Latest statistics from London Stansted Airport have revealed a record number of planes departed the airport flying on track during 2011. The record year also saw more aircraft reducing their noise impacts on approach to landing.
Figures published by Stansted's aircraft noise department show that in 2011, over 99 percent of all aircraft taking off from the airport kept to their flight path and 94 percent performed a Continuous Descent Approach during landing - beating the targets set.
Head of Planning and Sustainability at Stansted Airport, Dr Andy Jefferson, said:
“It's fantastic to see such an excellent performance by our airlines here at Stansted. Our noise work is one of Stansted’s real success stories but we’ll continue to work hard to minimise the effects as far as we possibly can.
“These extremely high levels of track keeping is a direct result of working closely with the aviation industry, our airline partners and with the members of our independent motoring body, the Noise and Track Keeping Working Group*. We are committed to seeking further improvements and exploring opportunities that will allow our modern fleet of quiet and fuel efficient aircraft to fully utilise their state of the art on-board navigation systems.”
The airport constantly monitors aircraft noise levels, flight paths and responds to public complaints. It produces a monthly log of track keeping performance for each airline, and there is an extra incentive for airlines as they can be fined for deviating off track. The money funds local community causes.
The procedure known as a Continuous Descent Approach or CDA encourages airlines to descend gradually when coming into land, reducing noise, fuel burn and emissions.
Hundreds of charities and community groups benefited from £312,726 worth of donations from Stansted Airport’s three community funds last year.
These donations demonstrate how Stansted supports its local communities, providing funding to projects, groups and organisations in neighbouring areas. A village green project, youth employment schemes, hospices and disability groups are just some of the 220 organisations that benefited in 2011. Highlights include:
The Hatfield Broad Oak Village Green – Hatfield Broad Oak - £50,000 towards a project to transform grazing land into sporting and recreational facilities in the centre of the village.
Keith Artus, District Councillor for Hatfield Broad Oak and the Hallingburys, said: “The Parish Council's belief in its plan to turn 12.5 acres of land in the heart of the village into a country park has been rewarded with this wonderful offer of support from the Stansted Community Fund.”
London Stansted is the third most punctual airport for departing flights in the world according to the latest figures.
FlightStats, an online flight tracking and airport information service, found that over 88 percent of scheduled flights departed on time from London’s third busiest airport during November, outperforming all other European airports for punctuality. Tokyo’s Haneda Airport topped the global table, with US airport Minneapolis-St Paul in second.
Stansted Airport’s Managing Director, Nick Barton, said:
"This is excellent news for the airport and more importantly our passengers. It’s thanks to the help and support of our airlines, handling agents and business partners that passengers flying from Stansted are most likely to take off on-time than any other European airport.
“Stansted is firmly established as a world leader at serving the low-cost airline sector that has transformed air travel. We have a route network that stretches to around 150 destinations with Stansted offering more direct scheduled European flights than any other airport in the world.”
The airport has won several notable international awards this year, including the Skytrax ‘world’s best low-cost airport’ award, the ‘Air Cargo Award of Excellence’ in April, and the UK’s best cleaned transport premises at the Golden Service Awards in November.
Stansted Airport teamed up with Olympian Steve Cram to launch its updated Surface Access Strategy and showcase the leading role airports will play in delivering a successful London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The five-year vision was unveiled to 120 top transport leaders, local authorities, airport representatives and key stakeholders attending Stansted’s annual Transport Forum.
The blueprint includes plans to:
- work in partnership with new Stansted Express operator, Abellio to deliver service improvements;
- enhance and extend Stansted’s coach and bus route network;
- better customers service levels to ensure all passengers enjoy a great journey;
- explore opportunities to reduce the environmental impacts from surface access transport.
Opening the Forum, Nick Barton, Stansted’s Managing Director, said:
“Since the introduction of the 2008 Airport Surface Access Strategy, our performance and role as a public transport hub has continued to go from strength to strength. We have continued our commitment to invest in transport facilities, including extending the platform at the airport rail station. We’ve also welcomed the introduction of brand new rolling stock on the Stansted Express and we continue to lead the field in encouraging more passengers to use public transport to get to and from the airport.”
Commenting on Stansted’s role during the London 2012 Games Nick Barton, added:
“London Stansted Airport is delighted to be an official provider to the London 2012 Games and very proud to be one of the first to say ‘hello’ to the thousands of visitors arriving in the UK. We know it will be an operational challenge so we’re preparing now to make sure it’s a success for everyone. We’re aiming to make sure every passenger journey through Stansted during Games time is smooth, easy and efficient – to offer ‘business as usual’, only better.”
Guest speaker for the event was silver medallist from the Los Angeles Games, Steve Cram MBE. He spoke about his about his Olympic memories and the important role airports play both before and during the Games.
“London Stansted is just a stone’s throw from Stratford making it the nearest major international airport to the Olympic Village. So I was delighted to be invited by the airport to speak at the Transport Forum and share my experiences of competing at the Olympics and talk about the key role airports, like Stansted, will play before, during and after the Games,” said Mr Cram.
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