Airport & Noise

Airport & Noise

Introduction

Airport noise significantly affects millions of people around the globe. In a huge number of instances? aircraft noise just merges into the urban din? mixing with a cacophony of buses? trucks? motorcycles? cars? and construction noise. However? in locations near airports and plane flight patterns? aircraft noise becomes more of a concern. Airport noise can be dangerous. Airplanes generate as much sound as 150 decibels at takeoff? noise that is 20 decibels louder than a rock concert and 10 decibels louder than a gunshot. This is a significant amount of noise? a disturbance that dramatically affects people's lives. Noise is considered the most important environmental concern for many people who live or work near to an airport. As one would expect? in general? the greatest noise levels are experienced close to the airport? however? disturbance can also occur many miles away under aircraft approach and departure routes. Flight numbers in the UK have been growing at 4-6% a year over the past decade. If this growth continues? the country will need the equivalent of 4 new Heathrows by 2020. It is this growth in the number of planes that has caused residents under the flight paths to Heathrow and other airports such problems in recent years. Although individual planes have become quieter? any benefit to residents has been offset by the increase in the volume of aircraft traffic.

Noise disturbance around an airport is caused by:

aircraft in the air;

reverse thrust used by aircraft to slow down after landing;

aircraft on the ground? including taxiing? engine testing and running on-board electrical generators;

departing aircraft that stray from the Preferred Noise Routes (PNRs);

road traffic to and from the airport;

construction activity.

Aircraft noise disturbance is commonly measured as a function of the number of aircraft and the noise levels made by each? this provides the noise climate.

Analysis

One of the major issue facing the airline industry in the 21th century will be its ability to conciliate capacity expansion at major airports with the negative impact of increased airport operations on surrounding neighbourhoods. Deregulation and liberalization of air transport in different parts of the world is one of the main forces driving greater demand for airport infrastructure. The literature on airline economics has shown that hub-and-spoke networking? a legacy/consequence of deregulation? exacerbates the development of major airports (see? e.g.? Nero and Black? 1998). On the other hand? there is a large literature on the negative impacts of airline operations on surrounding neighbourhoods? with a particular focus on the effects of airport noise on property values and land use planning around the airport.

Regulation

The control of aircraft noise is complicated by the range of ownership and operation of aircraft? involving companies which may not have an office at the airport or even in a particular country. The way in which aircraft are flown is not only determined by the pilot? who is completely responsible for the safety of the aircraft? but also by the safety rules set ...