Runway works will bring noise concerns

Edinburgh Airport pressure group say works will hit otherwise quiet communities with noise issues and question the future of second runway

The second runway will be used over three weekends next month as essential maintenance work is carried out.

The temporary changes will happen overnight on October 7-8, 14-15 and 21-22, all from 11.15pm to 5.30am when 16 flights are scheduled for the Saturdays and nine on the Sundays.

The closure of the main runway means alternative take-off and landing routes over Bo’ness, Kirkliston, Bonnyrigg, Loanhead, Fairmilehead, Colinton, Sighthill and South Gyle.

Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport Gordon Dewar said: “The runway is our most prized asset and we have to make sure that it is fit for use, which is why we continue to invest in our facilities and carry out essential repairs.

“We will use the secondary runway during the repair period and that means some of our local communities will experience a slight increase in the number of aircraft operations – this will be kept to an absolute minimum as we carry out these essential repairs.”

A spokesperson for pressure group Edinburgh Airport Watch, which is objecting to the airport’s flight plan changes, said: “On previous occasions when the secondary runway was in use, multiple late arriving flights have passed over otherwise quiet rural areas at a very low height in the early hours of the morning.

“More crucially, the airport has announced it is closing its secondary runway to build a business and housing complex, boosting revenues for its owners.

“How will ‘essential’ maintenance of their ‘most prized asset’ be managed then?”