Flightpaths for passenger jets crossing the county will not change at all when new airspace proposals are revealed, it was claimed today.

SUFFOLK: Flightpaths for passenger jets crossing the county will not change at all when new airspace proposals are revealed, it was claimed today.

Air industry sources told The Evening Star that none of the routes currently criss-crossing communities would be altered - despite growing fury at the number of noisy planes flying over villages and towns.

But bosses at air traffic management company NATS denied the speculation and said experts were still working on the plans.

At peak times noise from airliners in the skies is almost constant.

Surveys have shown noise from a jumbo can take 80 seconds to vanish, and just as one departs another arrives, creating a ceaseless roar and rumble, ruining Suffolk's peace and tranquillity.

The Evening Star's Air Fair campaign has asked NATS to move flightpaths to over countryside in badly affected areas such as Felixstowe - which has around 600 planes a day - either permanently or on a rota to give people quiet weeks or weekends.

Air industry insiders though say NATS will not be making any flightpath changes from the plans they have seen during the airspace negotiations.

Proposals for holding stacks which generated thousands of objections will be changed slightly, but other routes - such as the controversial ones over Dedham - have already been gradually reset and are unlikely to be tinkered with despite representations made during the last consultation.

A spokesman for NATS said representations from the previous consultation would be taken into account.

“If we were not going to make any changes there would not be any point in having consultation. It's too early to say what the scale of the changes will be as we are still working on them at the moment - they are taking a bit of time and will take a while longer yet,” he said.

OUR CAMPAIGN: Air Fair

Government is encouraging a dramatic increase in air travel - and that will have huge consequences for Suffolk's skies and the communities which live below them.

More than 1,200 planes currently cross Suffolk every day and the number is set to grow hugely - possibly double - in the next two decades

The planes bring noise, pollution, and blot out the sun with their contrails, and the fear is flights will get lower.

Our campaign agrees with and supports Stansted Airport at its current flight and passenger limits - we do not agree with its agreed expansion or the second runway plan, which will have an intolerable impact on the quality of life of people in Suffolk.

The campaign wants a full review of pollution being caused by the jets - both the impact on ozone layer and on the environment at ground level - and of the increasing noise being caused by the aircraft 24/7.

We want assurances that planes will not be allowed to fly lower than the present lowest levels across Suffolk.

There must also be a full review of the current flightpaths to look at the possibility of moving flight corridors on a regular basis so the same communities do not suffer noise nuisance incessantly.