Anti-airport expansion campaigners seek creation of independent aviation ombudsman

Campaigners against expansion of Gatwick are calling for the creation of a “truly independent” aviation ombudsman to oversee the Civil Aviation Authority.

They fear the ability of communities to challenge airspace change decisions will be weakened due to proposed changes in the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill.

The Bill, which received its second reading in the House of Lords on June 2 and is due to enter committee stage tomorrow (June 16), includes measures on consumer protection, aviation regulation and airspace change.

CAGNE (Communities Against Gatwick Noice and Emissions) believes the legislation must be amended to ensure residents have access to “independent, affordable and effective” redress when aviation regulatory decisions expose communities to aircraft noise, air pollution and other environmental impacts.

It is urging peers to use the committee stage of the Bill to press for amendments that would establish independent oversight of the CAA’s regulatory decisions where communities are directly affected, including decisions linked to airspace redesign, noise concentration and environmental impact.

The community and environmental group argues that the current system leaves affected residents with few realistic options, with judicial review being “prohibitively expensive”.

Existing options to complain, including internal CAA review, the Independent Complaints Assessor and referral via an MP to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, “do not provide a direct, specialist mechanism for communities seeking to challenge regulatory outcomes”.

A CAGNE spokesperson said: “The Civil Aviation Authority has significant powers over decisions that shape the skies above our homes, schools and communities. Yet residents affected by those decisions do not have a clear, independent and accessible route to challenge outcomes. That is not fair, and it is not good regulation.

“The government says there are remedies, but those remedies do not address the core problem: communities have no meaningful consumer rights in airspace change decisions. An independent aviation ombudsman is urgently needed to restore balance, transparency and public confidence.”

The government has backed Gatwick’s £2.2 billion plan to bring its standby northern runway into regular use by the turn of the decade, raising capacity by about 13 million passengers a year to more than 80 million by 2047.

CAGNE participated in a High Court judicial review challenge against the scheme in January with a final decision yet to be made.   

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “This Bill does not change the existing consultation requirements, and communities will continue to have a meaningful say on airspace changes that could affect them.

“It will strengthen powers to help deliver the benefits of airspace modernisation, such as using modern technologies to better manage noise impacts.”