airplanes prevail over sleeper's
rights
friends of the earth england,
wales, northern ireland
|
Sleep deprivation causes memory
loss, muddled thinking, visual
impairment and memory loss
.”
British
Airways advertisement for its Club
World service.
|
Heathrow airport is one of the world's
busiest airports, with close to 500,000
flights to or from the airport each year.
Residents living next to Heathrow and under
the flight path are exposed to extreme
levels of noise, often four times higher
than World Health Organization maximums.
Such noise levels are well recognized as
posing a threat to human health, and can
lead to stress, depression, memory loss and
visual impairment. Some people living next
to the airport are exposed to the roar of
an aircraft landing or taking off every 90
seconds, from 6 in the morning until after
10 at night, seven days per week.
The worst impact of Heathrow's night
flights comes from the effect on people's
sleep. In addition to the general noise of
the flights, there are a number of flights
every day that take place in the very early
hours of the morning or late at night.
These are a massive disruption to people's
sleep, often preventing sleep altogether
when they occur past 4 in the morning.
case flies in and out of
court
Several years ago, the UK government
changed the laws governing night flights to
allow more of them to take place. As a
result, a number of people who lived under
the flight path and who were therefore
already suffering from extreme sleep
deprivation took the UK to court, and
eventually to the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR). They claimed a violation of
the right to respect for private and family
life, as the ECHR does not have a specific
right to a clean and healthy
environment.
Two years ago, the European Court of
Human Rights ruled in favor of the
individuals. However, the UK appealed the
decision and took the case to the Grand
Chamber of the European Court . At this
point, Friends of the Earth joined in the
case to try and highlight the way in which
other human rights courts around the world
have addressed environmental human
rights.
In a disappointing judgment in the
summer of 2003, the Grand Chamber reversed
the earlier decision, deciding in favor of
the UK government. The judgment was
severely criticized by human rights and
environmental lawyers. Five of the
seventeen judges hearing the case disagreed
with the majority and found that the
judgment unjustifiably gave “precedence to
economic considerations over basic health
conditions”. One small but positive feature
to emerge was the formal recognition of
‘environmental human rights' in an ECHR
judgment for the first time ever.
So who really profits from night
flights? Namely the aviation industry, and
in particular British Airways. It is
therefore not so surprising that British
Airways joined the court case on the side
of the government. Their hypocrisy is
surprising, however, as seen in their
advertisements for their Club World
passengers: ‘Don't Stand for Sleepless
Nights' and ‘Sleep deprivation causes
memory loss, muddled thinking, visual
impairment and memory loss'. Yes,
precisely. One rule for big business and
its first class passengers, and another for
everyone else.
more information:
Friends of the Earth England , Wales and
Northern Ireland :
www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/transport/
