Numerous local residents have complained about what appears to be an increase in aircraft noise from Heathrow landings. This included a recording of early flights over Richmond Park Road London SW14 8LA at the following times on Tuesday: 454.   502.  509.  513. 518.  526. 531. The noise was then incessant until the afternoon.

There appear to be a variety of responses to complaints. Some are terse and invite you to contact Heathrow by another means. One of our local residents recently received this rather fuller response to a complaint to Heathrow.

“Thank you for contacting the Community Relations team. I am sorry you have been disturbed by planes using Heathrow.

As previously mentioned, aircraft begin to arrive at Heathrow from 4.30am. We do appreciate that early-morning flights can be disruptive for local residents. There is no formal ban on night flights at Heathrow but the Government places tight restrictions on the numbers and types of aircraft that can operate between 11:30pm and 6:00am.

Our operations form part of an inter-connected global transport system and our arrival and departure times have to be coordinated with other airports operating in different time zones. This means that it is difficult to avoid flights at night and early in the morning.

We have a range of operational data and reports available on our website. This information can be found here https://www.heathrow.com/company/local-community/noise/noise-reports-and-statistics. We also provide monthly flight data dashboards, these can be found here https://www.heathrow.com/company/local-community/noise/data/operational-data

Please be assured your complaint has been registered. If it would be helpful you can speak to a member of the Community Relations team during office hours on Freephone 0800 344 844.”

Given the cavalier attitude Heathrow adopts to its ‘neighbours’ it might be thought that we need to make their life as difficult as possible. Their ‘Community Relations’ is designed and trained to placate and obfuscate without any real intention to ameliorate.

It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that Heathrow is concerned about its financial gains and about getting a few people into the airport as early as possible more than about the health and welfare of millions of residents in and around southwest London.

Meanwhile in Parliament earlier in the week Richmond Council Leader Gareth Roberts and campaigners from the No 3rd Runway Coalition made the case against expansion directly to MPs and Lords from across the political spectrum.

“London deserves a better Heathrow, not a bigger one,” said Councillor Roberts.. He challenged the proposals, saying: “The government’s so-called growth agenda – now revealed nine months ago – is yet to present credible detail showing how these plans will actually deliver benefits for residents or the environment. Residents in Richmond upon Thames and neighbouring boroughs already live with near-constant noise, air pollution, and disruption. A third runway will only make this worse.”

For a fuller report see https://www.richmond.gov.uk/news/news_september_2025/council_leader_warns_government_over_heathrow