Manston's 2012 schedule

Just to let you know what's coming, here's a timetable that Manston can start operating the day after TDC accepts their proposed night flying policy. 

Currently, daytime flying at the airport is completely free of restrictions regarding the numbers and noisiness of aircraft. Manston's new policy turns night into day. The first half-hour of night, and the last hour of night, would be as free of restrictions as the daytime.

The only restrictions would apply between 2330 and 0600, i.e. 11:30pm and 6am - highlighted in pink below. This would be the only period during which aircraft would be counted, or their noisiness contribute to the proposed quota.

They estimate an average of 1.8 flights a night in this period. They are proposing an upper limit of 659 flights in this period, with a total QC Rating (the points-based noise scale) of 1,593. As you will see from the timetable, this still allows for a lot of noisy aircraft throughout the week. Every week. This will not be the occasional late plane straggling in - this will be a schedule.

Manston also estimate an average of 3.2 flights a night before and after the newly-shortened "night" time. I've put these in purely for the sake of illustration. In practice, there will be no limit on the number of planes that can take off and land between 2300-2330 and 0600-0700.