There are no uninhabited areas of the UK large enough to meet our essential training needs. Therefore, the whole of the UK is open to low flying by military aircraft in order to ensure that no single area is too burdened.
Certain areas are specifically avoided for reasons of flight safety, such as restricted airspace around civil aerodromes, glider sites and certain industrial sites. To minimise disturbance pilots are instructed to avoid large centres of population over 10,000 inhabitants. Outside such exclusion zones it is inevitable that less populated areas will see a proportion of our low flying.
We receive many requests from individuals and establishments wishing to be protected from low flying activity and before a final decision is reached, a number of factors have to be taken into consideration. While a single avoidance request may not seem demanding when viewed in isolation, the creation of an additional avoidance area would have the effect of concentrating low flying activity onto surrounding communities where there may be equally compelling sensitivities. For the reasons stated new avoidances are granted in exceptional circumstances only.
There is however greater scope for approving requests for temporary avoidances for individual events with a pre-determined start and finish time, these are granted where possible. Typical events for which temporary avoidances can be given include agricultural shows, ride outs and major sporting or cultural events.
When submitting a request for a temporary or permanent avoidance please ensure the following information is included.
- Nature and name of event/business
- Location, including a Ordnance Survey grid reference.
- Dates and times for which the avoidance is being requested.
However much we would like to, it would be impossible for low flying aircraft to avoid over flying all livestock or horses, even during particularly sensitive times of the year, like lambing. Horses are by no means as obvious from the air as people believe, tress and hedgerows can easily hide a horse and by the time they are seen, it is often too late for aircrew to take safe and effective avoiding action. Additionally, if horses are not spotted until the aircraft is very close, taking avoiding action may cause greater disturbance than continuing with the existing flight path. 