Noise from the airport

Some residents in the area have been concerned about increased noise from aircraft flying over the Parish. The following is an explanation of the current situation from the airport:

"Nice to hear from you and sorry for the disturbance/intrusion.

"As you know to fly the SIDs/Preferred Noise Routes, aircraft are reliant on a network of ground based navigational aids such as the Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range and Distance Measuring Equipment based at Manchester Airport. The Manchester Distance Measuring Equipment (MCT DME) failed on Monday and technicians were working until Tuesday afternoon to repair the equipment. Sadly the Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Radio Range (MCT VOR) then failed on Thursday. As you know we do not own the kit and are reliant on NATS engineering to maintain and repair it. We believe it should return to service early this week.

"Without these navigational aids many aircraft have been unable to fly the standard Preferred Noise Routes on departure for much of the last week. Many aircraft have instead had to be given Non-Standard Departures.

"Apologies for the disturbance, as you can appreciate, this is as inconvenient/annoying for us/ATC as it is for our neighbours."