Under the approach path

Living or working under the approach path and hearing planes coming in to land
Aircraft must take off and land in the same direction. But while there are defined Government flight paths for take-offs, there are none for landings until aircraft are established on the Instrument Landing Systems (ILSs), also known as the final approach.

This is because there is less operational flexibility in landing a plane than there is in taking off – because the plane has to line up with the runway from several miles away. This is very different to take-off, where planes can climb steeply and quickly, turning while they climb.

Years ago, when the Government first set its noise restrictions, it concentrated on the noise from take-offs. This is not only because planes were noisier then, but also because the first jets climbed very slowly and so their take-offs were much noisier than their landings.

How does it all work?
When a plane arrives in the local airspace, or leaves a holding stack, Air Traffic Control directs each plane on an individual course onto the final approach and brings it into land.

The interactive map below show a typical spread of the routes taken by arriving aircraft as they approach the airport to land, when they’re landing from both the west and the east.

To view the interactive map please click here.

So if you live or work near or under the final approach to the airport – whether planes come from the west or from the east – then you will hear the noise of planes arriving.

This website gives more information about what we are doing about this noise.