Proposed Changes to Night Flying Policy

Birmingham Airport is seeking changes to its Night Flying Policy to reflect changes in airline operations since the original agreement was established 15 years ago, enabling the ongoing development of the airport as a regional hub and employer aiming for 18m passengers a year by 2033.

When the Night Flying Policy and the associated Section 106 agreement with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council were originally agreed in 2009, the airport was used differently by airline partners and passengers. Back then, it was accepted that 5% of total Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) could take place in the night-time period (2330 – 0600). The forecast rate of growth overall would have seen around 159,000 ATMs, equating to 7,950 night-time flights, by 2026/7.

Fast forward to today, technological aircraft improvements mean that aircraft are larger, but also cleaner and quieter and the schedules flown by airlines have changed. Today, the airport is seeing 40% more passengers than 2007, with airlines using 25% less ATMs to carry them. However, to provide passengers the destinations and schedules they want, the airlines need to operate each aircraft as much as possible, meaning earlier starts and/or later finishes each day, often in the 0500-0600 and 2330-0100 periods.

We now anticipate around 109,000 ATMs by 2026/7 which is lower than the 2009 forecast. But higher than today’s figure. In order to allow for efficient use of aircraft, we are seeking an increased percentage of night-time flights. This equates to an average of 7.3% per annum, with an indicative cap of 7,227 (7.6%) during W24/S25, 7,528 (7.3%) during W25/S26 and 7,600 (7.0%) during W26/S27. The noise and air quality impacts arising from the proposed changes have been assessed by independent experts and the results indicate that with the continuing changeover to next generation aircraft based at Birmingham, there is no impact on average night time noise or air quality.

Alongside this, the overall number of movements remains considerably lower than predicted in 2009. The quieter aircraft means that the annual noise quota limit (each aircraft movement has a noise quota between 0 and 16 based on the airframe and engines) is proposed to reduce from 4,000 in the night period to 2,800. The noise limit for aircraft departing at night was also reduced from 83dB to 81dB from 1 April 2024 and any aircraft exceeding this pay a surcharge which funds projects through the Airport’s Community Trust Fund.

The Airport has been constructively engaging with the Noise Subgroup of the Airport Consultative Committee, Ward Councillors and the Airport’s Consultative Committee for several months on this matter. All the proposed changes have been discussed at length and are now subject to agreement by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) through a revised Night Flying Policy document and an associated change to the existing section 106 Legal Agreement. The revised Policy requests will be available for public viewing and a short consultation on the Council’s website and on our own.

For more information about our proposed changes to Night Flying Policy, please read our FAQs here.

Proposals can be viewed here, with an opportunity to provide direct feedback to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.