Gatwick Airport Limited has been monitoring air quality at the airport since 1992. Following the designation of the Horley Gardens Estate, Horley as an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in 2002, Gatwick Airport Limited has been working with Reigate and Banstead Borough Council to monitor and manage air quality, particularly in relation to nitrogen dioxide emissions, to ensure that air quality limits are not breached.
GATCOM considers on an annual basis the results of air quality monitoring from Reigate and Banstead Borough Council – here are the reports for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 , 2019 2020 , 2021, 2022 , 2023
Click here for the background report (issued in 2007) which gives details of the air quality standards in the UK and the main factors that need to be borne in mind with air quality compliance monitoring.
Ultrafine Particles (UFPs)
There are currently no ambient air quality standards for UFP in the UK . Emissions inventories show that combustion sources, and especially those related to residential wood burning and transport (road traffic, aircraft, shipping) are the main sources of ultrafine particle emissions in the UK and Europe.
GATCOM has been supportive of the work of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council in seeking to gain a better understanding of UFP concentrations around Gatwick. Following a successful research bid by King’s College and Imperial College in 2017 measurements of UFP concentrations in the vicinity of Gatwick begun in June 2018, initially at the RG1 monitoring site for three months and then at the RG3 monitoring site to the south west of the airport for three months. Following discussions with the research groups Reigate & Banstead Borough Council along with Leicester University agreed to joint fund work for a further six months until early July 2019. Some of the initial findings from the data sets have been reported to GATCOM – Click here to see initial results given in July 2019 and click here for the updated initial results.