Noise (night flights and hushkits)

Noise (night flights and hushkits)

At the Council meeting on June 18, EU Transport Ministers agreed on a proposal which will prohibit Member States from adding hushkitted aircraft (acoustically modified older aeroplanes) to their registers from April 1, 1999. Moreover, third-country aircraft will be unable to operate in the Community from April 1, 2002, in order to avoid distortions of competition between such planes and those registered in the Community. In practise, this means a gradual phase out of these hushkitted aircraft. The Council also decided to convert the draft Directive into a draft Regulation so as to ensure the measures come into force at an early date.

Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock has also begun a preliminary investigation into harmonising EU rules banning night flights, looking into the development of guidelines on where bans should apply, for how long and on what aircraft types.

NOISE (NIGHT FLIGHTS AND HUSHKITS)

Background:

Night flights:

Noise nuisance is an important issue as it is often one of the negative effects of aviation that is most directly felt. Most of the local groups that participate in "The Right Price for Air Travel" campaign do a lot on this issue as they directly suffer from airport activities.

Many airports argue that they have to allow night flights to compete with other airports. However night flights cause relatively more noise nuisance than flights by day. In Europe, there is no overall policy guideline for night flights, some airports have a night ban and some do not.

Hushkits:

To phase out noisier aircraft (remind, Chapter 1 airplanes is the noisiest category) the ICAO has called for a phase out of the noisier Chapter 1 and 2 planes by the year 2002. In view of this, noisy airplanes are being fitted with so-called hushkits. A hushkit is a device that reduces noise emissions, but hushkitted planes still produce a lot more noise than modern engines and they increase the amount of emissions.

The Community has, since 1992, introduced a series of Directives aiming to reduce the environmental impact of air transport. One of the principal pieces of legislation on noise (Directive 92/14) dates back to 1992 and concerns restrictions on the operations of certain particularly noisy aircraft. This text is currently being reviewed. In addition, the Commission brought forward a proposal for a Directive on March 9, on the use and registration within the Community of this category of aircraft fitted with hushkits (COM(1998) 98 final).

Commission Directorate responsible:

DG VII (Transport).

For hushkits: Green Paper on future noise policy COM (96)0540, May 1997.

Developments:

Night flights:

June 1997 we heard that the European Parliament had proposed to ban night flights on all airports within the EU. This proposal met with a lot of opposition from industry representatives and later on it became unclear whether the proposal made it at all or not.

Hushkits:

The Commission recently presented a proposal for a Directive on jet aeroplanes registration which would keep hushkitted planes trying to meet Chapter 3 regulations from flying under European registration.

Noise:

On 22/04/98, Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock announced that the European Commission will this year publish a Communication on Air Transport and the Environment (see section 10), as a complement to the overall document on the measures either implemented or being prepared in the field of transport in general, in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Speaking before the European Airports Union, the ACI, Kinnock pointed out that the aim of this initiative is to elaborate a work programme that mainly covers technical standards on noise and emission stringency. As far as noise is concerned, the Commissioner defined three guidelines:

· implementation of rules proposed in March by the Commission for banning the registration of old aircraft, even if equipped with hushkits', in European registers from April 1999;

· promotion of less noisy aircraft;

· development of systems for noise insulation of houses.

Nonetheless, said Neil Kinnock, the volume of air traffic is increasing and will increase' and it is therefore a matter for regret that the ICAO and the European Community have not managed to define more binding norms, not least because such agreement will become a growing practical necessity and the sooner it can be evolved the better'.

Parliament:

Rapporteur: Mr Jose Valverde López (for hushkits Directive).

Update

In its review of the hushkit directive, the Environment Committee of the European Parliament recommended that night flights for hushkitted aircraft be banned. Freight industry representatives have already indicated their opposition so it's not sure how the plenary session of the EP will vote, but express organisations have already launched an lobby initiative to vote against a proposed amendments to ban hushkitted planes during the night.

Pressure to cut air pollution and noise has pushed the Commission to speed up moves to outlaw the oldest aircraft still flying by banning airlines from adding any aircraft to their fleets which do not meet Chapter III' noise standards. This has angered some of the EU's biggest trading partners, including the US. They claim that the EU is taking unilateral action and sidestepping international conventions. Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock has also begun a preliminary investigation into harmonising EU rules banning night flights, looking into the development of guidelines on where bans should apply, for how long and on what aircraft types.

At the Council meeting on June 18, EU Transport Ministers reached a political agreement on certain types of older planes which have been modified and recertificated as meeting international standards in this area (aircraft fitted with hushkits). The proposal is designed to prevent any further increase in noise pollution in areas surrounding Community airports. Under the terms of the proposal, Member States will be prohibited from adding acoustically modified older plans to their registers as from April 1, 1999. Moreover third-country aircraft will be unable to operate in the Community as from April 1, 2002, in order to avoid distortions of competition between such planes and those registered in the Community. The Council also decided to convert the draft Directive into a draft Regulation so as to ensure the measures come into force at an early date.

Jean Fleury, President of Airports Council International, is sympathetic towards airlines which have recently bought early-generation Chapter Three aircraft which might not easily make the four per cent cut in Chapter Three noise levels currently advocated by ACI. "As airports we must continue to seek quieter levels if we want sustainable development. New classifications are required: Chapter Three a, b, c and d, for example". He argues that without a clear goal which airlines can aim for and agree worldwide, then in two or three years a host of different specifications will emerge which airlines will find harder to meet than a common standard. Fleury also accepts that ICAO is the best forum to decide global noise limits. ACI has called for a harmonisation of environmental rules concerning noise and emissions from aircraft, in particular to avoid distortions of competition. "It is unavoidable in the long term that we harmonize the requirements placed on airports at European level.

Referring to the forthcoming meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the European Commission's Director for air transport, Michel Ayral, indicated that "it is clear that if the ICAO cannot improve international noise standards, we will have to take the responsibility for doing that ourselves in Europe ... ICAO's standards are good benchmarks, but there is a need for complementary European standards, especially in the areas of Nox emissions and hush-kitted aircraft".