Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and North East Essex Area
This page provides an introduction to the changes proposed for the Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and North East Essex area.
Airspace does not conform to geographic boundaries so if you are close to the edge of one of the areas we have defined you may also want to look at the information on the neighbouring area.
Airspace over most of southern and eastern England is already used by aircraft heading to or from airports across the region and beyond.
Aircraft heading east from London and the Midlands use the airspace over Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and North East Essex as do virtually all aircraft heading to Luton and Stansted airports.
The following routes passing over the area would remain the same as today and be unaffected by this proposal:
- Gatwick and Stansted departures
- Luton and Northolt departures to the north east
- Heathrow departures to the north east
- Arrivals and departures from smaller airfields in the London area
- Overflights to and from other UK airports, the Americas, Europe and the east.
Routes that would change under this proposal are:
- Stansted arrivals
- Luton arrivals
- Cambridge arrivals
- A slight change to a route used by some departures from the military base at RAF Mildenhall
Holds
Many Luton and Stansted arrivals currently cross the Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and North East Essex area.
At busy times aircraft have to queue close to the airport while waiting to land. Queuing aircraft form a hold, circling one above another over a specified area at 1,000ft intervals ranging from 7,000ft to 14,000ft.
Luton and Stansted currently share two holds; one near Royston and the other close to Sudbury.
This sharing arrangement adds complexity to air traffic control which can cause delay and have an adverse environmental impact - effects that will increase as air traffic grows.
NATS proposes one dedicated hold for Luton and two dedicated holds for Stansted. These holds would be contained within the Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and North East Essex area.
Holds are positioned away from other flight paths, close enough to the airport to reduce the distance flown to reach the holding area and far enough away to allow for continuous descent approaches which reduce noise and improve fuel efficiency by keeping aircraft higher for longer.
This also allows controllers to put aircraft into an orderly stream for landing.
We aim to site holds away from larger population centres wherever possible to reduce the effects of noise. NATS is also required to give special consideration to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, such as Dedham Vale.
The proposals mean that aircraft would no longer head towards the holding areas near Sudbury and Royston.
Instead aircraft would head to an area north west of Ipswich near Stowmarket, or to one of the other two holds west of Cambridge and south of Newmarket, generally passing Ipswich and the Stour and Orwell Estuary at heights above 10,000ft.
All Luton and Stansted arrivals plan to fly via a hold before landing, although in quieter periods aircraft are likely to take a more direct route to the runway. As a result, aircraft may be seen across a wide swathe of the sky around a hold.
In the case of Luton and Stansted arrivals from the south or west, more direct flight paths may mean aircraft avoid Cambridgeshire and Suffolk altogether during less busy periods.
For full details on the Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and North East Essex area please refer to the consultation document.