AN increase in planes taking off over Knutsford and its surrounding villages has been blamed on technical issues with air traffic control aids.

Residents have noticed an increase in aircraft traffic from Manchester Airport in the last couple of weeks, with one group saying it had received a surge in complaints.

Jeff Gazzard, co-ordinator for the Manchester Airport Environment Network said the increase had been a mystery to him.

He said: "Manchester Airport has suddenly and without warning allowed noisy jet aircraft to over-fly the centre of Knutsford and the surrounding southerly villages between Mobberley and Chelford - unsurprisingly people have noticed to judge by the calls I’m getting.

"As all of us know passenger numbers and flight volumes at Ringway are much, much lower than pre-Covid-19, so there simply cannot be any capacity or runway congestion reasons behind this unwanted change.

"The fundamental rules governing noise impacts around our noisy neighbour are that flight paths should be designed and utilised to 'impact the least number of people on the ground' and daily operations should also stick to all and any directional and height constraints."

A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: “Aircraft are currently reliant on a network of ground-based navigational aids to guide them on their usual routes.

"These navigational aids are part of a national infrastructure network provided and maintained by NATS.

"Due to technical issues with this equipment, flights to and from Manchester have not been able to follow their usual departure routes over the past week.

"As a result, flights are being temporarily rerouted and passing over locations that would not normally experience frequent air traffic, including Knutsford and surrounding villages.

"As aircraft must take off into the wind for safety reasons, it is also sometimes necessary to change the direction in which they take off, and there have been occasions in the past two weeks where this has been required, which will also have contributed to the redistribution of air traffic.

"We apologise to our neighbouring communities for any inconvenience caused by these temporary changes, which are for reasons outside of Manchester Airport’s control.

"We understand that NATS is working towards a resolution of the technical issues as quickly as possible."