Training Circuits

The training of aircrew is an essential requirement for any airline, and whilst much training is now undertaken using flight simulators, some flying is mandatory to meet Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) standards. The final part of a pilots training is to complete a number of ‘training circuits’ which repeat the take-off and landing procedures. This type of operation is sometimes completed at East Midlands Airport.

Training circuits are operated under visual flight rules and are within visual range of the Airport and the Air Traffic Controller. Training flights are unable to follow the Noise Preferential Routes (NPRs) that are usually followed by departing aircraft as this would likely extend aircraft beyond visual range of the tower. Also, as the aircraft is returning immediately to the airport, these flights do not climb as high as departing aircraft do. Training flights generally climb to 2,000ft above sea level.

These types of training flights are often referred to as ‘Touch and Go’ where the aircraft does not come to a complete stop after landing on the runway, but adds thrust to depart once again. These circuits can be completed up to seven times per student. Because of the nature of training flights, each pilot needs to practice several circuits and hence these circuits can be repetitive. The nature of these circuits can follow a broadly similar flight pattern. Therefore, aircraft can be overflying the same location regularly, and can overfly areas that are not usually overflown by arriving or departing aircraft.

You can find out more by watching this video:

Light Aircraft Training

At East Midlands Airport there is a locally based flying club which offers trial flights, trial flying lessons and flight training for the Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL). These light propellor aircraft also operate under visual flight rules and do not follow the same routings as commercial jet aircraft.

Minimising Disturbance

We recognise that training flights, while enabling the training of air crew, can be particularly disturbing to local communities, so we are committed to minimising the impact of training flights.

In response to community feedback and as part of our Noise Action Plan, we have introduced a wide range of restrictions on training flights. These restrictions include:
– Only permitting training by locally based operators, regular users of the airport, or non-jet aircraft below 5,700kg maximum take-off weight (MTOW).
– Not permitting training on Saturdays, Sundays, and UK public holidays except by non-jet aircraft below 5,700kg MTOW.
– From 1 January 2024, we now only schedule training flights between 08:00 and 12:00 and between 14:00 and 18:00 on weekdays, excluding public holidays.

The restrictions in place are relevant to the noisier jet engine aircraft circuit training. Smaller and quieter propellor aircraft may operate different training flights and routes at East Midlands Airport.

More detail is available within the full Noise Action Plan here.