There is a battle going on which the noise lobbyists, are winning. You only have to look at some of the major European airports to see this. For example the EPNdB level set by BRU for night operations is totally unrealistic, I understand that this will actually end up in a court action lead by DHL. Then we have CDG, they have set a nighttime noise level up to 8 Decibels lower than stage 3 with a diminishing quota of aircraft allowed to operate above this level.
In the UK you presently have nighttime quotas for LHR that were recently contested in the European courts and ruled to be an infringement on civil liberties. LHR also has policies of alternating runways, supplying double-glazing and constant descent approaches, all of which are intended to reduce noise pollution.
Now you have a politician who is complaining about Manchester and the only objections offered on this board relate to losing airline jobs and cheap holidays, is this enough? Why has no one actually stated what types of items move through airports at night, how much of the local infrastructure relies on getting airfreight, mail, newspapers, bank checks etc etc.
You have got to let this guy know just how much of an economic impact his planned actions are going to have!
Mutt <img src="smile.gif" border="0">