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Trial of 'operational freedoms' at Heathrow to be extended. The second trial will now run from July 2012 to March 2013 and there will be greater scope for BAA to vary departure routes and amend the night flight schedule. The overall number of flights will stay the same. Read more on the Department of Transport's website. (15 May)

Tackling queues at Heathrow - airlines have opposed suggestions that they should pay higher landing fees in order to fund immigration staff and cut the queues at Heathrow. AirportWatch reports the story. (2 May)

Theresa Villiers has confirmed that the government has ruled out a third runway at Heathrow in a speech at an aviation conference. Meanwhile, Alistair Darling has come out in favour of a third runway, and Michael Portillo says he will be looking for a London mayoral candidate who supports the plan (currently only the Independent, Siobhan Benita). (20 April)

Emirates pushes for more night flights at Heathrow - Emirates wants to be able to fly in and out of Heathrow up to 1am and then again from 4am. They says that they can reduce the noise by using the quieter A380, descending at a steeper angle than usual and landing further along the runway. Mayoral candidates Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone say they are against more night flights. (10 April)

Night flights banned at Frankfurt airport - a Leipzig judge has banned flights between 11pm and 5am at Frankfurt airport, after complaints from residents about the noise. The number of flights allowed between 10pm and 6pm was also reduced. However, he ruled that the fourth runway, opened last October, was legitimate. Read the Reuters story here. (4 April)

Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond, threatened to resign if the Government goes back on its pledge of opposing expansion at Heathrow. He is reported by This Is Local London as saying that that supporting a third runway would be a betrayal of the 2 million living under the flightpaths. (29 March)

The AEF have issued a briefing paper that claims Tim Yeo's reasons for changing his mind on expansion at Heathrow don't add up. (29 March)

The Chancellor hasn't changed his mind on the third runway at Heathrow. John Stewart of HACAN says that talk that George Osborne wanted a review of policy on Heathrow was the result of rumours spread by the aviation industry, who want a third runway. Read the article in the Guardian here. (27 March)

Night flights - the government has decided to extend the current night flying regime for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted for two years to October 2014. Read the statement from Theresa Villiers here. The consultation on the draft Aviation Policy Framework will now start in summer 2012 (rather than March) and will cover the general policy on night noise. The consultation on night flights will start in autumn 2012. (26 March).

Several newspapers report the government is preparing to u-turn on their commitment not to build a third runway at Heathrow. There is speculation that developing RAF Northolt is another option being explored. Read the Guardian's story (25 March)

George Osborne's budget speech includes a surprise delay to the government's aviation strategy. He said "I ...believe this country must confront the lack of airport capacity in the South East of England – we cannot cut ourselves off from the fastest growing cities in the world." Airportwatch reports (21 March)

David Cameron declares he is 'not blind to the need to increase airport capacity, particularly in the South East' in a speech about the UK infrastructure; a worrying development given the government is soon to publish its aviation strategy. (19 March)

GLA Environment Committee publish a report 'Plane speaking'. It calls for a change in the measurement of noise to more accurately record the disturbance experienced by those under flight paths. (14 March)

The BAA continues to lobby for a third runway. It has commissioned a report from Oxford Economics (a consultancy used by the aviation industry which has no connection to Oxford University) which claims that the UK will lose out on trade and inward investment unless Heathrow expands. (7 March)

Airport Watch report that the CAA bill currently going through parliament, which will define the organisation's responsibilities, contains very little about the environment (18 February)

"London First" (a business lobbying group) have criticised the Government for ruling out expansion at Heathrow. Read the story here (1 February)

RAF Northolt may be sold off by the Ministry of Defence, and there are concerns that it may be used a satellite for Heathrow. See the Guardian article here (25 January)

Boris Island is in the news again. The Mayor's proposal to build an airport in the Thames estuary is likely to be included in the government's forthcoming consultation on aviation strategy. (18 January)

CAA publish report on aviation policy for the future - it suggests that those living near airports could pay reduced council tax. Read here how the Hounslow Chronicle covered the story. (10 January)

BA's owners, IAG, have acquired the airline BMI. There are fears that BMI's slots at Heathrow will be converted from short-haul to long-haul flights, and that these larger, heavier planes will increase the noise burden. Read the Evening Standard item here. Brussels have cleared the takeover, subject to BA releasing some slots at Heathrow. (22 December, updated 30 March)

CAA publish report on aviation policy and the environment - it states that Heathrow accounts for 28% of people affected by aviation noise in Europe. (20 December)

Labour change of policy on a third runway at Heathow - in a speech to the Airport Operators' Association, Maria Eagle, the Shadow Transport Secretary accepted that a third runway at Heathow is off the agenda, and called for the Committee on Climate Change to advise on a tougher CO2 emissions target for the aviation industry. Read the AEF article here. (13 November)

The London Plan - an updated London Plan has been issued. In this, the Mayor confirms that he is opposed to an increase in the number of aircraft movements at Heathrow, and to mixed-mode operation, and that he supports runway alternation and phasing out night flights. However, he does claim that additional runway capacity is required in the south-east. The AEF claim that no evidence has been presented to support this. The AEF news item can be found here. (6 November)

Heathrow to trial use of both runways to clear backlogs - it has been announced that Heathrow is going to trial landing planes on both runways at the same time, but only in order to provide extra capacity to recover from disruption. Currently, runway alternation is used. There will be a trial of the new procedures from November 2011 to February 2012, followed by a period of public engagement, and then a further trial from July to September 2012, to provide resilience during the Olympics. The results are being reported at http://heathrowtrial.com (18 July, updated Jan 2012)

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