The Council for the Independent Scrutiny of Heathrow Airport (CISHA)
CISHA ensures independent oversight of the way Heathrow engages with stakeholders.
The Council and its forums work with stakeholders to make progress on the issues that matter to them. We hold the airport to account and work to help ensure it is the best neighbour it can be. We fulfil the role of Airport Consultative Committee (ACC) as set out in Section 35 of the Civil Aviation Act. For more information on an ACC have a look at our ACC Fact sheet.
CISHA is responsible for ensuring constructive and effective engagement between Heathrow Airport and those who are impacted by the airport.
Exchange of Letters Between Our Independent Chair & The Heathrow CEO
Following May’s CISHA meeting, our independent chair, Tracey Waltho wrote to Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s CEO, summarising the key messages which emerged from the room around expansion.
Additionally, Tracey shared with him a summary of HCEB’s recommendations to Heathrow Airport in relation to its previous consultation and community engagement on expansion.
You can read both letters by clicking on the blue buttons, and read the summary of recommendations here.
NEW REPORT - Funding for community investments and mitigation at Heathrow
This report, commissioned by CISHA, examines how Heathrow currently invests in mitigating its local impacts, how these investments are funded under the economic regulatory framework overseen by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and how this approach compares to international best practice. It also considers how funding for community investments can be improved as part of the upcoming H8 regulatory review.
In the report’s foreword our independent chair, Tracey Waltho stresses the importance of the work and this report.
“This research has shown us that, whilst Heathrow does make valuable investments, these efforts are likely to be constrained. The regulatory process places limits on Heathrow’s ability to recover costs, unless spending is deemed efficient and in line with the CAA’s duties, creating a risk that economically and socially valuable community-focused investments are deprioritised or delayed.”
Statement from CISHA following the announements from the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the CEO of Heathrow Airport Ltd.
The CISHA Annual Report
Night flight restrictions: Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from October 2025
Recently the Department for Transport held a consultation - DfT: Night flight restrictions: Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from October 2025. This is a critical topic to our stakeholders so we thought it only right to do a collective response although recognising that stakeholders and individuals would be submitting their own responses.
We commissioned an independent expert Ruud Ummels. Ruud is an acclaimed airport planning and operations expert so he was ideal for this task. He has led over 250 consultancy projects in over 30 countries.
We brought him to the CISHA Open Forum which was held on 18th April 2024 where he spoke and explained how he was helping, and he asked everyone to share their thoughts with him.
This opportunity to contribute to the CISHA consultation response was also promoted on our website, through our news bulletin, our forums, and on social media. All responses were collected, and an informed response was put together by Ruud and reviewed and submitted by CISHA.
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to send us their contributions, this was invaluable.
CISHA’s response
Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Scrutiny Project: Heathrow Noise Complaints Process Review – Phase 1
In the autumn of 2023, we commissioned an independent review of how Heathrow Airport handles noise complaints following a request from the Noise and Airspace Community Forum (NACF) and as part of our ongoing scrutiny of the commitments set out in Heathrow 2.0.
Verita, an independent specialist in analysing regulated organisations, was commissioned to carry out this desk-based research. The research analysed 643,300 complaints from 2015 to 2023. This entailed interviews with those involved in the process, including representatives of Heathrow Airport, the Noise and Airspace Community Forum (NACF), and Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (HACAN). We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who gave so freely of their time and insights.
This report sets out the findings of their review and six recommendations identifying ways in which Heathrow Airport could make improvements to their complaints handling process. The report was discussed at a meeting of the NACF, and CISHA has invited further community feedback.
Resources have been allocated for a phase two to be commissioned should feedback suggest that a second phase would be valuable. Those impacted by aircraft noise please voice your opinions and email info@cisha.org
Heathrow’s response to the recommendations
Heathrow has seen this report and has responded to the recommendations. Let us know what you think of their response via email info@cisha.org
CISHA’s membership includes six forums that represent stakeholders in and around Heathrow Airport
