The Civil Aviation Authority has advised ministers to revoke the rules that restrict certain aircraft operations at Heathrow and Gatwick during defined peak periods. The recommendation concerns whole-plane cargo flights and general or business aviation. It is advice, not a ministerial decision: the Secretary of State for Transport must decide whether the rules should be retained, amended or revoked.
The restrictions date from 1991. They apply when peak congestion periods have been declared for a scheduling season, and prevent the specified services from operating at either airport in those periods without permission from the airport operator. They do not amount to a general ban on cargo aircraft or private and business flights at all times. Nor does the recommendation itself change the rules or grant any operator new access.
What the rules cover
“Whole-plane cargo” describes a flight carrying freight rather than passengers alongside freight. The rules also cover general and business aviation, a broad category that includes non-scheduled private and corporate flying. The restriction is tied to the airports, the type of operation and the declared peak hours. An operator seeking to use a covered period needs the airport operator’s permission under the existing arrangement.
Peak periods are not simply a single permanent daily timetable. The CAA publishes periods for arrivals and departures at Heathrow and for arrivals and departures at Gatwick, with schedules that can vary by airport and scheduling season. Its published tables express the hours in UTC. This seasonal structure means the rule operates as a targeted control on access during specified busy windows rather than as a uniform restriction throughout the year.
Advice is one step in a statutory process
The rules were made under section 31 of the Airports Act 1986. The Act gives the Secretary of State the power to make traffic distribution rules and requires consultation with the CAA before rules are made, amended or revoked. Before advising ministers, the CAA is in turn required to consult airports and airlines likely to be affected.
The regulator’s review followed an earlier call for views and a consultation on draft advice. The final recommendation is the outcome of that process. The short announcement setting out the advice does not itself provide a detailed explanation of the CAA’s reasoning, quantify how many flights are affected or forecast what would happen if the rules were removed. Those questions should not be treated as settled by the recommendation alone.
In practical terms, revocation would remove this particular rule-based restriction and its permission requirement for the covered peak periods. It would not, on the information published with the advice, guarantee that additional flights would operate, that airport capacity would increase, or that operators would receive slots. Other airport capacity, slot-allocation and operational arrangements are distinct matters; the advice announcement does not say that they would be altered.
The decision remains with ministers
The Secretary of State may retain the rules, amend them or revoke them. Until a decision is made and any necessary legal steps take effect, the existing controls remain in force. The CAA has not announced a final government policy, and the advice should not be reported as though the restrictions have already ended.
The issue is therefore a regulatory decision about how a longstanding allocation control should apply at two of the country’s busiest airports. The immediate change is that the CAA has completed its advisory role and recommended removal. What that would mean for cargo, private or business operators, and whether ministers accept the recommendation, remains to be determined.
