BOSSES at Heathrow have applied for planning permission for work enabling up to 35,000 take-offs a year over Cranford.
Easterly departures had been banned from the northern runway since 1952, under the Cranford Agreement, because it was felt the noise would be unbearable for those living within a few hundred metres of the landing strip's eastern tip.
But the ban was ended in January 2009 when the previous Labour government also gave the go-ahead for a third runway and an extra 240,000 flights a year.
While the other measures were overturned by the coalition government on its election the following year, that decision stuck, with ministers claiming it would mean a fairer distribution of noise for other households under the flight paths.
There have been a small number of take-offs over Cranford since then, including 834 in 2010, but new taxi-ways between the terminals and the runways are needed to allow scheduled departures to the east.
Heathrow submitted its application for this work to Hillingdon Council at the end of May but there has been little publicity surrounding the plans, despite the potentially major impact on those living in Cranford and surrounding areas.
Should the application get the green light, it would pave the way for an average of 35,000 take-offs a year over Cranford from 2015 - meaning a huge increase in noise for those living there.
However, it would mean fewer flights for those to the west of the northern runway and the east of the southern landing strip, in Feltham, Hounslow and Isleworth.
Runway alternation - introduced to ensure guaranteed periods of peace for Heathrow's neighbours - means one runway is used for take-offs and the other for landings, with the roles switching at 3pm each day.
However, when easterly winds prevent departures to the west, as is the case about 30 per cent of the time, planes currently have to take off from the southern runway and land to the north.
According to airport chiefs, allowing scheduled take-offs over Cranford would mean significantly more noise for an estimated 1,700 people living in and around the area, but significantly less for 10,000 people to the west of the northern runway.
They also claim steeper ascents and quieter planes mean the noise of take-offs over Cranford is much less than it would have been when the agreement was signed.
