Route 4 consultation
Gatwick Airport are consulting residents on proposed changes to departure Route 4 (a route for aircraft taking off towards the West and then turning 180° right to fly in the vicinity of Capel, South Holmwood, Beare Green, Leigh, Reigate and Redhill before eventually turning towards their destination). The consultation, which closes on 28th of April 2026, proposes a choice of four options (A, B, C, D).
The consultation documents give a lot of detail around Route 4 and the option designs. Gatwick are also providing webinars and in person events.
The consultation documents can all be accessed here
Plane Wrong has reviewed the consultation in detail and we believe that the correct option is Option D for the following reasons:
(1) Option D has been evaluated by Gatwick Airport as the preferred option from noise and emissions points of view.
Evaluation of the options, in accordance with CAA requirements, shows the option D stands out as the best, with significant noise and emissions benefits over all three other options (see Consultation Document Section 5). Even though Gatwick have concluded that Option D is the preferred option, some people may be supporting other options so it is vital that you register your view by completing a response.
(2) Option D very closely replicates the noise preferential route (NPR) that had existed since the 1950s.
This route had become the community’s benchmark on noise distribution to the north of Gatwick for many years. Since Gatwick introduced PBN (Performance Based Navigation) departure routes in 2013 the route has deviated away from its historic position
(3) Option D has the greatest separation from Route 3
Route 3 is for aircraft taking off towards the East and then turning 180° left to fly south of Redhill and then over Leigh. Option D provides a better distribution of noise to the North of Gatwick with residents, including East Surrey Hospital, under the Route 3 flight path getting a level of respite at times when Route 4 is in use. Option D moves the Route 4 flight path around 1000m further away from Route 3 than the other options.
(4) Using Option D fewer aircraft will fly too far west over the Surrey Hills AONB
The tighter turn will keep more flights within the Noise Preferential Route (NPR) and also create more dispersion at the end of the turn.
You may also wish to consider the following in your response to question 16 of the consultation 'Do you have any further feedback or suggestions you wish to share with us regarding this airspace proposal?'
(1) Conflict with Heathrow routes This Airspace Change Process does nothing to address the key problem with Route 4, which is that of routing Gatwick‘s most used departure route into the path of Heathrow Southerly departures. This creates excessive environmental noise effects and emissions by keeping aircraft at low level. What needs to be addressed is the integration of Gatwick and Heathrow departures. This could allow planes to reach a higher altitude more quickly, reducing the noice impact on overflown communities. Please consider mentioning this specific point in your response as we believe this is something Gatwick would also like.
(2) Concentrated flight paths. Performance Based Navigation (PBN) concentrates noise with more aircraft flying an identical flight path. Regardless of which option is chosen, those people living close to the route will suffer far greater disturbance than would be the case with greater flight path dispersal.
Note regarding the other options and a brief history of route 4
Options A and B. The Easterly leg is close to Route 3 (similar to option C) These options are did not perform as well as Option D for noise or emissions.
Option C. The Easterly leg is close to Route 3 (similar to options A and B). This option provides a high degree of dispersal during the turn but will most likely affect a large number of newly overflown residents in the early part of the turn. The fact that the use of the three options needs to be on a daily, weekly or monthly basis negates much of the value in dispersal.
Brief history of Route 4
This route, along with other Gatwick departure routes, was introduced in the 1950s and designated as a Noise Preferential Route (NPR). The route remained in approximately the same place for almost 60 years, until in 2013 Gatwick Airport introduced Performance Based Navigation (PBN) routes. Prior to 2013 the route had been flown using Conventional Navigation techniques with the result that aircraft flying the route were quite widely dispersed due to inaccuracies in navigation procedures and the ground-based equipment. PBN routes are based on GPS navigation and as a consequence aircraft are far less dispersed with the majority flying pretty much an identical path. An aim of the 2015 airspace change, which applied to all 9 of Gatwick’s departure routes, was to replicate the original conventional route. In the case of Route 4 this was not achieved and further attempts were made to resolve the situation. Following a judicial review of the Gatwick Airport consultation process another temporary conventional route was put in place but this did not follow the original 1950s flightpath. Option D would restore the route to that flight path.
Please get in touch if you have any questions and once again, it is vital that you respond if you want your views heard.