1.
Introduction
The final observations of ARAG were
posted to OFAC on 30 April, thus meeting the deadline for the final observations
of all interested parties. These observations were to a great extent based upon
several more detailed documents, all available on the ARAG Web site via the URL
These detailed documents each
normally included an Executive Summary section, and these sections are repeated
in the subsequent sections of this document. This particular document also
includes such a summary, giving overall details of what are the ARAG proposals.
The different proposals by ARAG all
originated as a consequence of the
Primarily, however, the proposals
have been based upon a detailed analysis of all aircraft movements at
2. Executive Summary
With regard to an evening curfew, ARAG proposes
that this should operate from 2300, with a grace period initially of one hour,
later to be reduced to, as now, 30 minutes. However, for the particular case of
the final Swiss flight from
With regard to a morning curfew, ARAG proposes
that this should operate until 0700. However, there should be exceptions for
the outgoing flight to
Concerning a weekend and bank holiday curfew,
ARAG sees it unrealistic to ask regular scheduled airlines, which often operate
at the same time of day on all 7 days of the week, to change these schedules.
However, ARAG proposes that any one-off scheduling of commercial flights before
0800 should not be accepted by the AIG unless they are for a relatively large
number of people, use very modern and quiet aircraft and are openly documented.
ARAG also believes that the current surcharges,
especially for late departures of noisy aircraft, serve no purpose other than
to augment the financial funds of the
In a more general sense, and taking into
account recent advances in freedom of information legislation in many
countries, ARAG finds it increasingly difficult to accept that, whilst for any
regularly scheduled movement of aircraft of major airlines it is easy to obtain
a minimum of information (scheduled movement time, airline and flight
identification and an indication of any delay), for any other movements (except
for some charters) there is absolutely no available information. ARAG therefore
proposes that the
Finally, ARAG proposes that the only serious
discouragement to particularly noisy aircraft at unsociable hours of the day is
to restrict the time window in which aircraft on noisier classes are permitted
to schedule movements, and to the period in which they are actually permitted
to take place. This time window would shrink by one hour morning and evening
for each level of class below the least noisy class. There would, however, be a
requirement during an interim period for accepting arrivals early in the
morning of overnight flights, many of which currently use Boeing 767 aircraft
belonging to noise class III.
As a result of detailed analyses of the current
situation, ARAG believes that all of the above proposals are quite feasible,
and would greatly benefit the residents living around the airport without
having any serious consequence on the economic health of the airport, of the
airlines using it or of the requirements of passengers to connect to hub
airports or to spend an entire day in various important business destinations
by departing in the morning and returning in the evening.
3.
Evening curfew proposal
The
practical implications of an earlier curfew, at 2300 instead of 2400, whilst
retaining a grace period of either 30 minutes, is examined relative to the main
categories of late arrivals or departures, whether regularly-scheduled
commercial passenger flights of classical or low-cost airlines, all-cargo
flights and the remaining miscellaneous
arrivals and departures.
In
considering these implications, the examination takes note of the various
arguments advanced in the EMPA, SH&E and AIG observations in order to
resist any change to the current
With
respect to aircraft landings, a principle argument put forward in the SH&E
report was that
If the
last flights from connecting hubs could not reach
All
returning flights of hub airlines, with the exception of the late Swiss flight
from
The return,
on their last rotation, of the various easyJet aircraft, shows a highly
regrettable tendency to lateness. Although they are all scheduled to arrive
well in advance of the incoming Swiss flight from
A curfew at
2300 will cause virtually no problems with regularly scheduled departures,
since almost all are normally before 2200. The only difficult cases might be
the usual flight of Air Mauritius if it continues to be scheduled after 2200 in
the winter period, plus a small number of late departures of business jets, for
whom the operators would no doubt vociferously defend their right to allow a
privileged clientele to depart until midnight. Neither of these cases can
justify the retention of the curfew hour at
It is
therefore evident that, for the ARAG proposal to have a curfew from 2300, with
a grace period initially of one hour, later descending to 30 minutes, plus a
special dispensation for the final incoming internal Swiss flight from Zurich,
is entirely feasible and would contribute greatly to a longer period of
quietness at night for the thousands of residents living around the airport.
4. Morning curfew proposal
An examination of the data effectively shows that none of the reasons
invoked for a refusal to install a curfew from 0600 to 0700 have any real
validity, excepting the case of the first flight out every day, a flight
operated by Swiss, leaving
The most strident objections to any
such curfew would doubtless come from easyJet, who have nearly half of their
aircraft which take off before 0700 each day. However, it is demonstrated that
the effect on easyJet Swiss would be marginal and could be compensated for by
slightly modifying their schedules.
One obvious requirement would be to accept incoming long-distance
flights which arrive ahead of schedule (no-one wants to see them aimlessly
circling around with a lot of tired passengers on-board). This could be
accommodated by treating the period from 0600 to 0700 in a manner akin to the
current late night grace period from 2400 to 0030. Such a treatment could also
allow the AIG to give derogations for special (unforeseen and exceptional)
events which may have occurred the previous evening. Obvious examples might
include a ferry flight for aircraft caught in the wrong place overnight or a
flight which was unable to leave
Of course, as with the existing grace period, it is one of the demands
of ARAG that any such use of grace periods should be detailed in an open
manner, rather than (as at present) being restricted to a closed dialogue
between the AIG and OFAC. Residents around
With regard
to the possibility of a curfew until 0800 at weekends and public holidays, ARAG
does not regard this as a feasible proposition. It would be very difficult for
the scheduled airlines, which often schedule flights for the same time on every
day of every week, to meet this constraint. It would be even more difficult for
them to meet constraints on public holidays, some of which could be specific to
5. Options
to noise surcharges on very delayed movements
ARAG is of the opinion that the noise surcharges, in particular the
extra surcharges on late takeoffs, are insufficiently high to make any real
impression on either the aircraft used or the scheduling of movements. This is
unlikely to change when eventually the noise classification of aircraft is
brought more up to date.
However, simply raising these charges in any significant manner would
doubtless be justifiably resisted by the airlines concerned, on the basis that
they have no desire to be responsible for late movements and are very often in
no way responsible for their lateness. As an example, if there are unusual ATFM
delays, whether at
It is also regrettable that there is no penalty whatsoever for any very
late arrivals (ones during the grace period, currently from
ARAG can see that some of the measures which the
ARAG therefore believes that the
Finally, the most effective method could be that for every takeoff after
23h00 and every landing after 24h00 the
6.
More open access to information
All
commercial movements for which there is currently no information in the list of
the day’s arrivals or departures, as shown on the web site of the AIG and also
the teletext on TSR television emissions, should have
a minimum of information available via separate pages on this web site. Whilst
respecting the confidentiality aspects, it should be possible at least to
identify the airline company operating the flight, its scheduled and predicted
movement time, and even the partner airport concerned.
In a manner
akin to the services offered via the European Aircraft Noise Services (EANS)
web site for the various noise monitoring stations installed around the airport
by ARAG and ATCR-AIG, it should be possible to consult the information recorded
by each of the MIABA stations.
In a
similar manner again to these services of EANS, and also to services offered at
other European airports (e.g. Gatwick[6]),
plus also the real-time system for
The monthly “Relevé des nuisances sonores”, which is distributed to the CCLNTA and other
various interested bodies, should document all cases of aircraft movements for
which a report has of necessity had to be sent to OFAC. This would be an important
step away from the current situation, in which neither OFAC nor the AIG will
allow people residing around
7.
Reduction in the daily time window for noisy aircraft
The essential concept of the proposal is that for jet aircraft used for commercial
scheduled and charter flights, all aircraft which are not in the AIP noise
class V (the least noisy aircraft) will have a reduced daily time window in which
they may operate. For class IV aircraft the reduction will be one hour morning
and evening, whilst for classes I, II and III the reduction will be two hours
morning and evening. However, for an interim period (until the aircraft are
replaced by newer and quieter ones, it will be necessary to accept overnight
incoming flights from 0600.
For commercial aviation which forms part of general aviation (primarily
business jets) the daily operational window for class V aircraft will be
reduced by one hour morning and evening, whilst for the other, noisier classes,
it will be reduced by two hours morning and evening.
For all other aviation, including non-commercial jets, the reduction
will be two hours morning and evening.
It is also proposed that there be a noise surcharge on arrivals which
take place in the delay margin window (currently between
As a counterbalance, the AIG could request the right to waive noise
surcharges, for both departures and arrivals, for the same reasons as those
allowing derogations to be given to movements outside the operating window,
i.e. in cases of exceptional and unforeseeable events. As with derogations currently
given for commercial movements after 0h30, the reason for each waived surcharge
should be documented by the AIG and submitted to OFAC.
Finally, the monthly “Relevé des nuisances sonores”, which is distributed to the CCLNTA and other
various interested bodies, should document all the above cases for which a
report has gone to OFAC. This would constitute an important advance on the
current situation, in which neither OFAC nor the
It is also assumed that, as has been proposed and agreed in principle
already some years ago, the noise classification of aircraft should be revised
to reflect modern standards of quietness for aircraft. This would have the
effect of demoting various aircraft types into a lower class. The aircraft
operators would then have the option of using quieter aircraft, rescheduling
their flights or of risking that flights outside the shorter operational window
would have to be cancelled or diverted.
[1] GE,
Aéroport de Genève
Règlement d’exploitation, decision
CRINEN du 23 mars 2006 (cause no Z-2001-79)
Prise de position concernant le Rapport de l’AIG, 21.12.2009
[2] Evaluation
de limitations supplémentaires des vols nocturnes sur l’Aéroport de Genève,
Calculs et analyses du bruit, EMPA Nr. 445'300, 8 juin 2007
[3] Evaluation of Additional
Night Operating Restrictions at
Prepared
for Aéroport International de Genève
by SH&E, Inc., May 2007
[4] Observations
pour Aéroport International de Genève, Me Olivier Jornot,
5 octobre 2007, OFAC reference 3561/3/31/31-06
[5] http://www.aragge.ch/game.html
[6]
http://lgw.webtrak-lochard.com/template/index.html
[7] http://radar.zhaw.ch/radar.html