The aviation minister, Mike Kane, says: “UK airspace is one of the nation’s biggest invisible assets, but it’s been stuck in the past – a 1950s pilot would find that little has changed.”

Kane says that the new UK Airspace Design Service will “create a system that’s fit for the future… making air travel a better experience for all”.

Chronic inefficiency

Airlines will be happy. Last month, easyJet released a scathing report on the ineffectiveness of the UK’s airspace systems. The airline said that seven of its 10 least efficient routes occur inbound into London Gatwick, and that its UK operations had the “greatest inefficiencies” of anywhere in Europe. In total, easyJet predicts that airspace inefficiencies across Europe increased CO2 emissions by 663,710 tonnes per year.

Some of the problems in UK airspace include a requirement for aircraft to ascend in steps after take-off, complex routing, and pilots having to delay descents to manage the workload of their air traffic control colleagues on the ground.

Whichever way you look at it, the changes should be good news for British air passengers, particularly those who usually depart from London’s airports where the airspace is especially congested. If delivered as promised, a modernised airspace system will equate to fewer delays and quicker flight times.

It is also potentially good news for passengers with an eye on their carbon footprint. The DfT says that allowing aircraft to use modern navigation technologies will boost efficiency and reduce the need for pilots to enter holding patterns before getting permission to land on busy runways.

‘Tick-box exercise’

The flipside, of course, is that redrawing the UK’s flight paths will inevitably have an effect on people at ground level. Aircraft approaching airports could be channelled into new, relatively narrow highways in the sky. The introduction of continuous descent and ascent profiles will also shake up take-off and landing approaches.

Sally Pavey, the chair of the campaign group Campaign Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE), has concerns that the consultation period (running until December 17) is nothing more than a “tick-box exercise” and that local voices will not be heard.

“There’s little if any benefit for us on the ground,” says Pavey. “With more planes comes more noise, with no compensation for our house devaluation or loss of wellbeing.

“Gatwick is planning to put a new flightpath over my village near Horsham. That’s not a balanced approach. That’s about Gatwick seeking more direct routes to Europe, while residents of my rural village and parish potentially won’t be able to sit in their gardens because of aircraft screaming overhead.”