Noise-related operating restrictions

By Eurocontrol

THE INTRODUCTION OF NOISE-RELATED OPERATING RESTRICTIONS AT EUROPEAN AIRPORTS AND HOW THESE FIT WITH AIR TRAFFIC GROWTH

Although individual aircraft have become 75% less noisy over the last past 30 years, many EU citizens are still exposed to high noise levels around busy airports.

To tackle this issue, the European Community adopted Regulation No N598/2014 in 2014, establishing a clear and transparent procedure to introduce operating restrictions so that decisions are evidence-based and offer optimal solutions for noise with regard to safety, capacity and costs. As restrictions also impact air carriers from non-EU countries, this regulation is also compliant with international principles on noise management, the so-called ICAO "Balanced Approach" which defines specific rules for assessing noise and the resulting required mitigation measures, with operating restrictions being a last resort.

How are these restrictions being implemented at European airports and how do they fit into the bigger picture of aviation growth, with today's air traffic expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels before the end of the decade?

That's the subject of our first strategic webinar of the year, which will take place on 26 January 2023, 15:00-16:00 CET, as part of the EUROCONTROL Stakeholder Forum series.

For this webinar, we have lined up key players representing the airport, State and airport community views. Together they will be helping us build a clearer picture of the noise-related measures which are currently under consideration or are already being implemented at certain EU airports, looking at their impact on operations at airport and European network levels as well as on communities, focusing on the engagement with local residents, and exploring the challenge of striking a balance between connectivity needs, economic aspects and health impacts.