23 February 2007
The CAA is introducing a new airspace structure over the south coast of England as of 15 March. The airspace, known as the Hurn Airspace change (covering the Southampton, Bournemouth, Isle of Wight and English Channel areas), will reduce the compexity (says the Authority) of existing flightpaths, reduce the current level of delays and provide additional capacity for the future. The lowest altitude of any new controlled airspace will be 16,500 feet.
Consultation leading up to the change has taken a year, and has involved an intensive study of the environmental impact on the area, which includes the New Forest National Park and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). It says that the noise impact will be well below Government target levels, and that ‘based on the selected aircraft and routes chosen by NATS to model emissions, the airspace change is expected to result in a reduction in CO2 production per flight.’
Click <a href=”http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/14/PN0907Map.pdf” target=”_blank”>here</a> for a map of the changes.
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Remember that from the same date (15 March) all airspace above FL195 is becoming class C.
