1 Gatwick Airport Flight Performance Team Quarterly report for the period July to September 2012 About Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport opened in 1958 with just over 186,000 passengers passing through in our first year of operation. Today, it's a different story. We're open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and we now serve almost 34 million passengers every year. Gatwick is one of the top ten international airports in the world and the second largest in the UK. Around 90 carriers operate from the airport including British Airways, easyJet, Emirates, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, Thomson Airways and Virgin Atlantic. It is the best connected point-to- point airport in Europe welcoming almost 33.8 million passengers (March 2012) a year flying to more than 200 destinations. The airport is 28 miles south of London with excellent public transport links. Gatwick Airport is owned by a group of international investment funds, of which Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is the controlling shareholder. Over the next 10 years we want Gatwick to become London’s airport of choice delivering great service to more than 40 million passengers each year. Security, safety and responsibly managing our environmental impact are always our top priorities. About this report This report is produced by the Gatwick Flight Performance Team (FPT). This team is responsible for recording, investigating and responding to aircraft noise enquiries as well as monitoring airline compliance to noise mitigation measures as detailed in the UK Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP). This department also actively engages with the airlines to improve their adherence to the above noise mitigation measures and in addition manages the night-time restrictions on flying at Gatwick. This report contains detailed data on aircraft activity at Gatwick including the adherence to the noise mitigation measures detailed in the UK AIP, a report on night flying during the quarter, an update on the community noise monitoring programme and an analysis of complaints / enquires received during the period. Flight Performance Team commentary A final summary report of the temporary noise group was presented to NATMAG for discussion, and at this time there are no plans for any further meetings of this particular group. The report highlighted key areas of discussion and some possible options for moving forward, which will of course be progressed through the appropriate governance structure. A report on approach noise at Gatwick, produced by the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign was also discussed at the last NATMAG. Gatwick Airport has committed to providing responses to the issues and suggestions raised in that report.
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1
Gatwick Airport Flight Performance Team
Quarterly report for the period July to September 2012
About Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport opened in 1958 with just over 186,000 passengers passing through in our first year of operation. Today, it's a different story. We're open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and we now serve almost 34 million passengers every year.
Gatwick is one of the top ten international airports in the world and the second largest in the UK. Around 90 carriers operate from the airport including British Airways, easyJet, Emirates, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, Thomson Airways and Virgin Atlantic. It is the best connected point-to-point airport in Europe welcoming almost 33.8 million passengers (March 2012) a year flying to more than 200 destinations.
The airport is 28 miles south of London with excellent public transport links. Gatwick Airport is owned by a group of international investment funds, of which Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is the controlling shareholder. Over the next 10 years we want Gatwick to become London’s airport of choice delivering great service to more than 40 million passengers each year.
Security, safety and responsibly managing our environmental impact are always our top priorities.
About this report
This report is produced by the Gatwick Flight Performance Team (FPT). This team is responsible
for recording, investigating and responding to aircraft noise enquiries as well as monitoring airline
compliance to noise mitigation measures as detailed in the UK Aeronautical Information
Publication (AIP). This department also actively engages with the airlines to improve their
adherence to the above noise mitigation measures and in addition manages the night-time
restrictions on flying at Gatwick.
This report contains detailed data on aircraft activity at Gatwick including the adherence to the
noise mitigation measures detailed in the UK AIP, a report on night flying during the quarter, an
update on the community noise monitoring programme and an analysis of complaints / enquires
received during the period.
Flight Performance Team commentary
A final summary report of the temporary noise group was presented to NATMAG for discussion,
and at this time there are no plans for any further meetings of this particular group. The report
highlighted key areas of discussion and some possible options for moving forward, which will of
course be progressed through the appropriate governance structure.
A report on approach noise at Gatwick, produced by the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign
was also discussed at the last NATMAG. Gatwick Airport has committed to providing responses to
the issues and suggestions raised in that report.
2
Key Monitoring Indicators – 3rd Quarter 2012
12 month averages
Parameter Current year Previous year 2006 Baseline
Track keeping performance (% on track) ▲ 97.54 97.35 98.17
Core night CDA (% achievement) ▼ 86.55 93.76 89.60
1000ft Infringements (No.) - 3 3 11
1000ft Infringements (No. below 900ft) ▲ 2 0 6
Departure Noise Infringements (Day) - 0 0 10
Departure Noise Infringements (Night/Shoulder)
▲
3 0
2
Complaint Callers (No.) ▲ 383 339 587
Complaint Enquiries (No.) ▼ 1897 2984 4791
Complaint response performance target is 95% within 8 days (quarterly)
▼ 95.41 99.14 KPI 95%
West/East Runway Split (%) - 72/28 64/36 68/32
Performance Headlines
Over a 12 month average, the Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA) indicators for all time
periods have turned red. The primary reason for the drop in CDA performance is due to the the
main runway being out of operation from 21:30 each night whilst runway resurfacing continues
throughout 2012. It is expected that the night-time achievement rate will indeed remain lower than
its recent average until the main runway resurfacing works are completed. These works will be
happening during the night time, when the Northern runway will be utilised. Because of the
absence of descent profile guidance from an ILS this necessitates a phase of level flight prior to
the initiation of Ground Control Approach by Gatwick Air Traffic Control. Even so in the last 3 years
the 12 month average has increased from 80% to the current level of around 90%. On a positive
note the drop in performance this year is significantly less than that experienced when the runway
was last resurfaced in 2000. The FPT continues to work with airlines on improving their
performance with regular reviews and data gathering exercises.
Track keeping performance has shown another small improvement on the previous year’s
performance. It should be noted that some Gatwick departure routes have turns of 90⁰⁰ and 180⁰
which, when they were first designed, were easier to fly with older, slower aircraft, although they
remained lower on the route for longer. Track deviations occur on all routes. However at Gatwick
Airport the 26 Lambourne wrap around route has the largest proportion. Further details on track
keeping will follow later in this report.
As part of our continuing commitment to increase on track performance the FPT also continues to
engage with the airlines directly and through the Flight Operations Performance and Safety
Committee on a range of initiatives.
The number of enquiries has reduced considerably compared to the previous twelve months with a
reduction of over 30%, although at the same time the number of callers to the Flight Performance
Team has increased by 12%.
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The postcode areas with the greatest number of complainants this quarter were, East Grinstead,
Edenbridge (which includes surrounding villages), Horley and Crawley.
Airport Operations
During the quarter, there were a total of 72,936 fixed wing aircraft movements at Gatwick, almost
exactly the same as in the same period in 2011. The direction of operation is determined by wind
direction and this quarter was split 86% on the westerly runway and 14% on the easterly runway.
The poor summer weather dominated by Atlantic weather systems contributed to the unusually
large percentage of westerly operations this quarter.
Northern Runway (26R/08L) usage
During these three months there were a total of 7258 movements from the northern runway. The
northern runway is normally only utilised during the night when maintenance on the main runway is
planned, however the main runway is being rehabilitated during 2012 and 2013. These works
commenced in March 2012 and are due to be finalised in October, and will require extensive
periods of northern runway operations during the night time period. Although Gatwick has a main
runway and the ‘reserve’ northern runway, they cannot be operated simultaneously.
Complaint response time
This quarter the percentage of enquiries that have been responded to within 8 days was 95.41%. A
full breakdown of complaint information is produced later in this report.
Airline Communications
The Flight Operations Performance & Safety Committee (FLOPSC) meets bi-monthly. At these
meetings performance statistics in relation to the 1000ft by 6.5km from start of roll (SOR)
requirement, departure track keeping, departure noise infringements, and CDA statistics are
routinely discussed.
As part of our normal process the FPT sends details of track deviations to the appropriate airline so
those details can be passed on to the relevant training captain or chief pilot so they can work with
their flight crews to improve future performance. As part of our ongoing work with the airlines and
NATS at FLOPSC, there has been increased uptake in the number of departing flights being
granted PRNAV departures, which should in turn have an overall positive effect on departure track
keeping performance. The FPT will continue to monitor PRNAV uptake.
The Airline performance statistics relating to both track keeping and CDA achievement are now
being circulated to a much wider airline audience each month. This includes all domestic airlines
and the majority of foreign operators. As part of our ongoing work in this area the FPT are working
to ensure that all new airlines are acquainted with the noise abatement rules and are made aware
of our published Arrivals Code of Practice.
The FPT endeavours to send details of all track deviations or unusual activity to the appropriate
airline and frequently receives welcome feedback on measures employed by them to reduce
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further reoccurrences. The FPT also offers to work with airlines to improve their track keeping at
FLOPSC meetings.
The issue of weather deviations passing over Crawley town was recently discussed at the request
of NATMAG as there were some concerns that these events could be avoided. After discussion
with the pilots represented it was determined that only after an aircraft was lined up on the runway
could its weather radar accurately map in 3 dimensions potential storm conditions ahead. The
weather radar available to ATC does not have this advanced capability and therefore cannot
predict if it is possible for a departing aircraft to navigate a route under or over a storm activity.
Community Noise Monitoring
The Gatwick Noise Monitoring Group is a forum where Local Authority technical experts and
independent consultants meet with Gatwick Airport Ltd to discuss the location of mobile noise
monitors, the duration they are to be onsite and to review and verify the data. This group also
makes recommedations on monitor locations and also on the format the data should be reported to
the Noise & Track Monitoring Advisory Group (NATMAG) and the wider community. Mobile noise
monitors are deployed at sites in Lingfield, Rusper, Okewood Hill, Leigh, Haywards Heath,
Rudgewick and Blindley Heath. The inactive monitor that has been located at Hever for a number
of years was recovered this quarter and following a service and calibration will be available for
deployment. The monitors at Leigh and Haywards Heath are due to be relocated in the next couple
of months.
Sustainable Aviation
Gatwick Airport Ltd is a member of Sustainable Aviation. This is a long term strategy which sets out the collective approach of UK aviation to tackling the challenge of ensuring a sustainable future for our industry. Sustainable Aviation was launched in 2005 and brings together the main players from UK airlines, airports, manufacturers and air navigation service providers
The FPT Manager is a member of the Sustainable Aviation Improvements Group. The ‘mission statement’ of this group is “Working with the industry in the UK and internationally to trial & implement innovative low noise and emission procedures”.
After a long period of development the ‘Departures Code of Practice’ (DCOP) was launched at the end of June at an event in London attended by members of Sustainable Aviation including Gatwick airport. The basis of this voluntary code of practice are four primary mitigation techniques to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft on the ground and departing flights. These are to reduce the frequency and length of auxiliary power and ground power unit running, which both use more fuel than fixed electrical power and create noise on the ground. Secondly to encourage aircraft to use reduced engine taxiing when safe and appropriate to do so, which will save fuel and reduce Carbon and Nitrous gas emissions. Introduce Airport – Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) which, which will improve the efficiency of aircraft moving about the airfield and en route. And finally to introduce Continuous Climb Operation for departing aircraft which will reduce fuel consumption as aircraft reach their optimum cruise altitude quicker were jet engines are more efficient. For more information visit: www.sustainableaviation.co.uk
The DCOP has been formally adopted by the by the Gatwick airline community who have signed up in principle to its commitments. Work continues on some aspects of the code, including a new tool to monitor continuous climb operations.
The END noise action plan was formally adopted by the Secretary of State on 19th May 2011. The action plan details 50 plus actions that the airport will deliver during the period covering 2010 - 2015. We have already been active in delivering against the 2010 actions proposed and are therefore well on schedule with our plan. Progress will be reported through our S106 annual monitoring report as the END noise action plan will replace our S106 interim noise action plan. A PRNAV Consultation paper was published in July 2012 which describes our proposal to replicate, implement and eventually replace, within the next five years, the current standard departure routes from Gatwick Airport The Head of Corportate Sustainability Gatwick Airport has arranged several meetings with local communities to inform them of the Consultation and answer questions. Representatives from NATS have also attended these meetings, many of which have been well attended. This is an example of Gatwick’s on going policy of engaging with the local community on potential impacts of Gatwick’s operations. The consultation paper is available for download at http://www.gatwickairport.com/prnav
WebTrak
Gatwick Airport Limited offers a web based flight tracking application called WebTrak. This facility
allows members of the public to track Gatwick flights. An updated version was released in 2010
and was designed to be more user friendly, with a number of additional enhancements that
improves on the look and feel from the original. Since its introduction this has proven to be very
popular and a useful tool for communities affected by noise. Details of the number of WebTrak hits
are shown on the following page. Recently the fixed noise monitors on this site have been
activated so they now show the maximum noise reading (LMax) of flights as they pass close to a
The following graph represents the direction of runway operation at Gatwick. Aircraft operating in a
westerly direction take off towards the west and land from the east. Aircraft operating in an easterly
direction take off towards the east and land from the west.
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Runway Modal Split
0%
10%
20%
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40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
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Month
PercentageWesterly
Easterly
3 monthly mov avg (w esterly %)
The Aeronautical Information Publication
An Aeronautical Information Publication (or AIP) is defined by the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) as a publication issued by or with the authority of a state and containing
aeronautical information of a lasting character essential to air navigation.
It is designed to be a manual containing thorough details of regulations, procedures and other
information pertinent to flying aircraft in the particular country to which it relates. It is usually issued
by or on behalf of the respective civil aviation administration.
The structure and contents of AIPs are standardised by international agreement through ICAO.
AIPs normally have three parts - GEN (general), ENR (en route) and AD (aerodromes).
The Gatwick Aerodrome AIP contains details regarding the noise mitigation measures in place and
adherence to these is reported in this section.
Adherence to noise mitigation measures as detailed in the Gatwick AIP
Each element of this report is preceded where applicable by the relevant Aeronautical Information
Publication (AIP) reference and summary text detailing the purpose of the requirement. Data is
then presented on current performance.
It should be noted that Gatwick is 202ft above mean sea level and the ANOMS NTK system
measures height relative to Gatwick elevation and not sea level.
8
References in the AIP are usually above sea level (quoted as Gatwick QNH) and therefore need to
be reduced by 202ft to be comparable with heights as measured by ANOMS. For example the
requirement to join the ILS at 3000ft would equate to 2798ft in the ANOMS.
No account is taken of the variability of heights as measured by the radar which, depending on the
distance from the radar head, can be +/- 200ft from that indicated. This is obviously allowed for by
NATS when managing operations.
FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS REPORT ANY REFERENCE TO HEIGHT
SHOULD BE READ AS ABOVE AIRFIELD ELEVATION UNLESS OTHERWISE
STATED.
ALL DATA CONTAINED WITHIN THIS REPORT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN
LIGHT OF THE PRECEDING TEXT AND THE COMMENTARY THAT FOLLOWS.
DEPARTURES - INITIAL CLIMB PERFORMANCE
EGKK AD 2.21 (3 (1) ). After take-off the aircraft shall be operated in such a way that it is at a height of
not less than 1000 ft aal (above airfield level) at 6.5 km from start of roll as measured along the
departure track of the aircraft. This is to ensure departing aircraft achieve at least that climb gradient in
order to reduce the impact on the ground.
Comment:
There were no infringements of the 1000ft rule during this quarter.
Historically the summer months are typically the peak period for aircraft failing to meet the 1,000ft
requirement primarily due to the warmer weather, which reduces aircraft climb performance.
1000ft Infringement Table
Year Total Infringements Year Total Infringements Year Total Infringements
2005 28 2008 11 2011 3
2006 11 2009 22 2012 2
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2007 26 2010 6
Departure Monitoring 1,000ft (AAL) from Start of Roll
0
2
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10
12
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month
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2012
DEPARTURES - NOISE INFRINGEMENTS
Departure Noise Limits (Daytime)
EGKK AD 2.21(3(3)) Subject to sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) below, any aircraft shall, after take-off, be
operated in such a way that it will not cause more than 94 dBA Lmax by day 0700 to 2300 hours local
time) as measured at any noise monitoring terminal at any of the sites referred to in sub-paragraph (2).
This is to ensure that departing aircraft do not exceed the stated level during the day.
Year Number of Day Infringements
Year Number of Day Infringements
Year Number of Day Infringements
2005 29 2008 2 2011 0
2006 9 2009 0 2012 0
2007 13 2010 0
10
Comment:
There were no infringements of the noise limits during the day time period during the quarter.
Departure Noise Limits (Core night & Shoulders)
EGKK AD 2.21 (3(4)) Subject to sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) below, any aircraft shall, after take-off, be
operated in such a way that it will not cause more than 89 dBA Lmax by night (2300 to 0700 hours local
time) and that it will not cause more than 87 dBA Lmax during the night quota period from 2330 to 0600
hours local time) as measured at any noise monitoring terminal at any of the sites referred to in sub-
paragraph (2). This is to ensure that departing aircraft do not exceed the stated levels during the night
and shoulder periods.
Year
Number of Night &
Shoulder
Infringements
Year
Number of Night &
Shoulder
Infringements
Year
Number of Night &
Shoulder
Infringements
2005 12 2008 2 2011 4
2006 2 2009 1 2012 0
2007 2 2010 0
Comment:
There have been no night time noise infringements during this quarter.
DEPARTURES - TRACK KEEPING
All jet aircraft leaving Gatwick Airport should follow flight paths known as Noise Preferential Routes (NPRs) up to a height of 3,000ft or 4,000ft depending on the route. NPRs were set by the Department for Transport (DfT) in the 1960s and were designed to avoid over flight of built-up areas where possible.
They lead from the runway to the main UK air traffic routes, and form the first part of the Standard Instrument Departure routes (SIDs). The routes have not been altered since they were established in order to give people the predictability of knowing where noise from departing planes will be heard. Their location remains the responsibility of the Government. As an airport operator, Gatwick Airport Ltd has no authority to change them. Any significant changes to the NPR’s would be subject to a public consultation exercise.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) are responsible for the routing of aircraft once airborne and when 3,000 or
4,000ft has been reached they may give a flight a more direct heading (known as vectoring) off the route.
This is subject to certain factors including weather conditions or other traffic in the vicinity.
An NPR is not narrow, as aircraft cannot fly in the same way a train runs on a track, so each route has a
‘swathe’ measuring 1.5 kilometres either side of the route centreline, resulting in a corridor 3 kilometres
wide. As long as aircraft remain within this ‘swathe’ they are deemed to be on track, there is no
requirement to follow the route centreline.
11
Any flight leaving the route below the required height (a track deviation) is automatically tagged by a
Noise and Track Keeping System in the Flight Performance Team at Gatwick Airport. Details of all track
deviations are supplied to our Flight Operations Performance & Safety Committee and discussed at their
bi-monthly meetings.
Comment: The table below shows track keeping performance over the previous 12 month period.
Compared to the second quarter 2012 the on track performance has fallen from 97.94% to 96.34% over
the past three months. For the rolling 12 month year on year period the on track performance stands at
97.54% as opposed to 97.359% for the 12 months ended September 2011.
Oct-10 3206 114 3.56% Oct 11 3487 101 2.90% Oct 12
Nov-10 2334 90 3.86% Nov11 1753 28 1.60% Nov12
Dec-10 1505 89 5.91% Dec11 3903 162 4.15% Dec12
**April – radar data was corrupted so only one weeks data is presented
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HORLEY GATE PENETRATION GRAPH
Comment:
NATS implemented a plan in 2010 to reduce such incidents. Air Traffic Controllers were reminded that no flights should over-fly Horley. They also made changes to the standard routings for aircraft positioning from London Heathrow to Gatwick in order to avoid over-flight of Horley. The FPT continues to monitor and report this so that performance can be monitored and improved over time.
The jet aircraft with the lowest recorded height was a JU 213 Boeing 737 over-flew the town at a height of 3996ft above airfield elevation. The average height of Gatwick aircraft passing over the town was 7088 ft.
ARRIVALS – CONTINUOUS DESCENT APPROACHES (CDA)
EGKK AD 2.21 (10) Where the aircraft is approaching the aerodrome to land it shall commensurate with
it ATC clearance minimise noise disturbance by the use of continuous decent and low power, low drag,
operating procedures (referred to in Detailed Procedures for descent clearance in AD (2-EGKK-1-17).
Where the use of these procedures is not practicable, the aircraft shall maintain as high an altitude as
possible. In addition, when descending on initial approach including in the closing heading, and on
intermediate and final approach, thrust reductions should be achieved where possible by maintaining a
'clean' aircraft configuration and by landing with reduce flaps, provided that in all the circumstances of
the flight this is consistent with safe operation of the aircraft. This is to avoid prolonged periods of level
flight and keep aircraft as high as possible for as long as possible.
17
CDA data is measured over three time periods, the core night period (2330-0600), the day and
shoulder periods (06:00 – 2330) and the 24hour period.
CORE NIGHT PERIOD
Comment:
During the quarter the core night-time CDA achievement rate was 84.89%, a small increase from
84.79% recorded in the previous quarter. The closure of the main runway to allow resurfacing would
appear to have had a major effect on the CDA performance rate, especially during the night. The main
runway has been closed most nights from 21:30 to 04:30. This effect was also apparent when the main
runway was resurfaced over 10 years ago. The 12 month rolling average for night time achievement is
now 86.55% of all arrivals. This compares with an average achievement rate for the preceding twelve
month period ended September 2011 of 93.76%. As the major runway rehabilitation has been completed
we expect to see an improvement in the night time CDA performance.
BREAKDOWN OF CORE NIGHT CDA DATA
Month All Arrivals 08 Easterly Arrivals 26 Westerly Arrivals
Total Non CDA CDA Total Non CDA CDA Total Non CDA CDA
Sep-12 11716 1700 85.49% 1390 325 76.62% 10326 1375 86.68% *April – radar data was corrupted so only one weeks data is presented
24 HOUR PERIOD COMPLIANCE RATE
21
Gatwick 24 Hr Period CDA Achievement
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%
Oct-
11
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nt
Series1
3 per. Mov. Avg. (Series1)
ARRIVALS – OVER CONGESTED AREAS
AD 2-EGKK1-12 (11)
Before landing at the aerodrome the aircraft shall maintain as high an altitude as practical and shall not fly
over the congested areas of Crawley, East Grinstead, Horley and Horsham at an altitude of less than 3000ft
(Gatwick QNH) nor over the congested area of Lingfield at an altitude of less than 2000ft (Gatwick QNH). NB. 2000 ft – (202ft (airfield elevation) + 100ft (radar/ILS tolerance)) = 1698ft on ANOMS.
Comment:
Aircraft tracks were analysed for July, August and September 2012 and except for several go-arounds there
were no over-flights of Crawley, Horley or Horsham under 3000ft.
A gate at 7 nautical miles (nm) from touchdown is used to analyse tracks over the Lingfield area. There
were 32 (or 0.10%) of westerly arrivals passing through the 7nm gate during the quarter that were greater
than 1000ft lower than 2000ft (this equates to a height in ANOMS of 1698ft see below) The lowest recorded
height at 7nm on ANOMS was 1,581ft.
EGKK AD 2.21 (13 (a)) Where the aircraft is using the ILS in IMC or VMC it shall not descend below 2000 ft (Gatwick QNH) before intercepting the glide path, nor thereafter fly below the glide path. This is aimed at keeping aircraft as high as possible for as long as possible.
A) Day time joining height (0600 – 2330)
22
Comment:
The map shows those arrivals that have passed through at least one of a series of gates running parallel to
the runway centreline for around 6nm east and west of the airport below 2000ft. There were 36,460 arrivals
recorded by ANOMS this quarter, 57 (0.16%) of which were operating below an altitude of 2000ft
(equivalent to a height in ANOMS of 1798ft) through one or more of the analysis gates. There were 21 ‘go-
arounds’ that were included within the total of 57, although for the sake of clarity these tracks are not
included in the map illustrated. Of the 36 arriving flights that were not ‘go-arounds’ 25 were more than 100ft
below the altitude of 2000ft.
MAP ILLUSTRATING THE ANOMS LATE ANALYSIS GATES WITH URBAN AREA ANNOTATED
EGKK AD 2.21 (14) Between the hours of 2330 (local) to 06:00 (local), inbound aircraft, whether or not making use of the ILS localiser and irrespective of weight or type of approach, shall not join the centre-line below 3000ft (Gatwick QNH) closer than 10 nm touchdown. This aims to keep aircraft higher for longer and avoid overflying areas en route to the ILS below 3000ft.
23
B) Night joining height & distance
Comment:
ANOMS was introduced in June 2007 and this corresponds to the rise in aircraft joining below 3000ft,
however this was not the reason. Previously only aircraft below 2598ft at 10nm would have been recorded
which takes account of the 202ft elevation of Gatwick and the 200ft tolerance of the radar equipment. This
metric is primarily used by NATS to ensure compliance and in allowing for these tolerances it is reasonable
for a controller to assume that if an aircraft displays an altitude of 2800ft on their system it is compliant with
the 3000ft requirements. The same aircraft would be at 2598ft above the airfield as displayed on the
Gatwick ANOMS (or any NTK) system. Since June 2007 statistics have only taken account of the airfield
elevation and consequently any aircraft below 2798ft at 10nm has been flagged.
JOINING POINT GRAPH
GO - AROUNDS
A go-around is a procedure adopted when an arriving aircraft on final approach aborts landing by applying
take off power and climbing away from the airport. It is a set procedure to be followed by the flight crew in
the event of an aircraft being unable to land. The procedure is published so that Air Traffic Control (ATC)
and the pilots can anticipate where the aircraft will go following the decision to go-around.
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The number and reasons for go-arounds are routinely discussed at FLOPSC meetings and Pilot Forums.
All parties are focussed on minimising the number of occasions when a go around is required but expect
some to occur given the fact that Gatwick is a busy single runway airport. It should be stated that there are
well established standard procedures which both pilots and controllers are trained in and are familiar with.
Gatwick Airport Ltd as the airport operator actively encourages airlines operating at the airport to fly to the
best possible environmental standards. However safety must and always will be the number one priority.
NATS currently record go-arounds under one of the following causal factors:
GO-AROUND DATA 2003 - 2012
Year Total Total Arrivals % of Arrivals
2003 312 120854 0.26
2004 344 124665 0.28
2005 450 129509 0.35
2006 405 130954 0.31
2007 434 133271 0.33
2008 359 131858 0.35
2009 455 125861 0.36
Reason Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 Quarter
Unstable Approach 6 4 6 16
Runway Occupied 15 18 22 55
Aborted Take Off 3 0 0 3
ATC Spacing 0 0 1 1
Windshear 0 0 1 1
IRVR 0 0 0 0
FOD 3 3 2 8
ATC Misjudge 0 2 0 2
Birdstrike 4 0 0 4
Technical Problem 1 2 0 3
Cabin Not Secure 2 2 2 6
Other 3 21 8 32
Total 37 52 42 131
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2010 364 120263 0.30
2011 386 125541 0.31
2012 379 95522 0.40
Comment: During July to September there was an unusually large number of go arounds (41) that
occurred during the night period, which is generally much less busy than during the day time. The utilisation
of the northern runway during this time is likely to have been a contributing factor.
NIGHT FLIGHTS
Introduction
The Secretary of State in exercise of his powers under Section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 has
imposed restrictions at Gatwick Airport on aircraft operating at night. These restrictions are in place to limit
and mitigate noise disturbance from aircraft operating at night and to prohibit aircraft of specified
descriptions from operating, also to limit the number of occasions on which other aircraft may take off or
land.
The night flying restrictions are divided into summer and winter seasons which coincide with the start and
end of British Summer Time. They consist of a movement limit and a quota count system. The quota count
(QC) means that points are allocated to different aircraft types according to how noisy they are. The noisier
the aircraft type, the higher the points allocated. This provides an incentive for airlines to use quieter aircraft
types. Aircraft are certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation according to the noise they
produce and are classified separately for both take off and landing
For the purposes of night flying operations, the night quota period is defined as the period between 23:30
and 06:00 (Local time). In addition there are two further shoulder periods of 23:00 - 23:30 and 06:00 –
07:00 (Local time), where other restrictions apply to the scheduling and operation of aircraft of specified
The summer season 2012 began at 01:00 hours 25th March 2012, and the season limits are 6200 QC points and 11,200 movements. The end of season report produced for the Department of Transport is shown in the table on the following pages outlining the weekly movement and QC usage to date. In summary the airport utilised 87.2% of the movements limit and 79.9% of the quota count limit.
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The Department for Transport has confirmed that the current night flight restriction will remain in force until
October 2014, with a consultation to be launched next year.
Dispensations - There have been no dispensations during the summer 2012 season.
QC4, QC8 and QC16 movements
There have been no QC8 or QC16 movements during either the ‘night quota’ or ‘shoulder periods’, and no QC4
movements during the ‘night quota period’.
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:
AIRPORT MOVEMENTS and QUOTA SUMMARY
London Gatwick
To Week 31 (25 March 2012 to 27 October 2012 inc)
Season Quota Points Limit
Quota Points Carried Over
Season Movement Limit
Movements Carried Over
6200.00
0.00
11200
0 11200 Total Quota Points Allowed Total Movements Allowed 6200.00