Arrivals
Aircraft flying into the airport are managed by Air Traffic Control, who organise arriving aircraft onto a straight path, called final approach, while maintaining minimum separation distances between arrivals. Aircraft are required to fly on this straight line for at least the final 11km of their approach before landing on a runway. On final approach, aircraft must descend at a precise downward angle of 3 degrees, which means that they are at a height of 1,800ft when they join the final approach at the 11km point.
Departures
A departing aircraft accelerates along the runway facing into the wind to gain sufficient speed to get airborne. The aircraft follows designated flight paths to clear the airport vicinity and head towards its destination and climb to its cruising altitude. These flight paths are explained here.
Departing aircraft are required to follow procedures defined by the Standard Instrument Departures (SID) and to stay within the Environmental Corridor, also called the Noise Preferential Route (NPR), below 3000ft for the South Runway and below 4000ft for the North Runway, unless directed otherwise by Air Traffic Control.
Go Around (or Missed Approach)
As an aircraft nears a runway on final approach, a pilot may judge that a safe landing cannot be achieved and decide to abandon the landing. The procedure is to increase engine power and gain altitude then loop around to re-join the landing traffic managed by Air Traffic Control for another attempt. This is called a Go Around or a Missed Approach. Special procedures and flight paths are required for Go Arounds to avoid other departing and arriving traffic.
