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<p>Along with Gatwick and Stansted, the Government sets night flight restrictions
at Heathrow, using its powers under s.78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982.</p><br /><p>These
restrictions limit the number of flights between the hours of 23.30 and 06.00 that
can take place during a particular season - there are two seasons per annum, winter
and summer, which coincide with the use of Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer
Time. Heathrow is limited to 5,800 flights a year during these hours, which translates
in to an average of 16 flights per night. Due to a voluntary agreement which prevents
scheduled movements before 04.30, most of these flights are from aircraft arriving
between the hours of 04.30 and 06.00. It should be noted that these restrictions do
not preclude additional aircraft from operating at Heathrow during the night period
in the case of emergencies or severe disruption.</p><br /><p>As well as limiting the
number of movements allowed within an airline season, these restrictions place requirements
on the aircraft that can operate during the night period, and place seasonal limits
on the amount of noise energy that can be emitted at Heathrow. Aircraft are certified
by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) according to the noise they
produce and the higher the band an aircraft is certified as the higher quota amount
it uses with each movement. The Government has also prohibited the noisiest types
of aircraft from using the airport during the night. QC/4 aircraft are not allowed
to be scheduled during the night quota period (2330 to 0600), and the highest rated
QC/8 and QC/16 aircraft are prevented from operating at all during the entire night
period (2300 to 0700).</p><br /><p>The Government will begin consulting next year
on a new nights flight regime which will take effect from October 2017.</p>
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