I wish to correct two comments in David Learmount's assessment of environmental pressures on the aviation industry (Flight International, 1-7 January).

First, it is not correct to state that International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Resolution A33-7 requires "adopting all other possible strategies for airport noise limitation before permitting local restrictions for a particular airport". In Resolution A33-7, the ICAO Assembly encourages states to "not apply operating restrictions as a first resort but only after consideration of the benefits to be gained from other elements of the balanced approach". European representatives at the thirty-third ICAO assembly in Montreal last year successfully resisted insertion of the "last resort" concept into the resolution. As David Learmount rightly observes, conditions in Europe mean that operating restrictions offer the only realistic option for securing improvements in the noise climate around some airports.

Second, I cannot accept that the UK would require environmental considerations to outweigh safety considerations in determining operational procedures. If I may quote Resolution A33-7 (which the UK supports) again, the ICAO assembly encourages states to "apply noise abatement operational procedures, to the extent possible without affecting safety".

Graham Pendlebury

Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions London, UK

Source: Flight International

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