Farnborough airport planning application

Update November 2025 – new planning application submitted 

On 14 November we received a new planning application from Farnborough Airport Ltd. This planning application seeks changes to the planning conditions controlling aircraft movements, aircraft weight categories and Public Safety Zones.  

Within this new application, there are no proposals to increase the total number aircraft movements permitted. This would mean the current cap of 50,000 aircraft movements per year remains.

The new planning application

The application is seeking to vary Conditions 2 (aircraft movements) and 6 (aircraft weight), and to replace Conditions 7 (1:10,000 risk contour) and 8 (1:100,00 risk contour), of planning permission 20/00871/REVPP determined on the 22/02/2022, in order to: 

• Increase the number of non-weekday aircraft movements from 8,900 to 13,500 per annum, and
• Amend the permitted annual flight movements weight category from 50,000–80,000 kg to 55,000–80,000 kg, retaining the overall cap of 1,500 movements (within this cap:  aircraft between 50,000–55,000 kg that do not meet ICAO Chapter 14 (or equivalent) noise standards shall continue to be counted, and non-weekday movements within the revised category shall increase from 270 to 405) and to 
• Replace Conditions Nos. 7 (1:10,000 risk contour) and 8 (1:100,000 risk contour) with a new condition to produce Public Safety Zone maps in accordance with the Department for Transport requirements

Hard copies of all the documents are also available to view at the council offices and at Aldershot library and Farnborough library, during opening hours.

Application timescales

As this is an application for Environmental Impact Assessment Development the statutory timescale is 16 weeks. We expect this application to be determined in March 2026. We will provide further updates, once a decision date is confirmed.

Public consultation

We will shortly be sending consultation letters to all properties, including residents, businesses and schools, in the inbound and outbound flight paths of the airport in Rushmoor. 

We will also consult occupiers of all properties within the projected Noise ‘Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level’ (LOAEL) area, as a result of the proposed changes to non-weekday flights (including those who fall within this area but who are outside of Rushmoor).

We will be consulting with the councils and parishes in local authority areas that lie within the 7,000 ft flight path of Farnborough Airport, and will be placing newspaper adverts to publicise the consultation with local authorities within the 4,000 ft flight path of Farnborough Airport.

How to comment

We want to hear your views on the proposals.

This is a completely new planning application seeking permission for a different proposal to the 2023 planning application, which will be assessed and decided on its own merits.

Comments made in relation to the previous application will not be carried forward to the new application and you must submit your comments in relation to the current application, if you would like them to be considered.

The deadline for us to receive comments is 30 December, which is in line with statutory timescales. It is at our discretion to accept additional comments after the deadline.

Comment by using our planning applications system

If you use our planning applications website to provide your comments on the application, there is a 500-character limit for your main comments. 

Once you start completing your form for comments, there is also a 30-minute time limit. After 30 minutes, the form will reset, and you will have to start the form again. Therefore, we recommend that you prepare your comments before you start typing them into the form. 

Comment by email

You can also send in your comments by email at farnboroughairport@rushmoor.gov.uk, where there is no limit for the length of your comments.

The 2023 planning application

The planning application which was submitted in 2023 (ref. 23/00794/REVPP) is still pending consideration but there are no further updates on an expected timetable for determination at this time. We will let you know when we are able to share any further information on this.