The European Council of Transport Ministers has approved a German proposal to allow Berlin's downtown airports, Tegel and Tempelhof, to introduce an immediate ban on noisy aircraft which do not comply with the latest Chapter 3 noise legislation.
Under current noise rules, aircraft which can only comply with the less-stringent Chapter 2 must have "guaranteed access" to all European airports until 2002. Berlin will impose a ban at once, directing Chapter 2 aircraft to the city's out-of-town airport, Schonefeld.
The ministers agreed to the German request despite the likelihood of setting a precedent which might enable other European airports to set their own agenda on banning noisy aircraft. "There is a real possibility that others will want to jump on the bandwagon," according to a European Commission (EC)source.
According to the EC transport commission, ministers had acted within EC guidelines which recommend that Chapter 2 aircraft can be banned only within an airport system, such as that at Berlin. The commission admits, however, that this could be taken to include airports such as Paris, London or Milan "-although they don't have the same noise problem as Berlin's inner-city airports", adding that, if other European airports objected to the Berlin exemption, "-we would have to do something".
The ministers also agreed to include Middle Eastern countries in the list of those authorised to serve ECairports with Chapter 2 aircraft. These countries had been left out of the original decision in 1992 because there was no representative body to present their case to Brussels.
Source: Flight International