Heathrow plans to name noisiest airlines

LONDON (REUTERS) - London's Heathrow airport plans to name the noisiest airlines operating at the hub, as it ramps up efforts to gain approval for expansion.

Europe's busiest airport also plans to significantly increase the fines it imposes on airlines that break noise limits, it said in a report released on Thursday.

The two-runway hub, operated by Heathrow Ltd, said it would release quarterly figures that rank airlines on their noise performance from this summer.

Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government bowed to pressure from local residents and protest groups concerned about the environmental impact of a Heathrow expansion when it came to power in 2010 by scrapping plans to build a third runway.

The government's commission on airport capacity, chaired by Howard Davies, is due to report in mid-2015.

Earlier this month Parliament's Transport Committee threw its weight behind the expansion of Ferrovial-owned Heathrow, saying a third or even fourth runway should be built.

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