Air Transport
Nottingham East Midlands Airport is located just outside the Borough about 8 miles (13km) north west of Loughborough. The Airport is a key national and regional asset. It is developing in line with approved regional and strategic planning guidance objectives:
- To support further operational expansion within the current boundaries subject to national policy on regional airports and assessments of environmental impact
- To constrain further significant business development around EMA that would be contrary to sustainable development objectives for the East Midlands
The Borough Council monitors the impact of changes at the Airport. The statutory control of noise from civil aircraft is not vested in local authorities and relies upon an overview by the Secretary of State, via the Civil Aviation authority.
The Council supported an application by North West Leicestershire District Council to ask the Secretary of State to control night time operations at the airport, but this was not supported. The Council is represented on the Airport Consultative Committee and maintains a dialogue with the Airport Authority with a view to ensuring that the Airport's operations result in the minimum practical interference with residents of Charnwood.
Future of Air Transport White Paper (December 2003)
The White Paper sets out a strategic framework for the development of airport capacity in the UK over the next 30 years. The aim is to develop a balanced approach catering for growth in air travel and tackling environmental issues.
In the Midlands Nottingham East Midlands and Birmingham Airports between them handle virtually all commercial passenger traffic. Nottingham East Midlands is also the base for three major freight companies. Government forecasts indicate the overall market for air travel in the Midlands will grow substantially in coming years.
The White Paper identifies a need for additional runway capacity in the Midlands to serve regional growth and reduce the need for people to travel further afield to fly from other airports, notably in the South East. The preferred location for the new runway is at Birmingham. The main driver of growth at Nottingham East Midlands is the anticipated growth of freight. However the government is not yet convinced of the economic case for a second runway. It is proposed to keep under review the case for a possible new runway at Nottingham East Midlands.
For more information please refer to the Department for Transport's website.