ACI welcomes new international aircraft noise standard

A new standard that will require improved noise performance from newly certified aircraft types was agreed at the Ninth Meeting of ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) on 7 February.

The agreement will mean that from 2017 new large civil aircraft types will need to be at least 7 EPNdB (Effective Perceived Noise in Decibels) quieter than the current Chapter 4 standard. This is only the fourth new noise standard in the history of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). All civil aeroplanes and helicopters built today are required to meet noise certification standards set out in Annex 16 to the Chicago Convention and adopted by the Council of ICAO.

Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International said, “ACI welcomes this important step forward by ICAO in agreeing to a new aircraft noise certification standard. Noise standards are vital to airport and aviation industry efforts to operate and grow responsibly and sustainably. Airports need to work constructively with the communities around them and noise standards must respond to the voices of those communities in order that airports obtain their permission to operate and grow. ACI looks forward to future ICAO standards being introduced more frequently, which could also provide an incentive for research and development into aircraft noise reduction technology.”