Airport promises to create jobs

The official consultation process lasted 13 weeks

A masterplan for East Midlands Airport promises to double the number of jobs at the site to 15,000 by 2016.

The plan, which also announced the renaming of the airport to East Midlands Airport - Nottingham Leicester and Derby, was released on Friday.

It says passengers will be able to fly to twice as many destinations - 200 in total - in 10 years' time.

The airport also said it will eliminate emissions of CO² from ground operations or introduce alternative schemes.

Bosses say they will invest £50m in improved services by 2012.

The plan also promises to maintain night noise at 1996 levels up to 2016 despite a tenfold increase in cargo tonnage in same period.

Masterplan highlights Tougher measures/penalties on night flights and noisy aircraft No jet training flights on Saturdays (in addition to existing ban on Sundays and at night) Continue the scheme in place to deliver the substantial improvements in compensation grants for those living nearest to airport Increased routes, particularly long-haul Investment in new technology to alleviate noise

But some opponents were not impressed, saying the plan would allow a near-doubling of night flights which would be "a disaster" for people suffering from aircraft noise.

Steve Charlish, of the East Leicestershire Villages Against Airspace, said: "Measures announced by the airport operators for mitigation of the very disturbing aircraft noise will have no significant effect on the overall reduction of noise at the airport."

Since February, copies of the masterplan proposals have been distributed to local authorities within a 30-mile radius of the site.

A 13-week consultation process included 15 public exhibitions and more than 3,000 suggestions in 749 responses.

The report also called for completing regular links with three cities and increasing investment in community projects over a wider area.

The masterplan will be reviewed every five years.

It also promises to quadruple the amount of freight handled to 1.2m tonnes a year and vows not to build a second runway.

The airport has invested more than £2m in environmental initiatives and monitoring in the past 10 years - from emission control to waste management and surface water management.