HEATHROW, Gatwick and Stansted airports could be forced to halt all take-offs and landings between 11pm and 7am under a 'night flight ban' being considered by Euro-MPs.
The ban, backed by London Green Party MEP Jean Lambert, would apply to all major airports in the EU, and comes after MEPs were told last November that more than ten million EU citizens are unable to enjoy a good night's sleep because their homes are blighted by the noise of night flights' taking-off and landing.
Mrs Lambert explained: "The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that everyone enjoys a human right to a good night's sleep. Ten million EU citizens suffer from aircraft noise, which is loudest during take-off and landing and particularly harmful during the night.
"It is well-established that noise represents a serious threat to human health, especially that of children - a ban on night flights across the EU is the only way to protect the health and human rights of those living in the shadow of major airports and ensure that no airport enjoys a competitive advantage over another, which the industry itself warns would be the result of a ban at national level."
Five MEPs have sponsored a written declaration backing
the ban proposal, which is open for all MEPs to sign from today. Like Early Day
Motions in the UK House of Commons, the declaration is open for signature by any
Euro-MP. If the declaration attracts the backing of more than 313 MEPs - half
the current total - by the April deadline, it will become the
official policy
of the European Parliament.
Mrs Lambert, who is a member of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee, added: "The aviation industry has claimed that technical improvements to make aircraft quieter will reduce noise, but the enormous projected increase in the number of flights will counteract these improvements and lead to an overall increase in aviation-related noise pollution.
"Nonetheless, the UK Government has given its wholehearted support to the aviation industry's own desire for more flights, more runways and more noise - sacrificing human rights and health on the altar of competitiveness.
"An EU-wide ban would ensure that no non-UK airport will enjoy competitive advantage over Gatwick, Stansted or Heathrow and give those living in the airports' shadow the right to a good night's sleep so many of us take for granted."
ENDS
Notes
to Editors
· For a current list of signatories, a copy of the written declaration in full, or to arrange an interview with Mrs Lambert, please contact Ben on any number below · The written declaration follows a conference on noise pollution held at the European parliament in November 2003 which was chaired by South-East England's Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas.
For
more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973
823358 or
press@greenmeps.org.uk