Dundee airport: noise action plan

5. Description of Dundee Airport

5.1 Description of Dundee Airport

Dundee airport is a licensed airfield open for scheduled, private and charter operators and is situated only five minutes from Dundee City Centre.

Cityjet run flights to London City Airport twice a day. And during the summer months there is a weekly departure to Jersey.

Every day the operations teams handle a multitude of flights from the onsite flight training school to the scheduled services and the private operators using business and leisure jets.

Operations started at Dundee airport in the 1950s; known then as Riverside Park the facility was little more than a grass strip on newly reclaimed land adjacent to the northerly end of the Tay rail bridge.

Although most of the airlines who used the airfield in those days are long gone one continues to this day in the shape of Scotland's own airline; Loganair.

Most grass-field airports suffer from a common problem; water logging in the winter months and Riverside Park was no exception, made worse by the proximity to the river Tay.

A decision was made by the then operators; Tayside Regional Council to move westwards by 500m to the airport's current location in the 1970s. An all weather asphalt runway was laid, initially 900m in length (later lengthened to 1100m) and a new apron & terminal established on the northern edge if the site.

The current airport has developed from that modest beginning; the runway was further lengthened to 1400m in 1995 to accommodate a wider variety of aircraft, the original terminal was replaced the following year with the present building allowing the airport to offer a facility capable of handling in excess of 150,000 passengers a year.

In 2000 the runway was equipped with a full Instrument Landing System to allow aircraft to land in most weather conditions.

5.2 Policies and Proposals

The Dundee Airport Consultative Committee is an advisory body set up by Dundee airport in accordance with Section 35 (I) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (as amended by the Airports Act 1986).

Membership of the independently chaired Committee comprises stakeholders from the local and business communities, a representative of disabled groups as well as airport, cargo and airline representatives. The ACC provides a forum for consultation, communication and feedback on the airport's operations, customer performance and future developments.

The purpose of the Committee is to provide an effective forum in which all matters concerning the development and operation of the airport which have an impact on its users and the surrounding community may be discussed. Since 2007, the Committee has worked in a constructive and supportive way, which recognises the value of the airport in economic development terms and its importance as an employer of local people.

Committee Details
The Committee meets four times a year. Meetings are not open to the public but a report of each meeting will be placed on these web pages. Visits are made to areas of the airport and presentations given by airport staff, in order to increase the understanding of Committee members of the operations of the airport and its impact on the local community.

The Committee is made up of representatives of local groups, councillors; and members of other organisations who seek to represent the travelling public and their 'meters and greeters'. The meetings are attended by members of the senior airport management team, who report to the Committee on proposed actions, customer performance, developments and consider actions and changes proposed by the Committee.

Dundee Consultative Committee does not have a role in seeking to resolve disputes which individuals may have with the airport. Nevertheless, it is interested in the complaints that the airport may receive and takes an active interest in problems that may affect sections of the community or the travelling public. It is also interested in compliments that are due to the airport and their staffs who often work very hard to ensure airport users are satisfied.

Anyone wishing to contact the committee should write in the first instance to:

Dundee Airport will continue to run the Consultative Committee.

Noise Mapping

Dundee Airport will review the noise maps should the airport expand and will continue to monitor noise levels every 5 years.