FAQs

Farnborough Airport is one of the UK’s leading business aviation airports, and also serves military, royal and charter flights, as well as medical repatriation and specialised time-sensitive logistics flights.

Business aviation typically refers to the use of non-commercial aircraft by companies, organisations, and individuals who require flexible, high-quality air travel. It offers tailored flight schedules, access to smaller airports, and a premium level of service, often through chartered or privately operated aircraft.

At Farnborough Airport, business aviation is defined more specifically under planning conditions as:

“Flying activities and operations that are dedicated to the needs of companies, individuals and organisations which require a premium priced service for a high degree of mobility, a high standard of service and flexibility and privacy in aviation services.”

This definition focuses on the nature of the aviation service provided. It excludes scheduled passenger services, inclusive tour charters, bulk freight, Airshow-related activity, and recreational or training flying (except for essential crew checks and flights by the DERA Aero Club).

We do not handle scheduled passenger services or inclusive tour charter flights. We also do not handle bulk freight services.

Unfortunately for security reasons we are unable to permit individual visits or tours of the Airport. However, you are welcome to contact us to see if we could arrange a tour for your group, school or organisation.

Complaints relating to current Airport Operations should be submitted using the following contact methods:

Email: complaints@farnboroughairport.com
Phone: 01252 526001
Online: https://webtrak.emsbk.com/fab
Post: The Sustainability Manager
Farnborough Airport Ltd
Farnborough Airport
Farnborough
GU14 6XA

All flights are ‘bona fide’ except those which are explicitly prohibited. The Airport reports on these flights to Rushmoor on a periodic basis.

Since granting of the CAA licence in 2003, annual business aviation flights have been as follows:

Farnborough Airport operates under a planning condition that defines business aviation as:

“Flying activities and operations that are dedicated to the needs of companies, individuals and organisations which require a premium priced service for a high degree of mobility, a high standard of service and flexibility and privacy in aviation services.”

This definition is based on the nature of the aviation service, not the purpose of the trip. That means flights taken for leisure—such as holidays or personal travel—are permitted, as long as they meet the criteria of business aviation. These typically involve chartered or privately owned aircraft offering bespoke, high-end services with flexibility, privacy, and mobility.

The planning condition explicitly excludes:

• Scheduled passenger services
• Inclusive tour charters
• Bulk freight
• Airshow-related activity
• Recreational or training flying (except for essential crew checks and flights by the DERA Aero Club)

So while weekend flying may include leisure travel, it remains compliant with the Airport’s license and planning conditions if delivered through the business aviation model.

We are allowed to operation from 07:00-22:00 on weekdays, and 08:00-20:00 on non-weekdays. Any aircraft observed outside these times are not arriving or departing from Farnborough Airport.

Rushmoor Borough Council (RBC) administers the existing Community Environmental Fund (CEF). The CEF is applied for via this form, which can be sent to communitydevelopment@rushmoor.gov.uk with the supporting documents listed on the form.

The Sound Insulation Grant Scheme is administered by Farnborough Airport. No properties are currently eligible for support under the terms of the existing fund (which is one reason we are looking to update it as part of this application); any properties which become eligible in the future will be contacted directly by Farnborough Airport.

We are seeking your views on a New Planning Application which will support the Airport’s medium-term growth requirements without jeopardising its long-term future.

The Airport currently operates with a planning permission which was granted in 2011 which allows 50,000 flights each year. This New Application does not seek to change this overall limit, instead it seeks to amend the number of flights allowed on non-weekdays (weekends and Bank Holidays) and some of our existing weight restrictions.

This New Planning Application is necessary to ensure the Airport can continue to meet the forecast demand for flights. Farnborough Airport is expected to reach 50,000 flights by 2034, so whilst this application does not give the Airport the long-term certainty it requires beyond this date, it would mean that the economic opportunity for the local area is not permanently lost in the short to medium term, which would happen if the existing non-weekday limit remained in place.

We understand that we need to find a balance between safeguarding and increasing the economic benefit of the Airport versus its operational impacts, and therefore this application also proposes specific and targeted mitigation measures as well as enhancements to our community funding.

Market growth forecasts and supporting analysis undertaken by technical consultants will form part of the formal planning application.

Business aviation demand is global and flexible, with many business travellers needing to fly on weekends and holidays to meet international schedules. Historical data indicates that approximately 27% of flights occur on non-weekdays, a pattern that has remained consistent since 2016, including through the period of the pandemic and since.

In addition, our analysis of the pattern of aircraft movements at Farnborough has identified that around 40% of all aircraft rotations have at least one movement on a non-weekday, i.e. the aircraft arrives on a weekday and departs on a non-weekday or vice versa.  Constraints on non-weekday activity at the Airport would constrain growth not just on non-weekdays but also during the week which would impact the economic benefits that this application is trying to deliver.

This is a planning application to the Local Planning Authority, and as such, cannot seek any changes to flight paths – which are the responsibility of an entirely different body (the Civil Aviation Authority) and an entirely different process.

The proposed change to the number of permitted non-weekday flights within the restricted weight category does not reflect an increased demand for non-weekday flights by these heavier aircraft specifically. Rather, it is a change to our restrictions to allow the existing split of non-weekday flights by heavier aircraft to remain as we grow to our existing flight limit of 50,000 flights per year, which is itself necessary because business aviation does not operate according to the five-day working week.

No additional infrastructure – and therefore no construction work – is required as a direct result of this New Planning Application.

This will form part of our formal planning application.

Passenger spending locally is not directly measured; however, the airport’s economic contribution is reflected in supply chain activities and local employment.

A good example would be crew who are using local hotels, transport and hospitality across the region, not just Farnborough.

Examples include hotels where aircrew stay, local shops and restaurants where those employed at the Airport spend their money, local companies supplying the businesses at the airport e.g. food supplies, office supplies, companies maintaining buildings and equipment.

The Airport has a ‘noise budget’ which is referenced in the 2019 Local Plan. We use this noise budget to assess the impact of our proposals on our local communities. The noise budget defines an area beyond which long-term aircraft noise from Farnborough Airport must not exceed 55 decibels (dB). This is measured in decibels as an average noise level across the ‘day’, which for aircraft noise assessment is defined as the period 7am-11pm.

The current noise budget for the airport is an area of 6.58sqkm around the airport and can be any shape. We currently operate well within our noise budget, and our studies have shown that this would still be the case with the growth trajectory under our New Planning Application.

Noise is also assessed against government policy, which aims to “avoid significant adverse impacts on health and quality of life”. For aircraft noise, areas which experience long-term day noise levels of 63 dB and above are considered to have a significant observed adverse effect. There are no residential dwellings expected to be exposed to this noise level as a result of our proposals.

Further, the proposals do not include any change to the overall permitted 50,000 flights. Therefore long-term, overall noise is forecast to be the same with or without these proposals.

Our proposals include increasing the permitted proportion of flights on non-weekdays to broadly match the proportion that already occurs. This will result in a greater number of flights and therefore some more noise on non-weekdays. However, the increases in non-weekday noise are relatively small, being less than 2 dB at all affected dwellings.

As we are not proposing any change in our overall 50,000 permitted movement limit, the increase in non-weekday movements will mean that in the long-term on weekdays there will be fewer flights and less noise than would otherwise occur. Also, noise levels on non-weekdays are expected to remain lower than the noise levels over the rest of the week.

As our proposals impact non-weekdays and weekdays differently, and because the summer period is generally a busier time of the year for flights, we have considered the impact of our proposals on the average summer day and the average summer non-weekday. Indicative noise budgets for these periods have been produced based upon our average annual day noise budget. This assessment shows that all future noise levels, including on non-weekdays, remain within our permitted and indicative noise budgets. You can see these maps here under ‘Our noise levels’.

A new generation of business jets are being introduced that have exceptionally long maximum ranges due to more efficient engines, but also larger fuel tanks. They therefore can have higher maximum weights compared to the aircraft they replace, in some cases with a maximum takeoff weight of just above 50 tonnes.

Currently movements by aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of between 50 tonnes and 80 tonnes are limited to 1,500 per year. Our proposals include exempting the quietest aircraft between 50 tonnes and 55 tonnes from this movement limit. This change does not mean that there will be fundamentally different types of aircraft expected to use Farnborough Airport in future, but reflects the tendency for some more modern types of aircraft to be heavier than those they replace within the same overall family and category of aircraft. As these aircraft types are new, they use the latest engines and are quieter than many of the older aircraft they replace.

An example is the Bombardier Global 7500, which already operates at the airport, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 52 tonnes. Measurements from our noise monitoring terminals show that it is quieter than many existing aircraft types less than 50 tonnes and is similar in noise level to the lighter but slightly older Bombardier Global 5000 and Global Express. To ensure that our proposals only allow new, quiet aircraft types, in order to be exempt from the 50-80 tonne movement limit, 50-55 tonne aircraft will be required to meet the latest ICAO Chapter 14 noise standard. The Chapter 14 noise standard is overall 7 dB more stringent than the Chapter 4 noise standard that applies to other aircraft using the airport.

ICAO noise chapters are internationally recognised standards that set limits on aircraft noise during certification. Published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), these chapters ensure that aircraft meet progressively stricter noise reduction requirements. Each chapter reflects a level of stringency. The standards for jet and heavier propeller aircraft started with Chapter 2 (now largely phased out), followed by Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and most recently, Chapter 14.

All new applicable aircraft types have had to comply with the Chapter 14 standard since 2021, but some older aircraft types also meet the Chapter 14 standard. Aircraft that meet the Chapter 14 standard are quieter, Chapter 14 is overall 7 dB more stringent than the previous Chapter 4 noise standard.

These standards help airports like Farnborough manage noise impacts responsibly while supporting modern aviation.

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be submitted as part of the formal planning application.

We monitor air quality currently and report to Rushmoor Borough Council on a bi-annual basis. The results, from our two active monitors and 20 diffusion tubes (passive), indicate that concentrations of NO2 are well below standards (as set out in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010) and road transport is the main source of nitrogen dioxide emissions. This New Planning Application does not seek to increase our existing 50,000 per annum flight limit; nonetheless, we will assess the impact of our proposal and submit the findings as part of our application through the Environmental Impact Assessment. Initial results indicate the impact to air quality will be negligible and will continue to meet air quality standards

The assessment of air quality impacts considers the emissions generated from aircraft on the ground and in the air, airside support vehicles and equipment and vehicle traffic on the local road network. We use computer models to simulate the dispersion of these emissions which are then used to assess the impact on both humans and sensitive ecology habitats that may be susceptible to changes in pollution levels. These impacts, along with background pollutant data provided by Defra are then used to determine whether or not there is a significant effect to air quality. The initial results are that changes to pollutant concentrations are negligible and as such are ‘not significant’.

Emissions are classified into Scopes, with Scopes 1 and 2 defined as emissions within the control of the airport, and Scope 3 being emissions which the airport does not have direct control over but has some influence upon. Scope 1 and 2 emissions are the subject of the airport’s commitment to be Net Zero by 2030. The vast majority of Scope 3 emissions associated with Farnborough Airport (96%) are aviation emissions. Aviation emissions are counted as part of national, not local, Net Zero targets. The anticipated changes are not expected to significantly impact the UK’s national carbon budgets. The airport complies with all relevant Government policies and regulations regarding carbon reduction.

Farnborough Airport’s noise budget relates to measurements of average noise over the whole day, which is how we are required to formally assess noise by the Government.  It’s not uncommon for individuals using personal noise monitors to observe aircraft noise levels that seem significantly higher than those shown in official airport noise contour maps. This discrepancy often stems from differences in how the data is collected and presented.

Your monitor records actual sound events as they happen—capturing peak noise levels during flyovers. In contrast, airport contours are based on long-term averages and predictive models designed to assess broader community exposure. These models smooth out short bursts of loud noise and may not reflect the intensity of individual events.

Additionally, your specific location—whether it’s directly under a flight path, near reflective surfaces, or affected by local terrain—can amplify sound in ways that generalized contours don’t account for. Factors like aircraft type, weather conditions, and time of day also influence what you hear but may be simplified in official metrics.

Our Autumn 2025 virtual consultation will run from 22 September to 22 October 2025. We will host two webinars on 9 October and 15 October 2025.

Click on the links below to sign up and submit your questions:

• Thursday 9 October, 18:00-19:30: Sign up to this webinar
• Wednesday 15 October, 18:00-19:30: Sign up to this webinar
• Submit a question in advance

If you still have questions, please get in touch with a member of the consultation team using the details below.

Email: Contact@FarnboroughAirport2040.com
Phone: 0808 164 6061

It is important that any potential changes to the way Farnborough Airport operates are discussed with the local community. By consulting before a planning application is submitted, we can hear and consider your views before the process is too far along, and allow you to understand what a proposal may look like before a planning application is submitted. Following submission, Rushmoor Borough Council will conduct its own consultation process.

Since submitting the Original Planning Application in 2023 we have been working with stakeholders on a number of technical matters, and we envisage more time will be required to bring these discussions to a satisfactory conclusion.

This new planning application does not replace the original application submitted in 2023. Rather, it is a separate application to support our medium-term growth requirements and ensure that the economic opportunity for the local area is not permanently lost in the short to medium term – which is what would happen if the existing non-weekday limit remained in place.