 96.04

All airlines 123,394 2,749 97.77

Table C3Annual average of on-track aircraft as percentage of departures by runway direction

Year Runway 26 (Westerly) Runway 08 (Easterly)

2008 98.00 99.502009 98.08 99.122010 95.94 98.882011 96.24 99.222012 97.08 98.61

11


Table C5Track deviations by all aircraft – by aircraft type

Departures Deviations % on track Departures Deviations % on trackAircraft type 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012 2012

A319 39,294 638 98.38 37,475 489 98.70A320 16,462 718 95.64 21,053 754 96.42B737-400 16,883 390 97.69 15,691 277 98.26B737-800 9,844 138 98.60 11,833 220 98.14DHC-8/Dash8-400/300 6,809 120 98.24 5,864 56 99.05B757 6,727 264 96.08 5,383 182 96.62A321 3,412 79 98.01 3,802 99 97.40B777 3,977 79 98.01 3,499 78 97.77EMB195/190 5,023 85 98.31 2,716 36 98.67A330 2,431 108 95.56 2,322 95 95.91EMB175 82 0 100.00 2,017 13 99.36ATR 72 (prop) 1,911 106 94.45 1,858 69 96.29B747-400 1,924 6 99.69 1,848 61 96.70B737-300 2,667 87 96.74 1,650 75 95.45B767-300 1,823 36 98.03 1,453 34 97.66Others 468 89 80.98 1,409 75 94.68A300 905 22 97.57 979 7 99.12B737-500 551 14 97.46 531 19 96.42B737-700 1,266 144 88.63 500 42 91.60Canadair RJ 922 12 98.70 415 14 96.63Fokker 100 143 2 98.60 170 2 98.82Gulfstream 101 7 93.07 132 7 94.70Cessna Citation 261 12 95.40 117 15 87.18A340 81 8 90.12 113 10 91.15Dassault Falcon 125 2 98.40 108 1 99.07H125 135 7 94.81 101 9 91.09Learjets 66 1 98.48 52 4 92.31EMB135/145 51 4 92.16 44 2 95.45Avro RJ 0 n/a n/a 40 0 100.00B767-200 193 12 93.78 39 0 100.00Canadair CL600/601/604 54 5 90.74 37 1 97.30BA 146-200 23 3 86.96 34 1 97.06MD81/82/83 60 7 88.33 19 2 89.47B767-400 44 0 100.00 2 0 100.00A310 185 2 98.92 0 0 n/aB767-600 167 0 100.00 0 0 n/aIllyushin 96 50 3 94.00 0 0 n/aMD87/88 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a

Totals 125,120 3,239 97.41 123,394 2,749 97.77

12


When planes deviate from the NPRs, the relevant airlinesare notified and their ongoing performance is monitoredby Gatwick’s Flight Operations Performance and SafetyCommittee (FLOPSC). The Flight Performance Teamcontinues to work with Gatwick’s airlines to improve track-keeping performances.

Arriving aircraftAlthough there are no set routes for arriving aircraft thereare long-established procedures to mitigate the disturbancethat they can cause when landing. These procedures focuson night-time operations and are aimed at keeping theaircraft as high as possible for as long as possible.

For example, there are specific distances and heights thataircraft need to maintain on the final approach orinstrument landing system (ILS). Collectively, thesedistances and heights are known as the joining pointcriteria. Between 23:30 and 06:00, aircraft must not jointhe ILS below 3,000 feet or closer than ten nautical miles(nm).

Table C6 shows the joining point criteria adherence from2008 to 2012. In 2012 more aircraft joined the ILS closerthan 11nautical miles (nm) than the three previous yearsand the percentage average for 2012 was down on theprevious three years. Since June 2007 the data has beencollected in a slightly different way following theintroduction of a new noise and track-keeping system.

Table C7 shows consistently high levels of compliance in2012 (84%) with regard to the height requirements.However, this performance was down on 2012 (92%). Theprimary reason behind this reduction was the high numberof arrivals using the northern runway during the nightperiod, when the majority of the main runway resurfacingworks were taking place.

Table C6Aircraft joining the ILS at distances greater than 10nm (23:30-06:00)

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

January 415 91 362 98 264 97 344 97 225 97

February 389 87 316 97 219 97 338 98 268 96

March 564 94 336 96 240 97 384 97 383 96

April 745 92 721 94 627 95 789 98 195 96

May 1,116 96 965 96 869 97 994 96 1,027 93

June 1,332 95 1,077 95 982 96 1,201 97 1,311 94

July 1,122 98 1,470 97 1,373 97 1,411 97 1,501 95

August 1,588 98 1,422 97 1,325 97 1,473 98 1,568 93

September 1,318 94 1,236 98 1,138 97 1,326 97 1,373 94

October 1,037 96 911 97 814 98 954 97 954 95

November 327 97 288 97 191 98 231 97 253 92

December 366 97 416 97 319 95 273 95 277 95

Year total 10,319 95 9,520 97 8,361 97 9,717 97 9,335 94

Table C7Aircraft joining the ILS above an altitude of 2,900 feet (23:30-06:00)

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

January 370 81 309 85 401 93 324 94 225 87February 379 85 292 92 337 91 314 91 268 91March 508 85 291 87 401 93 367 92 383 87April 704 87 655 91 580 95 735 91 195 90May 1,803 93 890 92 1,064 97 945 91 1,027 85June 1,256 89 1,001 93 1,203 93 1,156 93 1,311 82July 1,063 93 1,388 94 1,541 95 1,372 95 1,501 83August 1,494 93 1,354 95 1,585 95 1,396 93 1,568 81September 1,259 90 1,165 94 1,318 92 1,263 93 1,373 79October 982 91 842 92 1,020 93 911 93 954 92November 295 88 256 89 297 89 222 94 253 87December 338 90 380 91 526 91 257 90 277 87

Year total 9,731 89 8,823 93 102,273 94 9,262 92 9,335 84

13


Alt

itu

de

Distance from touchdown

A

CDA

Not CDA

Figure C8 Example of a CDA and non-CDA approach profile

CDA approach

Non-CDA

Aircraft joins the ILS (joining point)

All arriving aircraft aim to achieve a CDA wherever practicalas this is an important noise mitigation method. In simpleterms, a CDA keeps the aircraft higher for longer and thisavoids periods of prolonged level flight at lower altitudes.However, achieving a CDA is not a precise art – it relies ona combination of the pilot’s skill, the quality of informationprovided by NATS as well as weather and operationalconditions.

Figure C8 illustrates examples of CDA and non-CDAapproach profiles. There are no set approach angles orheights for an arrival to be classified as following a CDA.

The Arrivals Code of Practice is a technical documentaimed at reducing the noise created by arriving aircraft. Thecode, allied with subsequent communications and analysisby airlines, NATS and Gatwick’s Flight Performance Team,has resulted in significant improvements in the CDAachievement rate across all time periods.

Unsurprisingly, the most sensitive time is the night quotaperiod. In 2012 Gatwick recorded a 85% achievement inCDA, which is considerably lower than the 2011performance – see Tables C9 and C10.

The reason for this was the main runway resurfacingproject which took place for much of 2012 andnecessitated the use of the reserve runway for long periodsduring the late evening and night period. The reserverunway has no ILS provision and this makes achieving aCDA approach much more problematic. On a positive note,when the main runway was last resurfaced in 2000 itresulted overall in a 20% reduction in CDA performanceacross all time periods.

Figures C11 and C12 show the track density plots ofnight-time westerly arriving aircraft to 4,000 feet for July1996 and July 2012. The area covered by aircraft below4,000 feet in 2012 is much smaller than in 1996 – and thishighlights the significant improvements in CDAachievement that have been made during that period.

CDA achievement in 2012 for the whole night-timerestriction period (Table C13) was adversely affected by themajor runway resurfacing works carried out during theyear.

In the daytime period (Table C14), the CDA achievementwas comparable to the performance in the previous threeyears. The average achievement rate of 89% represents an9% improvement on 2006’s performance.

Table C15 shows a breakdown of CDA performance bythe individual airlines operating at Gatwick. These figureshave been compiled from Gatwick’s Noise and TrackKeeping System. However, because of the loss of severaldays of data in April 2012 the total number of arrivals willnot match the actual figures.

The Arrivals Code of Practice contains further noisemitigation measures related to arriving aircraft. For moredetails visit: www.gatwickairport.com/noise

14


Table C9Monthly core night-time arrivals (23:30-06:00) and achievement of CDAs

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Arrivals % CDA Arrivals % CDA Arrivals % CDA Arrivals % CDA Arrivals %CDA

January 446 88 362 85 399 92 345 94 227 89

February 441 85 316 87 369 88 347 92 270 91

March 599 83 333 86 427 95 381 93 358 85

April 800 90 717 90 619 95 805 93 207 89

May 1,142 90 951 88 1,085 96 1,030 93 1,007 83

June 1,416 89 1,073 91 1,287 94 1,237 96 1,298 86

July 1,180 92 1,466 95 1,594 96 1,454 94 1,517 88

August 1,567 92 1,426 95 1,698 95 1,510 94 1,551 83

September 1,423 89 1,246 93 1,439 93 1,358 94 1,382 84

October 1,078 91 906 92 1,100 94 990 95 986 85

November 370 89 312 91 361 91 252 94 257 86

December 377 88 420 89 570 92 282 89 280 86

Year total 10,839 89 9,528 92 109,48 94 9,991 94 9.340 85

Table C10CDA achievement

2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012

%CDA %CDA Change %CDA %CDA Change %CDA %CDA Change

Period

Core night

(23:30-06:00) 92 94 +2 94 94 0 94 85 -9

Night and shoulder

(23:00-07:00) 89 89 0 89 92 +3 92 87 -5

Daytime (07:00-23:00) 88 89 +1 89 90 +1 90 89 -1

24-hour period 88 89 +1 89 90 +1 90 89 -1

Figure C11 Colour by height plots of westerly (23:30-06:00) arriving aircraftto 4,000ft for July 1996

0-800ft 801-1,600ft 1,601-2,400ft 2,401-3,200ft 3,201-3,999ft

Figure C12 Colour by height plots of westerly (23:30-06:00) arriving aircraftto 4,000ft for July 2012

15


Table C13Monthly core night & shoulder arrivals (23:00-07:00) and achievement of CDAs

2009 2010 2011 2012Arrivals % Arrivals % Arrivals % Arrivals %

January 786 84 772 88 723 90 533 87February 709 84 776 87 707 88 582 87March 763 83 811 89 763 91 704 84April 1,224 87 996 91 1,286 91 1,325 87May 1,474 88 1,581 93 1,489 91 1,494 81June 1,656 90 1,846 93 1,696 94 1,778 84July 2,151 93 2,209 94 1,975 93 2,050 86August 2,150 93 2,345 94 2,020 93 2,126 83September 1,864 91 1,995 92 1,849 92 1,881 82October 1,444 90 1,642 92 1,432 93 1,440 84November 730 85 702 87 526 91 529 85December 814 86 926 91 58 86 622 84

Year total 15,765 89 16,601 89 15,047 92 15,064 87

Table C14Monthly day arrivals (07:00-23:00) and achievement of CDAs

2009 2010 2011 2012Arrivals % CDAs Arrivals % CDAs Arrivals CDAs % Arrivals CDAs %

January 8,187 85 7,618 87 8,477 90 8,100 91February 8,363 89 7,856 87 7,929 89 7,795 92March 9,651 88 8,719 90 9,004 91 8,673 91April 9,965 89 7,223 91 9,103 91 10,124 88May 11,157 87 9,139 90 9,765 91 9,630 89June 11,394 89 9,308 90 9,713 90 9,669 88July 10,238 87 9,687 90 10,246 89 10,182 90August 10,565 88 9,958 88 10,498 90 10,386 90September 10,110 89 9,485 91 9,850 90 9,835 86October 9,623 89 9,043 90 9,401 92 9,455 88November 8,059 86 8,039 92 7,811 91 7,707 89December 8,101 86 7,096 86 8,394 90 7,989 89

Year total 109,587 88 103,171 89 110,191 90 109,545 89

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Table C15Continuous descent performance by airlines in 2012

ICAO code Airline 2012 Arrivals CDA performance (%)

EZY EasyJet 42,085 91BAW British Airways 19,819 91BEE Flybe 9,531 93TOM Thomson Airways 6,313 94MON Monarch Airlines 5,504 92NAX Norwegian Air Shuttle 4,431 91RYR Ryanair 3,322 96TCX Thomas Cook Airlines 3,225 86EIN Aer Lingus 2,789 94VIR Virgin Atlantic Airways 1,921 92AUR Aurigny Air Service 1,743 83EZS EasyJet Switzerland 1,472 91TAP TAP Air Portugal 1,145 79UAE Emirates 1,031 84AEA Air Europa 683 69TSC Air Transat 676 76ISS Meridiana 614 76THY Turkish Airlines 577 62BER Air Berlin 561 63DLH Lufthansa 556 77AUI Ukraine International 374 71BTI Air Baltic 350 69AMC Air Malta 345 93AWE US Airways 333 84LLC Small Planet 316 59STU Star Africa Air 311 72 ADH Air One 305 49HCC Holidays Czech Air 236 67CTN Croatia Airlines 204 89HVN Vietnam Airlines 193 35SDM Rossiya 183 44NJE Netjets 166 34CIM Cimber Air 158 69EXS Jet2 157 76BRU Belavia 156 46CRK Hong Kong Airlines 131 70CCA Air China 128 66ELL Estonian Air 108 67KAL Korean Air 101 56AEW Aerosovit 99 46NVD WOW Air 91 62AWC Titan Airways 86 77MLD Air Moldova 86 58SWG Sunwings Airlines 84 37AAW Afriqiyah 78 50MGX Montenegro Airlines 76 51BWA Caribbean Airlines 75 39DAL Delta Airlines 69 62XAX Air Asia X 69 61AEE Aegean Airlines 65 42MAH Malev 58 64PGT Pegasus Airlines 51 43Others Other airlines 1,610 44

All airlines All airlines 115,850 89

17


Section D: Aircraft noise

Gatwick’s Flight Performance Team assesses aircraft noisein three different ways:• annual air noise contours• mobile noise monitoring studies• departure noise limit compliance.

The DfT is responsible for issuing noise contours and fulldetails are available on the DfT website: www.dft.gov.uk.The noise contours for 2012 have not yet been published.

Mobile noise monitoring data is recorded at severalcommunity locations close to the airport (see Figure D1).Members of the FPT meet on a quarterly basis with localEnvironmental Health Officers to discuss the results.

Noise limits

All take-offs from the airport are subject to departure noiselimits set by the DfT. Since 2001, there have been threelimits in place at Gatwick for the day, shoulder and night-time periods.

Departure noise limits are based on the assumption thatthe noise monitors are exactly 6.5km from the start of rollpoint on the runway and at the same elevation as theairfield. In practice, this is seldom possible and adjustmentsare made to the limits to account for any variances inmonitor position. There is a margin of error for themicrophone, which is also taken into account (+/- 0.7dBA).Table D2 summarises the limits that apply to the fivepermanent monitors.

In 2012 there were no noise infringements (Figure D3) forthe second time in three years. The consistently lownumber of noise infringements in 2012 and the previousfour years reflects Gatwick’s continuing work with all theairlines operating at the airport and the advent of a fleet ofsmaller, more modern aircraft operating at the airport inrecent years.

Airlines are fined for noise infringements, with all proceedsgoing to the independently run Gatwick AirportCommunity Trust. Table D4 lists the departure noiseinfringements during the past six years and the amount ofmoney raised for the Community Trust.

Figure D1 Location of current and historical noise monitors

Fixed sites Current sites Historic sites

18


Table D2Noise limits as adjusted for individual monitoring sites

Site Adjustments specific to monitoring sites Adjusted limit values at monitoring sites

Positional Equipment Total Day Shoulder Night1 +5.0 +0.7 +5.7 99.7 94.7 92.73 +1.9 +0.7 +2.6 96.6 91.6 89.64 +1.9 +0.7 +2.6 96.6 91.6 89.65 0.0 +0.7 +0.7 94.7 89.7 87.76 -0.2 +0.7 +0.5 94.5 89.5 87.5

Table D4Departure noise limit infringements

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Night-time infringements 2 2 1 0 4 0Shoulder hour infringements 0 0 0 0 0 0Daytime infringements 13 2 0 0 0 0

Total 15 4 1 0 4 0

Total Gatwick departures 133,272 127,552 125,889 120,249 125,535 123,394Infringements as % of departures 0.011% 0.003% 0.001% 0.00% 0.003% 0.00%

Total surcharges £8,500 £2,000 £500 £0 £2,000 £0

Figure D3 Total noise infringements

2005

41

2006

11

2007

15

1

2009

4

2008 2012

4

2011

0 0

2010

19


Section E: Complaints

Table E1Callers and complaints relating to airport operations

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Callers 580 482 406 473 409 345 414Enquiries 6,758 5,288 6,315 6,497 6,936 4,036 5,800

Callers and complaintsThe number of people calling Gatwick’s FPT has beenfalling in recent years from the six-year high of 580 callersin 2006. In 2012 there were more callers and significantlymore complaints compared to the previous year but itshould be taken into consideration that just one individualaccounted for 70% of the total number of complaints.

Table E1 shows the total number of callers and complaintsin the last seven years. Gatwick’s noise website, whichenables people to log complaints online and find outexactly which aircraft was flying over their house at anygiven time, is a valuable tool to help monitor and manageenquiries. For more details, visitwww.gatwickairport.com/noise

Figure E2 shows the differing levels of complaints byquarter over the last seven years. The peak number ofcomplaints tend to be in the summer months when peopleare spending more time outside. As already mentioned, therecorded figures have been distorted this year due to asingle caller who accounted for almost 70% of allcomplaints.

Reasons for complaintsThe five most common reported causes for contacting theFPT were aircraft noise, low flying aircraft, arrivals,increased number of flights and night flights.

Figure E2 Complaints by quarter

2006 (6,758 complaints) 2007 (5,288 complaints) 2008 (6,315 complaints)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

October-DecemberJanuary-March April-June July-September

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2009 (6,497 complaints) 2010 (6,936 complaints) 2011 (4,036 complaints) 2012 (5,800 complaints)

20


Caller locationsThe FPT’s investigation of complaints is helped by quickaddress postcoding and geographic mapping, which canlocate a caller’s postcode on an Ordnance Survey map (seeFigure E5). This figure also shows Gatwick’s NPRs. Inaddition, radar data supplied by NATS can be overlaid,enabling accurate airline, aircraft type, height and noisedata to be extracted.

Table E3 shows eight locations with ten or more callers in2012. All but one of these locations are situated withinapproximately ten miles of the airport. Many otherlocations recorded only one caller, complaint or contact.

Table E4 shows eight locations recording 50 or moreevents in 2012. Some of these locations are further awayfrom the airport than those listed in Table E3 and thissuggests that outlying, more sparsely populated areas cansometimes be more sensitive to noise disturbance thanareas closer to Gatwick. It is also worth noting that thelocations are designated by postal codes and in someinstances the town location refers to the nearest postaltown.

Figure E5 Postcode locations of complaints in 2012 (NPRs shown)

Table E3Locations with 10+ callersCrawley 50Horley 33Edenbridge 26Dorking 25Horsham 22East Grinstead 81Tunbridge Wells 21Lingfield 12

Table E4Locations with 50+ complaints

Complaints Callers

Edenbridge 575 26Lingfield 301 12East Grinstead 245 81Horley 134 33Marsh Green 129 2Hever 93 3Tunbridge Wells 79 21Crawley 76 50

21


Glossary of terms

Glossary of terms

08R: Main runway used when aircraft are departing towards the east and arriving from the west.

26L: Main runway used when aircraft are departing towards the west and arriving from the east.

08L: Northern or standby runway used when aircraft are departing towards the east and arriving from the west.

26R: Northern or standby runway used when aircraft are departing towards the west and arriving from the east.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) (see NATS, page 21)

Altitude: The distance of an aircraft above sea level (asl).

ANOMS: Airport Noise and Operations Management System. Used for accurate monitoring and management airport operationsand the associated noise.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA): the UK’s independent specialist aviation regulator. Its activities include economic regulation,airspace policy, safety regulation and consumer protection.

Continuous Descent Approach (CDA): A noise abatement procedure for arrivals. Avoids periods of level flight, reducing noiseand emissions. Advisory, but not compulsory.

Decibels (dBA ): Noise measurement that takes closest account of human hearing. Used to measure aircraft noise.

Department for Transport (DfT): The government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved. Thedepartment is run by the Secretary of State for Transport.

Dispensations: Granted to aircraft not normally permitted to fly during the night. Exceptional circumstances are (a) delays likely tolead to serious congestion at the airport or serious hardship or suffering to passengers or animals and (b) delays resulting fromwidespread and prolonged disruption to Air Traffic Control. Further dispensations may be granted in respect of VIP flights, reliefflights carrying supplies, military aircraft operations in the event of war and civil aircraft affected by hostilities.

Flight Operations Performance and Safety Committee (FLOPSC): This Committee ensures the development of best practicein flight operations by all airlines using Gatwick Airport in order to minimise their effect on the local community. Matters discussedinclude departure track-keeping, continuous descent approaches and noise infringements. FLOPSC meets bi-monthly, is chaired byGAL and is attended by the FPT, DfT, NATS, airlines and a representative of GATCOM.

Flight Performance Team (FPT): responsible for recording, investigating and responding to aircraft noise enquiries as well asmonitoring and reporting airline compliance to noise mitigation measures as detailed in the UK Aeronautical Information Publication. The FPT also manages a number of fixed and mobile noise monitors within the local area. They are regularly relocated,the data analysed and the findings reported.

Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee (GATCOM): A committee set up in 1956 in order to meet statutory requirements forpublic consultation. GATCOM discusses issues relating to employment, surface access and resource use as well as aircraftperformance. It comprises members of local authorities, local interest groups, business and airline representatives and the DfT andis advised by senior managers from GAL.

Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL): The company licensed to operate Gatwick Airport by the Civil Aviation Authority. Gatwick iswholly-owned by Ivy Bidco Limited (Ivy), a company formed to undertake the acquisition of Gatwick. Ivy is ultimately controlled byfunds managed by Global Infrastructure Management, LLC, part of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

Go-around: An aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach. The aircraft turns and gets back in the queue to land.

Height: The distance of an aircraft above airfield level (aal). Gatwick is 202ft asl.

Holding stack: Area where aircraft circle at a minimum 7,000ft awaiting approach instructions during busy periods.

22 Glossary of terms

Glossary of terms (continued)

Instrument Landing System (ILS): Precision approach aid consisting of a number of elements, principally a localiser radio beamand glide path aerials. Guides aircraft through final approach to touchdown.

Leq – Equivalent Continuous Sound Level: The notional sound pressure level which, if maintained constant over a given time,delivers the same amount of acoustic energy at some point as the time-varying sound pressure level would deliver at the samepoint and over the same period of time.

Movements limits: The number of movements permitted during the night period, differing between seasons.

NATS: The main air navigation service provider in the United Kingdom. It provides en-route air traffic control services to flightswithin the UK Flight Information Regions and the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area, and provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports and Gibraltar Airport.

Night period: the period from 23:00 to 07:00.

Night quota: the period from 23:30 to 06:00.

NM: Nautical mile.

Noise and Track Monitoring Advisory Group (NaTMAG) is chaired by GAL with membership drawn from DfT, NATS,GATCOM, the airline industry, local Environmental Health Officers and GAL's acoustic consultants. It oversees the administration ofthe environmental monitoring systems used by the FPT and discusses local issues concerning aircraft noise and track-keeping.

Noise monitors (fixed): Sited at either end of the runway to measure the noise of departing aircraft. The readings from these arethe only ones that can determine a noise infringement.

Noise monitors (mobile): Sited in various locations around Gatwick to aid studies into the local noise climate.

Noise limits: Levels fixed by the Department for Transport which should not be exceeded by departing aircraft.

Noise infringements: If the above level is exceeded, the airline concerned receives a financial surcharge.

Noise Preferential Route (NPR): A 3 kilometre-wide corridor in which departing aircraft must remain at an altitude of 3,000 or4,000ft. These are used to provide set routes aircraft must follow and so provide some certainty as to which areas will be overflown by departing aircraft.

NRP: Night Restrictions Period

NTK: Noise and Track Keeping System – see ANOMS on page 20

Restrictions: Formulated by the Department for Transport relating to types of aircraft that can fly at night and placing limits onmovements. Strictly monitored by Gatwick Airport Limited.

Reverse thrust: Braking procedure used by older landing aircraft. Noisy, so use is discouraged at night.

Quota count – QC : Points ranging from 0.25 to 16, allocated to aircraft types. The quieter the type, the lower the quota count.Aircraft with a rating of QC4, 8 or 16 may not be scheduled to take off or land during the night quota period. QC8 and 16 typesmay not be scheduled to take off or land in the night period.

Seasons: There are two airport seasons – winter and summer. Determined by use of GMT / BST.

Start of roll: Point where a departing aircraft releases its parking brakes to commence take-off roll.

Standard Instrument Departure (SID): This is a published flight procedure followed by aircraft on an Instrument Flight Rulesflight plan immediately after take-off from an airport. The first section of a SID is an NPR.

Vectoring: Air Traffic Control procedure turning a departing aircraft off an NPR onto a more direct heading to its destination.


Contact us

If you have any comments on this report or would like to know more about the work ofthe Flight Performance Team please contact:

Brendan SheilFlight Performance TeamDestinations PlaceGatwick AirportWest Sussex RH6 0NP

Email: [email protected]: 0800 393070Web: www.gatwickairport.com/noise

Registered office Gatwick Airport Limited 5th Floor, Destinations Place Gatwick Airport West Sussex RH6 0NPRegistered No. 1991018

Produced by Gatwick Airport Limited © Gatwick Airport Limited

Documents

FLIGHT PERFORMANCE TEAM REPORT 2012 - Gatwick Airport · Flight Performance Team Report 2012 Tables A3 and A4 show how the direction of the airport’s operations varies from month