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<p>The Appraisal of Sustainability that accompanies the Airports National Policy Statement
provides a strategic level assessment of the potential social, economic, and environmental
impacts of expansion, including on noise, based on indicative flight paths.</p><p>While
taking forward an application for development consent of the Northwest runway scheme,
Heathrow Airport Limited has also started to engage with the airspace change process
necessary to accommodate the additional flights that expansion would enable. In the
UK this process is governed by the Civil Aviation Authority, which must approve all
changes to the UK’s airspace, including new flight paths. This is a seven-stage process,
often taking a number of years between an airport alerting the Civil Aviation Authority
to a proposed change, and the Civil Aviation Authority making a decision on whether
that change should be implemented.</p><p>Heathrow Airport Limited are currently at
the second stage of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Airspace Change Process. At this
early stage it is not possible to identify the expected noise impacts on specific
communities. These will depend on the final chosen airspace design. The second part
of the process is known as ‘Option Development’, and requires the airport to develop
a range of options for the proposed new airspace design. These will then be published,
along with a detailed assessment, for public consultation.</p>
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