Pilots are continuing to descend aircraft at quieter levels on arrival at Heathrow Airport, according to the latest Fly Quiet League results.

Airlines trending reduced noise levels include British Airways' short-haul routes, which took the number one spot; followed by Aer Lingus; and Virgin Atlantic's Little Red routes; between April and June this year.

Among the biggest movers over the three-month period were Air India, moving up 20 places from 35th to 15th place; Lufthansa, who were up nine places to 16th position; and South African Airlines, up 18 to 26th position.

The table compared the top 50 airlines, according to the number of annual flights through the hub airport, across six different noise metrics.

The airport operator said the use of the Continuous Descent Approach has resulted in more than 85% of aircraft adhering to this quieter flight procedure on arrival into the airport.

During this type of descent, pilots land at a steadier rate and avoid the traditional way to fly at low altitudes longer.

'More to do'

Matt Gorman, Heathrow’s sustainability and environment director, said: “The Civil Aviation Authority recently released a report showing Heathrow’s noise footprint is smaller than ever.

"But we know we have to do more to provide greater respites for our neighbours.

“We will continue to engage directly with our airline partners to build on the trends we see today.

“We are pleased to see the great leaps forward made by some airlines in their use of Continuous Descent Approaches into the airport, while innovative noise-reduction tools like steeper approaches are being explored and employed by all our airlines.”

Other results showed there were no early morning pre-4.30am flying restriction violations, compared to two in the last quarter.

Last year, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye, wrote to airlines’ executives asking them to improve on their scores, which has led to improvements including LOT Polish Airlines moving up from 60% to 99% adherence, and Austrian Airlines moving up from 63% to 90%.

Top 10 Airlines in the Fly Quiet League

  • British Airways - short-haul
  • Aer Lingus
  • Virgin Atlantic Little Red
  • Qantas Airways
  • Emirates
  • American Airlines
  • Etihad Airways
  • Cathay Pacific Airways
  • Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)
  • Malaysia Airlines