AIRPORT jobs are ripe for the picking -- that's the message from Harlow Council and Stansted Airport to Harlow residents.

Both organisations are eager to raise awareness of career opportunities at Stansted Airport, a thriving business which is at the town's fingertips.

And they say plans to expand passenger capacity to 15 million per year will mean 5,000 more airport-based posts will soon be up for grabs.

The need to make residents aware of Stansted's job prospects was emphasised at a conference at the Latton Bush Centre, Southern Way, on Friday, which addressed the airport's expansion plans.

Harlow MP Bill Rammell, who chaired the meeting, said: "It's about getting the message to people that jobs are coming."

Aiport spokesman Ralph Meloy said the airport had joined forces with Harlow's employment services to make sure jobs and New Deal programmes were advertised.

A careers fair at Harlow town hall has also been organised on January 23, where airport businesses can tell potential recruits what they have to offer.

However, Harlow Council's Highways Policy manager Danny Purton, highlighted the need to improve and reduce the price of train services from Harlow to Stansted.

He also believes increased road congestion will be an inevitable knock-on effect of expansion plans.

"We need to ensure transport services are provided which will avoid people coming through Harlow and making traffic worse, and we need subsidised travel to be extended to rail travel," he said.

Noise pollution in Harlow caused by low-flying aircraft was also discussed, and British Airports Authority (BAA) spokesman John Williams said steps would be taken to alleviate this problem.

He said: "Most complaints we get from residents are about day flights. We have been talking to air traffic control about doing something about that.

"The airspace around Harlow is very busy, but we do not want planes flying over Harlow at 2,000ft. We are fighting to get Harlow put on radar screen."

He said BAA would push for night flight rules to be enforced during the day. This involves aircraft adopting a continuous descent approach which reduces aircraft noise.

And he assured residents that noise levels would improve as Stansted expanded, because carriers using the airport would be flying modern, less noisy aircraft.

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