Europe is moving ahead with airport-related environmental legislation as recent climate change protesters at London Heathrow put the issue of expansion once again firmly into public focus.
In addition to the controversial legislative proposal for carbon emissions trading by airlines from 2011, the European Commission could soon set tighter restrictions on the noisiest aircraft designed to meet the Chapter 3 standards recommended by aviation's international rulemaking body the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The current directive on noise-related operating restrictions at European airports, which has been in force for five years, already gives member states the right to impose restrictions on Chapter 3 aircraft subject to public consultation and economic assessment.
Under the forthcoming review, which will be based on a report from London-based consultancy MPD Group, any change is likely to focus on extending the definition of marginal compliance, which could be important for Europe's busiest airports such as London Heathrow.
A source close to the dossier says: "One future action could be applying selective criteria to ban aircraft such as Airbus A300s and Boeing 767 types from certain airports that only just meet Chapter 3. Paris Charles de Gaulle already applies this because they think this is the only way to contain noise."
Matthias Ruete, EC director general for transport, last year warned that legislators were favouring a tightening of current rules - rather than banning night flights across the European Union that could risk contravening a 2003 European Court of Human Rights ruling that a balance must be struck between the interests of those affected by airport operations and the interests of those who operate and use air services.
While the EC will decide whether to table any change by early 2008 in the light of the report findings, it will also work on a legislative proposal on rules governing NOx emissions by the end of the same year.
The EU framework and associated directives on air quality have been in force for some time, setting mandatory limit values for NOx and certain particulates based on their known health and environmental effects.
London airports operator BAA moved recently to link an element of the landing charge at Heathrow and Gatwick to NOx emissions to encourage airlines to use lower NOx-emitting aircraft.
The EC is now considering tenders for external assistance to identify and evaluate options here. The work will take five months, cost up to �250,000 and is expected to start in October. Options could include further pressure for increased ICAO stringency recommendations for future aeroengine design, new operational procedures and market-based measures such as emission trading or charges.
"There may be others. No options have been ruled in - or out," says a EC source.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
