Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Falling at the First

The National Air Traffic Service's plans for a new aircraft stacking area over Newmarket have come in for some strong opposition from an unlikely source; horses. The location of the proposed holding zone, in which aircraft will circle at the relatively low level of about 4,000', is right above the hub of Britain's horse racing industry.

The owners and breeders involved in the multi million pound business fear that the distress caused by the planes to foals and mares will be a major problem, potentially causing some of the world's richest stud owners to relocate outside Britain, and threatening many of the 7,000 people who work in the industry with redundancy.

1 comment:

Steven Pam said...

Overhead a horse racing precinct would seem like an ideal place for a holding point, since the aircraft would be travelling in a racetrack pattern.

This would be a perfect training aid for the horses, as the trainer could just look up and follow the path of the jetliners. Also the loud noise would train the horses to ignore distractions :-)