Noise - new technology

New aircraft

Operating newer, quieter, aircraft is an important part of reducing our noise impacts, and by investing £7 billion in more efficient aircraft we have managed to halve our noise impact since 1999.

At the end of September 2007, we announced the purchase of new aircraft to replace some of our Boeing 767-300 and 747-400's. Environmental performance was one of the key factors in the longhaul purchase decision and both the A380 and Boeing 787 are considerably quieter than the aircraft they replace.

Based on the night noise rating system at Heathrow, measured by the Quota Count (QC) scale they both fall into the QC 0.5 on arrival, and QC 1 or QC 2 for take-off. Compared to the higher QC 2 (arrival) for the Boeing 747-400 this means that their noise impact is rated at only a quarter of the 747 on landing, and a quarter to a half that for take-off.

Find out more about our new aircraft

New technology equipment

We are trialling new technology equipment fitted to our existing aircraft which should allow further noise reductions to be made.

Progress in this area is slower, however, due to safety, legal and regulatory constraints, which have to be demonstrated before the technology is allowed to be used.