I hope you enjoy using the rich and unique content contained in this Aircraft Assessment Website. The raw aircraft movement data used by our Assessment algorithms is kindly provided by the Opensky Network Org. which is an Open Data aircraft research community whose stakeholders and sponsors includes the likes of Oxford University and EuroControl.
I passionately believe we have the right to know the consequences of the Aviation sector’s actions within our airspace, the airspace in which we share, breath and live with our families.
Did you know our small UK island is the home to one of world’s most densely and largest aviation networks, based on land mass? This has implications on our cities, towns and villages when deciding where we live, work, holidaying or retire to within the UK.
It’s a proven fact that aircraft create noise and emit toxic carbon pollutants. Too much noise and a too bigger concentration of toxic air pollutants has serious health issues in terms of our sleep deprivation and our air quality. Although in the UK we have Environmental and Noise regulations i.e. laws that control both noise and air quality created by our industries, SMEs businesses and also our neighbours. HOWEVER, the Aviation sector has exemptions from these same laws.
The result of these exemptions means our local and district councils aren’t officially allowed to directly report or comment on Aircraft nuisance. This Website is designed to plug that gap and provide everyone with a shared understanding i.e. the 2 Minute Aircraft Assessment
Our 31 Day Interactive aircraft traffic maps enables you to perform your own aircraft assessment too, on your own postcode The filters provide analysis of flight movements by; aircraft, altitude, day, aircraft movement type, and time bands such as late evening and early morning.
Within the UK it’s highly likely every property is being actively Overflown by aircraft 7 days a week for 20 hours a day and that some postcodes are overflown by 4,500+ flights per day!
Over the past 3 years we’ve analysed over 900 UK postcodes, many of which are now available free online. If you require detailed analysis for a specific postcode based on 93 days of flight movements in 2019, pre-pandemic era, as well as 31 days of flight movements in August 2023 the fee is £15.00 per postcode and £25.00 for two postcodes. The fees help to cover the compute operating costs of running this service and Website as each assessment processes 400,000+ data points from datasets with billions of aircraft movements.
It is our intention for the aircraft models and algorithms to provide sufficient information to determine the experience you can expect both at night-time and at daytime within your postcode. The focus of our night-time algorithm is on the likelihood of experiencing sleep disturbance, whereas our daytime focus is on the enjoyment of your amenities e.g. gardens and shared social spaces.
The Assessment provides facts regarding aircraft operations for any 5+ digit UK postcode. This includes; occurrences of overflying, flight heights, flight times by day & every hour period, occurrences of Arrivals vs. Departures, density and intensity of flight traffic, and suggested busiest times to visit the postcode in person.
Also include are our personalised comments about the possibility of; a) sleep disturbance, b) weekend noise disruptions, c) exposure to aircraft pollutants, and d) access to our interactive visualisation .
We provide independent insight and analysis of aircraft movements, i.e. factual evidence to determine the likelihood of the noise nuisance.
So what do we mean by being Overflown?
Being overflown means an aircraft flying within 1 mile radius of your home or postcode, either inbound or outbound, from ANY airport. Our research shows that people living 30-50 miles from an airport are often more overflown that those living 3-6 miles from an airport. Why? The real life image below illustrates why. This was a single inbound Gatwick flight that overflew multiple postcode between 5:00am and 6:00am. Now extrapolate this scenario by the 1000s of flights that criss-cross the UK everyday and you will understand how flights can impact you.
The following is another example of a single flight Overflying multiple postcodes ranging at a height from 4,000 feet to 15,000 feet with sometimes less and 90 seconds separation between flights. This example was an arrival into Heathrow, notice the use of both the arrival stack and also the “trombone” shaped holding route over the North London postcodes. At the same time the postcodes were also being overflown by aircraft from other airports too.
Also follow the conversation on Twitter too!
Why is our Aircraft Assessment required? The aviation industry, the local authorities and the associated government bodies are not legally required to report and share aircraft movements by postcode, so they don’t. Meaning we buy and rent our homes and also visit our open spaces without any understanding of potential noise and emissions created by the aircraft being routed overhead. Buying and renting are expensive in terms of emotional and financial costs so try and avoid getting trapped into a situation you had not expected.
Is it all about the decibels? We think not as the aircraft cruising noise, excluding maneuvers, tends to be around 45-55 dBs, which is about the same as a car. However, the noise duration is typically 30-50 seconds i.e. it’s not a single short term event, and this is what can causes an annoyance. Additionally, the noise created at 1,000 feet and above is not readily absorbed by trees and buildings and can merge with noise coming from other nearby aircraft. This in turn creates a continuous low level background rumble.
What emissions? Whenever you hear aircraft noise there are very likely to be emissions too. By having an understanding of aircraft movement and how long it takes for an aircraft to cross the postcode’s airspace it is then possible to calculate the scale of the emissions. Emissions such as; Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide and Particulate Matter such as soot. It’s estimated that an aircraft emits 250kg of Carbon Dioxide per hour. Meaning, 2 planes navigating the same postcode at the same time for 20 seconds will emit; 2.78kg of Carbon Dioxide, 14.30 milligrams of Nitrogen Oxide and 1.84 milligrams of Particulate Matter.
Our focus is on identifying the potential causes of continuous noise disturbances and emissions at the times when we are at our most sensitive e.g. early morning, late at night and at weekends.
- Assessment details are available for only sponsored postcodes. Pins can be filtered, the colour represents the Disruption Assessment result: Green (none; minimal), Yellow (occasional), Amber (regular, frequent), Red (high, very high, extremely high)
The Assessment processes billions of “research quality” data points and is a fusion of multi-million £s of IT investment overlaid by real life experiences. We can also supply the detailed evidence for each Assessment.
The Assessment is designed to highlight locations for; buyers, sellers, renters, holidaymakers, and property investors where there is a high likelihood of experiencing aircraft noise and emissions.
We also include articles that describe some of the causes and patterns that can result in aircraft pass-bys such as; flight paths, flight corridors, flight routes and flight holding stacks. You can also contribute to the research project by sponsoring a £15 Assessment for your postcode.
Getting started.
- Email us at: comms@aircrafttrafficsurvey.com or by call: 07940 700031 with your preferred survey choice and also your UK postcode. See menu option “Request an Assessment” to see the full range of Assessments offered.
- We then electronically configure the Assessment with your preferences and Email back your unique and anonymous Assessment Identifier. No personal data is saved on our Website.
- Within 30 minutes of your survey completing your survey details will be published on this Website using your unique Assessment Identifier.
Who uses our service?
- Home buyers wanting to know about possible Aircraft impact at a specific location e.g. by postcode, street, or plot.
- Home sellers wanting to demonstrate to potential buyers their plot is not subject to excessive aircraft disturbance.
- Local environmentalists and communities concerned about the growth of aircraft usage patterns e.g. flight holding stacks, arrivals and departures, in their area.
- Real Estate Builders and Developers when calculating the impact of the Aircraft “factor” on real estate plot values.
- Real Estate Agencies that provide a unique extended client offering.