Noise points as an instrument to measure (and limit) noise exposure – empirical findings from Europe 2015-2020

Abstract

Aircraft noise is the biggest environmental problem around airports, as it has a negative impact on the health of local residents. Therefore, aircraft noise is an important constraint in airport development. Residents' concerns can lead to restrictions on airport capacity, as in the recent case of Amsterdam Schiphol. At this airport, a reduction/limitation of aircraft movements was chosen as a policy instrument to reduce noise impact. Such an approach can be criticized from the point of views of economic efficiency and noise impact among others, as only the number of aircraft movements is taken into account and neither different noise levels nor departure/approach times are not considered. However, the latter parameters also have a significant noise impact, e.g. the different noise levels caused by different types of aircraft. Furthermore, airlines have no advantage in using modern, quieter aircraft or avoiding evening or night for operations if only the number of movements are considered in a regulatory policy. In the worst case such simple restrictions can even have negative impacts on the health of local residents. In this paper, the authors present an alternative approach in which the noise impact at an airport is quantified by different noise point systems. The idea of such systems is similar to the quota count used for London airports at night. Two different options for calculating noise points are presented. The noise point systems are applied to available data of aircraft movements at European airports for the period 2015-2020. Due to the current relevance for aviation policy, a special focus is placed on Amsterdam Schiphol in the analysis and discussion. Based on empirical data, it can be shown that decoupling noise impact from the number of aircraft movements is possible for major European airports, even in a relatively limited time frame. Furthermore, noise point systems could not only be used for noise monitoring, but also as a regulatory tool that ensures the limitation (or even reduction) of noise impact while allowing for a more sustainable growth of the air transport system. From the point of view of noise impact and economic efficiency, such an approach is preferable to a restriction of aircraft movements.