THE boss of British Airways was woken up by blasting aircraft noise at 5am at his quiet Berkshire village home this week.

Angry residents went to the £2.5m home of BA's chief executive Rod Eddington with Hacan ClearSkies chairman, John Stewart, dressed in pyjamas.

Mr Stewart said: "Residents under the flight path wanted to say farewell to Rod Eddington by giving him a taste of his own medicine.

"The majority of night flights using Heathrow are operated by British Airways or one of its subsidiary companies. And BA is amongst the strongest supporters of night flights."

The protesters rigged up a sound system outside the chief executives home and blasted out aircraft noise for 15 minutes. Their visit was timed to coincide with BA's Annual General Meeting, which took place on Tuesday, when the airline also announced it is to begin a trial procedure to reduce the number of people affected by early morning aircraft noise.

The company's Corporate Responsibility Report for 2004/2005, published on Tuesday, reported the airline's role in the use of the latest navigation technology on flights arriving before 6am.

Planes landing at Heathrow, said the report, will follow a more precise flight path approach and will be routed around more densely populated areas.

Routes over the Thames estuary will be flown on a more consistent basis using precision navigation technology, which could reduce noise level by up to five decibels.

Commenting on the report, Sir Eddington said: "Taking a responsible approach to environmental and social issues remains crucial to our business performance.

"At Heathrow, we are leading the way with new operating initiatives to reduce our noise and emissions levels.

"Globally we are playing a leading role in encouraging the aviation industry and policy makers to embrace emissions trading as the most effective way to address aviation's impact on climate change."