Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to increase the length of the night period when local communities are not exposed to aircraft noise from Heathrow.

The Government sets noise controls at Heathrow which include limits on the number of aircraft movements permitted between 11.30pm and 6am.

The current night flight regime runs from October 2025 to October 2028. Any changes to the regime from October 2028, including changes to the night period, will be subject to a consultation. We aim to publish a consultation on this early next year.

Separately, on 18 June the Department published a public consultation on the draft revised Airports National Policy Statement, now renamed the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS). The draft HENPS sets out requirements on noise mitigation that any successful scheme for expansion should meet, including a scheduled night flight ban of 6.5 hours between the hours of 11pm and 7am.