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Edinburgh Airport Noise Advisory Board Autumn 2025
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Welcome to the Autumn 2025 EANAB Newsletter!
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We publish our newsletter quarterly to keep you informed about our community engagement efforts, how we're addressing aircraft noise concerns, and the latest EANAB developments. This newsletter will complement the information available on our website.
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If you know anyone who might be interested in receiving our Newsletter they can Subscribe on our website.
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Your Airspace, Your Say: Public Consultation on New Flight Paths Begins ✈️
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The official public consultation for the Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) affecting flight paths at Edinburgh Airport has begun! This is an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to review the proposed changes and share your views on the future layout of our skies and the resulting noise impact. The ACP Consultation website is now live with links to all relevant information.
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Consultation Timeline and Drop-In Session Access
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The 14-week public consultation period officially begins on Monday, October 20th. Please note this period includes a two-week break observed over the Christmas holidays.
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All in-person Drop-In sessions will run from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The current schedule and locations are listed above. Always check the consultation webpage before attending as times and locations are subject to change.
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Experience the Impact Virtually
To help you understand the real-world impact of the changes, Edinburgh Airport is providing immersive tools:
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- Virtual Room: A dedicated Virtual Room will be accessible via the consultation website, serving as an online hub for all materials and information.
- VOLANS Videos: Videos have been produced using the VOLANS system, visually demonstrating all proposed arrival and departure flight path options. Option 1 Departures (preferred option), Option 2 Departures, Option 3 Departures, Arrivals Runway 06, and Arrivals Runway 24.
- Soundbox Experience: You can virtually experience the projected noise levels of over-flights at your specific postcode via a Soundbox feature and interactive map, available both at the physical drop-in sessions and online.
What’s Available to Review?
A comprehensive suite of materials has been prepared to ensure full transparency and detailed understanding of the options:
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- Core Documents: The main Consultation Document, the detailed Consultation Strategy, and a user-friendly Summary Document.
- Technical Details: The Full Options Appraisal provides the technical explanations, detailed routes for each option, and the rationale behind them.
- Evidence Base: All proposals are evidenced using noise contours (showing predicted noise levels), over-flight contours (showing where planes are predicted to fly and frequency), and the WebTAG cost-benefit analysis (the economic justification).
- Frequently Asked Questions: An FAQs document is available to address common queries regarding the ACP and the consultation process.
CAA Documentation
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Scottish Airspace Modernisation
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The Scottish Airspace Modernisation initiative is running concurrently, with consultations for Glasgow Airport and NATS happening in parallel with Edinburgh Airport’s proposal.
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This is your chance to directly influence a permanent change to the local noise environment. We urge all residents to engage with the materials, attend a drop-in session if possible, and SUBMIT a formal response. Your feedback is vital to ensure the final design appropriately balances operational efficiency with the mitigation of noise impact on our communities.
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Noise Action Plan 2024 - 2028 Adopted
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Consultation on the draft NAP was open to responses from November 11, 2024, to January 31, 2025. Responses have been considered and incorporated into the plan and the NAP has been finalised and adopted by the Scottish Government. This will be in place until 2028. It sets out how they will manage and, where feasible, reduce the impact of aviation noise on communities around the airport and under the flight paths.
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You can now view and download:
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All documentation for this and previous NAPs is available on the Noise Lab NAP webpage and you can find informative Q&As on the EAL NAP webpage. Further details are also available on the EANAB NAP webpage
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Under the Scottish Government’s Environmental Assessment Act, airports are required to create or revise their Noise Action Plans (NAPs) every five years. Complementing this, the Scottish Government has also commissioned collaborative work to develop comprehensive noise modelling and MAPPING. This initiative aims to provide a detailed understanding of noise exposure across all of Scotland. For broader information, refer to the Scotland's Noise webpage.
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Edinburgh Airport Community Fund
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The second 2025 funding round of the Edinburgh Airport Community Fund saw strong community engagement, resulting in over £95,000 being awarded to a diverse array of local initiatives.
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- £95,549 awarded across 26 successful projects
- 50 eligible applications (68% of total)
Projects include: Fisherrow Trust: installation of beehives, Uphall Station Institute Hall: immersive cinema equipment for ASN school children. WATIF Loanhead Farm: EV Chargers.
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Visit the Edinburgh Airport Community Fund webpage for further details on the criteria for Round 3 which is now open for the award meeting on 28th November 2025.
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The Community Fund Report for 2024 is available to view, and provides an overview of the projects supported last year. It's a great resource to learn more about the Community Fund's impact and the types of initiatives that have been funded.
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Aviation Analysis: Managing Aircraft Noise at Night 🌙
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As the health impacts of sleep disturbance become clearer, managing nighttime aircraft noise is a priority for EANAB. We are currently researching policies used by British and European airports to find best practices for Edinburgh.
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Noise seems louder at night due to lower ambient background sound and the expectation of quiet. Airports generally manage this through five key strategies:
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- Runway Closure: Banning take-offs and landings during night hours, though strictness varies.
- Financial Measures: Using night surcharges to discourage flights, with costs varying by time, noise, and weight.
- Movement Quota: Limiting the total number of flights (take-offs/landings) in a given night period.
- Noise Restrictions: Banning the noisiest aircraft types to encourage fleet upgrades.
- Noise Quota: Setting a maximum total accumulated noise rating, allowing flexibility on the number of movements but fixing the total noise impact.
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The effectiveness of these measures depends heavily on factors like external government regulation, airport ownership (private vs. public), and proximity to residential areas. Ultimately, the strongest protections against night noise often come from government intervention to balance commercial interests with residents' right to undisturbed sleep.
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For a fuller analysis of these measures and airport practices, please see the EANAB Article.
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Community Engagement
Our Communities & External Engagement (C&EE) subgroup actively connects with organisations located under the flight path, including Care Homes, nurseries, schools, and golf clubs. If you're interested in scheduling a visit to chat about EANAB and the Airport, please get in touch.
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Edinburgh Airport maintains a dedicated Community Space on their corporate website, offering information on their engagement efforts, charity partnerships, the Noise Lab, and more.
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The Airport's Sustainability Manager, Aaron McKeen, is available to attend Community Council meetings and is specifically focusing on those communities that are most affected by aircraft noise.
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Get in touch if you would like us to facilitate a visit to your Community Council.
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Noise Complaints and Monitoring
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Edinburgh Airport publishes a Noise Complaints report every quarter. Additional noise peak intensity and numbers information has now been included for each of the airport's noise monitoring sites.
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The EAL Casper Noise and Track System allows members of the public to check aircraft noise levels and flight specific information such as flight position and altitude using radar data. It is a state of the art monitoring system that is specifically designed as an intuitive system for noise and aircraft track analysis.
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Noise monitors are strategically placed around the airport to gather essential data for analysis. One has been installed at Cramond Primary School, Read More about it and Watch the video featuring June McClung, EAL Environmental Noise Manager, to get a better understanding of how they work.
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What is the ACOG Airspace Masterplan?
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The Airspace Masterplan is the Airspace Change Organising Group's high-level, UK-wide implementation strategy to transform outdated airspace using modern Performance Based Navigation (PBN) technology. It is essentially aviation's upgrade from using old ground-based radio beacons to relying on modern GPS and satellite technology for navigation. This strategic shift is necessary to tackle existing inefficiencies like flight stacking, slow climb/descent profiles, and excessive fuel burn.
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While the aim is to deliver national benefits across safety, capacity, and environmental performance, the most relevant component for EANAB is the required change to the Scotland Terminal Control Area (TCA). This comprehensive regional restructuring will define new, efficient arrival and departure paths for Scotland’s major airports, including Edinburgh. Though fuel and delay reductions are anticipated, modernisation fundamentally means changing where aircraft fly. This directly translates into a permanent alteration of the aircraft noise footprint, and history confirms that even minor route adjustments can cause significant shifts in noise exposure for affected communities.
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CAP1616 Airspace Change process consultation launched
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The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation regarding proposed changes to the UK's airspace change process. This is part of a wider programme to modernise how UK airspace is managed. The review also seeks to streamline the existing process, ensuring changes remain safe, transparent, and proportionate.
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The consultation is hosted on the Citizen Space platform and closes on December 18, 2025. Stakeholders are invited to review the proposals and SUBMIT their responses online.
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EDI Launches UK's First Airside Solar Farm ☀️
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Edinburgh Airport (EDI) has officially opened the UK's first airside solar farm, an eleven-acre facility next to the runway, launched by Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes.
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The project provides 27% of the airport's energy needs and is key to the Airport's goal of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2030.
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- Scottish First: Supported by £2.1 million in Scottish Government funding.
- Emissions Reduction: EDI has achieved a 90% reduction in its own emissions since 2019.
- Partnership: Developed and operated in partnership with AMPYR Solar Europe.
- Accreditation: EDI is the only Scottish airport at Level 4+ in the global Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme.
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Health Impacts
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The CAA publishes Aircraft Noise and Health Effects reports every six months and maintains an Aviation Noise and Health webpage.
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Check back on the EANAB Health Impact webpage for the next report due out in November, and for previous reports.
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EANAB Focused Groups and Information
Following the EANAB Review in 2022, our subgroups underwent a strategic overhaul. We established focused subgroups with dedicated expertise, designed to address key areas within our remit more effectively. These currently include:
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An EANAB Induction Handbook has been produced by the Education and Training subgroup, it offers valuable information about EANAB useful to all, not just members.
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EANAB website and resources
Since 2017, EANAB has worked to provide an accessible platform for communities impacted by airport noise. After a comprehensive re-branding effort, our website offers a user-friendly interface and improved navigation, making it simpler to find essential information. The structure allows you to quickly locate:
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We hope you like the website and find it a valuable resource. We welcome your feedback and suggestions to make it even better.
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EANAB Annual Report
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Our Strategy subgroup has recently published the EANAB Annual Report 2024 which details EANAB's activities and achievements for 2024.
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EANAB meetings normally take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM as a hybrid meeting, with the physical meeting taking place at the Novotel Edinburgh Park and the online meeting taking place via Google Meet. Meetings are open to the public.
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