Banning noisy aircraft – Australia leads the way

24th August, 2010

Australia is set to ban the noisiest aircraft from landing at its airports.

Simply banning very noisy aircraft is one of the easiest and most effective ways of reducing noise nuisance. Yet the UK and other European governments have so far been reluctant to take this step.

The following article is reproduced from Cargo World.

18.8.2010

Australia is set to press ahead with a ban on Antonov 124s and the AN225. Operators will need to apply for special exemption on public interest  grounds to land the aircraft at the country’s larger airports from September 1.  Australia is believed to be the first country to impose a ban on the  heavylift  freighters.

The federal government announced last March that it would ban hush-kitted “ marginally noise-compliant” aircraft in two stages. New services were banned from 13 major airports from July 1 and existing services through the  four main gateways of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth will follow from  September 1.

“Marginally compliant aircraft, predominantly used in the airfreight  industry, have been an ongoing source of concern for residents,” Anthony  Albanese, minister for infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government, said when he announced the new restrictions.

The new controls are based on an aviation white paper published in December 2009 and a green paper a year earlier. Albanese said the government was giving carriers enough time to make alternative arrangements. “It’s up to those airlines to make sure their business is shifted to more appropriate aircraft,” he said. “It’s simply unacceptable that we have these noisy aircraft flying in 2010 when other options are available.”

B727 freighters are also excluded under the new rules. Only Tasman Cargo Airlines, which operates services between Australia and New Zealand for DHL, and Heavylift Cargo Airlines were operating this equipment at the time of Albanese’s announcement.