Article from BTNews 27 JUNE 2016
Heathrow hails ‘quiet’ 787
A record number of Boeing 787 Dreamliners using Heathrow has markedly improved the airport’s noise record over the first quarter of 2016, say airport officials.
The latest Fly Quiet League table shows Virgin Atlantic’s replacement of its 747-400s with top-of-the-range Dreamliners has been a major factor.
Air Canada, Air India, British Airways and Qatar Airways have also significantly increased their use of the B787 on Heathrow routes over the past year.
The airport says early phase-out of the noisiest aircraft is a key part of its Noise Blueprint and Heathrow is now on track to become the first large European airport to be completely free of Chapter 3 aircraft, the oldest and noisiest classification.
Part of the reason is the fees airlines have to pay to land noisy aircraft at Heathrow – 10 times more on average than they pay for the quietest models.
Heathrow says latest figures also show an improvement in airlines adhering to government-set noise preferential routes around the airport – what is known as track-keeping – with Air France and Aegean among the leaders, each moving up seven places.
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