East Midlands Airport

The term designation is taken from Civil Aviation Act 1982.  Section 78 of that Act gives power to the Secretary of State to 'designate' an airport and impose controls over airport activities, to control noise and or vibration.

The Secretary of State for Transport believes that it is better for airports to agree controls locally with local authorities.  We are negotiating with the airport over better controls and have come up with an alternative noise plan.  

Currently only 3 UK airports are designated – Heathrow, Stanstead and Gatwick.  A case for designation was requested in July 2000 but was not accepted by the Secretary of State at that time. Since then, circumstances have changed in terms of increase in airport activity, revised forecasts for future air traffic growth, the Government’s commitment to creating sustainable communities, and its policy of balancing the need for airport expansion against the protection of the environment (and for the East Midlands, reference is made to the need for stringent noise controls).  If designation is achieved it could provide secure, quantifiable and enforceable controls on night-time flights.

We have set out what might be included in the scope of any designation case:

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