Biggin Hill Airport lies within the Borough of Bromley. The local council owns the airport and has leased it to Biggin Hill Airport Ltd (BHAL) for use essentially for private flying and “general aviation”, i.e. not for scheduled commercial flights. But BHAL have long desired to expand activities at the airport to make it more commercially viable. Local residents have strongly objected to any expansion because there is a lot of housing near or under the flight paths and complaints about noise are common.

BHAL have now applied for a variation of the lease to permit scheduled and non-scheduled commercial flights…including by accepting “individual farepaying passengers….”, although limits on the number of flights will remain and BHAL say the number of flights will not significantly change. If the council rejects the request to vary the lease, BHAL will appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

A local group called Flightpath Watch is active in opposing changes to the airport that might increase noise (see logo above). There are also concerns about poor road access to the airport. Few people desire to turn Biggin Hill into another major London airport.

You can read the full details and likely council response here: https://tinyurl.com/jsaxubr4 . Local residents who are concerned should make representations to the council or their local councillors on this matter.

Comment: The case for changing the lease as desired by BHAL appears unjustified although some change may be acceptable. But it is not totally clear why BHAL requires the proposed change. I recommend opposition unless the case for change is made more evident.

Roger Lawson

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