The future is bleak for residents if runway is extended at Belfast City Airport, argues Fiona McKinleyPoliticians from all parties are busy reconnecting with their grassroots at the moment after the fallout from the Westminster expenses scandal.

They would do well to focus some of their efforts on the tens of thousands of people affected by the noise from aircraft flying in and out of George Best Belfast City Airport.

We’ve just interviewed 412 of them in areas ranging from Sydenham, Connswater and Short Strand in east Belfast to Stranmillis and Rosetta in south Belfast, and Kinnegar in Holywood.

And the response we got again and again on the doorsteps was: “You’re the first people who’ve ever come out and asked us what it’s like living with these planes.”

For the record, our survey found that:

l More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents said aircraft noise affected their sleep, with nearly one-in-five reporting that the problem was so bad they didn’t get enough sleep.

l Three-quarters (75%) said they often had to stop talking when a plane flew over because they couldn’t be heard.

l Of the 157 respondents with children, nearly half (46%) said their kids weren’t getting enough sleep because of aircraft noise, while more than a third (34%) said their children found aircraft noise frightening.

l A total of 91% said they were concerned about the proposed runway extension — with 75% saying they were very concerned about it and were opposed to the plan.

Most also said their gardens and homes were less pleasant places to be thanks to aircraft noise, while almost half (49%) said the noise made their lives more stressful.

George Best Belfast City Airport has questioned the validity of the survey and suggests that the airport is relatively peaceful compared to other UK airports.

Try telling that to the tens of thousands of people who have to put up with being woken up by the airport’s first noisy flight at 6.30am seven days a week — yes, that includes Saturdays and Sundays.

Try telling that to the tens of thousands of people who can no longer have an early night because planes regularly fly after the official 9.30pm curfew time.

The fact is that this airport is designated by the European Parliament as a ‘city airport’ because of its proximity to thousands of homes.

And that should mean that it is regulated in such a way as to minimise noise and night-time flights. But to thousands of people the regulation of this airport is woefully inadequate.

People ask us repeatedly how it came to be that George Best Belfast City Airport was allowed to bring in large jets such as the Ryanair 737s and the bmi A320 Airbuses.

Our answer is that there’s nothing in the airport’s planning agreement to stop them.

The length of the runway was supposed to be our protection from these large jets.

If that goes, then the future is bleak for thousands of householders and homeowners under the City Airport’s flightpaths.

The airport argues that its proposed runway extension would boost the economy. That argument might hold water if there wasn’t another airport just 30 minutes’ drive from Belfast city centre, an airport which already has a longer runway capable of dealing with the heavier large aircraft which the City Airport can’t currently handle.

Indeed, some experts argue that if the City Airport does try to turn itself into a fully-fledged international airport it will simply fragment our tiny regional air travel market even further to the point where none of the Northern Ireland airports perform well, and the far bigger Dublin Airport is the only winner.

What a runway extension will do is to allow an exponential increase in one airline, using their 737 jets, exacerbating a noise problem which is already intolerable for so many people.

The longer runway will enable Ryanair to fly large jets with a full load of passengers and fuel (up to 26,000 litres of jet fuel) something it can’t currently do.

It will mean a rapid escalation in the number of flights up to the new increased 48,000-a-year limit. That’s around 6,000 more on top of what we have now.

The heavier planes will be noisier, affecting a larger number of people and making life even more unbearable for those living directly under the flightpath.

The runway extension also runs the risk of ruining some of the beauty spots in Belfast which visitors come here to enjoy – Victoria Park, Lagan Meadows, the Lock Keeper’s Cottage near Shaw's Bridge and part of the Comber Greenway in east Belfast all lie under the flightpath and all already are suffering from aircraft noise.

So our message to the new Environment Minister Edwin Poots, is very simple — this misguided proposal for an airport runway extension should be rejected out of hand.

Tens of thousands of ordinary people will thank you for taking the right decision.

Fiona McKinley is a spokesperson for Belfast City Airport Watch — an umbrella group of eight residents’ associations in east and south Belfast and north Down. For more information, click www.belfastcityairportwatch.co.uk