AN environmental agreement that sets controls for the level of noise allowed from planes at Kent International Airport at Manston is to be reviewed.

The Section 106 document will be reconsidered after the first few months of the EUjet passenger service and Thanet council will hold a public consultation in October.

Campaigners from Manston Airport Group environmental watchdog team fear pilots may be tempted to take short cuts from flight paths to save fuel costs.

Peter Binding, MAG secretary, said: “It could cause east Kent residents a lot of problems, all for the sake of saving 30 miles on a long journey. We want passenger and freight planes to go round the coast but we understand that they are not always prepared to do that for cost reasons.

“Despite making scheduled flights to destinations thousands of miles away, they want to save fuel by saving 30 miles on a route inland.”

Airport spokesman Philip Bosley said: “The airport is very conscious of being a good neighbour and every effort is made to minimise environmental, visual and noise impacts.

“We have an extensive and independently verified programme of noise monitoring and flight paths are carefully designed to reduce noise on the ground.”

He said the EUjet Fokker 100 aircraft have an excellent reputation for quiet operation. No flights begin before 6am and no planes fly after 11pm. The same restrictions apply to cargo flights, although in some circumstances flights would be made beyond the deadline. Flight numbers are no more than 30 movements a day.

Ramsgate resident Hedley Smith claims he was fobbed off by Thanet council when he tried to lodge a complaint about aircraft noise.

Mr Smith, 61, of Paradise, moved to his home in April, and is angry that searches failed to reveal the airport expansion. He accused EUjet of cutting costs by using the “rogue” route across Ramsgate instead of flying over Reculver and North Foreland.

He said: “A lot of the planes are coming straight over Ramsgate and I understand that by October there will be a lot more movements.

“The council environmental services department say they do not handle complaints about Manston airport. When I contacted the airport I was told I would need to fill out a complaint form.”