Gatwick aircraft noise: flight paths, runways and night flights

One main runway, two directions

Gatwick has two parallel runways, but only the southern one, the main runway (08R/26L), is in everyday use. The northern runway (08L/26R) is a standby, used when the main runway is closed, for example for maintenance; in summer 2025 about 15% of night landings used it. The main runway handles up to 57 take-offs and landings an hour. Planes land and take off into the wind, so all the traffic runs one way or the other.

When the wind is from the west, planes land towards the west over Lingfield and Burstow (runway 26) and take off towards Capel. That happened on 62% of days over the last year. When the wind is from the east, it all turns round: planes land over Ockley, Capel and Newdigate (runway 08) and take off towards Burstow and Lingfield. That happened on 28% of days. On the other 10%, the direction changed during the day.

Easterly days come in spells. In the last year, March, April, August and December each had close to four easterly days in ten, while September was almost all westerly and June mostly so. Over the last twenty summers, the CAA puts Gatwick's daytime split at about 75% westerly. So a village under the easterly approach can have a quiet month, then weeks of planes every couple of minutes.

Where landing planes fly

Landing planes line up with the runway several kilometres out and descend on a straight line, so the same villages hear them at much the same height every time.

Landing from the east (westerly days), planes pass over Dormansland, Lingfield and Burstow before crossing Forge Wood on the north-eastern edge of Crawley. They are typically about 2,700 ft up on the far side of Dormansland, 1,850 ft over Lingfield, 800 ft over Burstow and 450 ft at Forge Wood. Many join the final approach much further out: in summer 2025, most daytime arrivals lined up between 10 and 38 km from the runway. At night, the Department for Transport requires them to join no closer than 10 nautical miles (about 18 km), and residents as far away as Tunbridge Wells have asked Gatwick to move that night joining point.

Landing from the west (easterly days), planes pass over Ewhurst, Abinger, Ockley, Capel, Newdigate and the Rusper area. They are typically about 2,650 ft up over Ewhurst, 1,800 ft over Ockley, 1,450 ft over Capel and 1,150 ft over Newdigate.

There is no runway alternation at Gatwick, because only one runway is in use at a time. On nights when the standby runway takes over, landings follow a parallel line just to the north.

Even 10 km out, a landing plane here is usually below 2,000 ft. At that height a large jet is loud well to either side of the line, so a house a kilometre from the centre line still hears each one.

Where take-offs go

Take-offs climb much faster than landings descend, and they follow set departure routes, nine of them from the main runway, before air traffic control sends them on their way.

On westerly days, planes take off towards Rusper and Capel. About four in five are still heading west 8 km out, typically around 3,450 ft over Capel. Others turn right and back towards the north and east on what Gatwick calls Route 4.

On easterly days, planes take off over Burstow towards Lingfield, along the line the westerly arrivals use. Eight kilometres out they are typically about 3,100 ft up, lower than westerly take-offs at the same distance.

Night flights and quiet hours

Gatwick has no night curfew. Like Heathrow and Stansted, its night rules are set by the Department for Transport, which kept the same limits for the three years from October 2025 to October 2028. Between 23:30 and 06:00, Gatwick may handle 11,200 flights over the summer season and 3,250 over the winter, within a noise quota of 5,150 and 1,785 points. The summer limit works out at roughly 50 flights a night. The government does not stop flights at any hour, apart from the noisiest aircraft types.

Our recordings show what that means. Counting the whole night from 23:00 to 07:00, 86 planes landed or took off on an average night over the last year, and 148 on the busiest, 25 August 2026. Summer nights are about twice as busy as winter ones: around 120 a night in July and August, against fewer than 60 from November to March. The CAA's own count for summer 2025 was also about 120 a night.

Traffic thins out after midnight but does not stop. On a typical night there are about a dozen flights between midnight and 01:00, nine in the next hour and about four between 02:00 and 03:00. Only for about an hour and forty minutes, between about 03:00 and 05:00, is a typical night free of landings and take-offs. From 05:00 flights pick up again, and between 06:00 and 07:00 there are about 40. If you are a light sleeper, what matters most is summer, the hour either side of midnight and the first hour of the morning; our guide to aircraft noise and sleep explains why.

Busy days and quiet days

The CAA counted about 263,000 flights and 42.8 million passengers at Gatwick in 2025, which is about 720 flights a day. Our average for the last year is a little higher, about 730 a day.

The season makes a big difference: around 620 to 660 flights a day from November to March, rising to 855 a day in August. The day of the week matters much less, with Wednesdays the quietest and Mondays the busiest.

For most homes near Gatwick, what decides a loud day is the runway direction, and in summer, the night. You can replay any day on the Gatwick flight map.

The northern runway and other changes

In September 2025 the Transport Secretary granted consent for Gatwick to bring its northern runway into routine use. The High Court upheld the decision in June 2026, and in August 2026 the Court of Appeal rejected the last legal challenge. Gatwick says it is now moving to detailed design and delivery, and has not yet given a date for two-runway operations.

The plan moves the northern runway's centre line 12 metres north so that both runways can be used at once. The consent sets conditions that matter to neighbours:

• The northern runway may only be used for take-offs by aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737, and not between 23:00 and 06:00, unless the main runway is out of use.
• Once both runways are in use, Gatwick is capped at 389,000 flights and 80.2 million passengers a year.
• A noise envelope limits the area inside the 51 dB daytime contour to 135 km² for the first five years of two-runway operations and 125 km² after that, and the 45 dB night contour to 146 km², then 135 km².

Two other changes are under way. From January to April 2026, Gatwick consulted on bringing back satellite navigation on Route 4; it will now choose a final design and put it to the CAA. And its wider airspace redesign is now part of the UK Airspace Design Service, run by NATS since May 2026, which is starting with the airspace around London. No dates have been set for new Gatwick flight paths. The night flight rules will be reviewed before they expire in October 2028.

Complaints, insulation and help

To complain, use Gatwick's online noise form, call its automated line on 07700 144 827, or write to the Airspace Office at Gatwick. If you are not satisfied with the answer, the Civil Aviation Authority takes aircraft noise complaints once the airport has had the chance to respond. Our guide on how to complain about aircraft noise explains what happens next.

To check a flight, Gatwick's WebTrak shows recent flights with their heights, and keeps up to three months of history.

For help with insulation, Gatwick runs two schemes, one now and one to come:

• Noise Insulation Scheme: up to £4,300 plus VAT towards acoustic double glazing for windows and outside doors. The boundary is based on the CAA's 60 dB daytime contour for Gatwick at 45 million passengers a year, adjusted to follow roads and villages and extended 15 km east and west under the approach lines. Gatwick's interactive map shows who qualifies, and the team answers at noiseinsulationscheme@gatwickairport.com.
• Northern runway scheme: under the 2025 consent, homes expected to be above 54 dB by day or 48 dB at night once both runways are in use will be offered insulation. There is no cost limit in the inner zone (60 dB by day or 55 dB at night), and up to £6,500 or £4,500 plus VAT further out. Homes in the loudest contour can get help with moving costs, including stamp duty. Gatwick must list the eligible homes within three months of starting the runway works.