Photo: Sandor Gyarmati, Delta Optimist

YVR aircraft flight paths will be altered over Delta.

Aircraft flight paths over Delta are going to be altered.

Civic staff recently met with NAV Canada representatives to discuss how the Vancouver Airspace Modernization Project would impact the city. Civic officials also attended a consultation session where they were able to ask questions and convey a number of concerns about the redesign process, including NAV Canada’s plans and strategies for avoiding built-up areas in Delta.

It’s anticipated NAV Canada will have a full analysis of potential options completed by next spring with a community consultation process to follow.

In a presentation to Delta council earlier this year, representatives with the Vancouver International Airport  said YVR is going to work with NAV Canada to see if some flight paths might be safely altered over Delta.

Craig Richmond, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, said flight paths were adjusted in 2007, but in the near future there could be some further changes.

“What we’ve learned with noise is that a change is often times very unsettling. You buy a house and aircraft, even if they’re up at 3,000 feet where there were no aircraft, they’re shifted by a mile or two miles and they’re over your house. So, we work very closely with NAV Canada on what we can do to vary those routes and still stay safe.

“I think there’s some technologies in the future, the near future, that will enable a little bit more of a variety in the flight paths while still maintaining separation and also affording the aircraft and airlines more efficient routing. I think that will help,” said Richmond. “But there will always be aircraft over Delta heading to the airport, there’s just no way around that.”

A civic report to Delta council last year noted the city has heard from a number of residents concerned about the significant number of aircraft movements projected in the YVR 2037 Master Plan, approved by the federal government last year.

Aircraft movements over Tsawwassen are projected to increase by 430 per cent, while North Delta would experience a 154 per cent increase.

The report notes that while those increases are years away, staff believe this is a good opportunity to propose a number of initiatives, including increasing the number of noise monitors in Delta.