Noise Action Plan by commonplace.is

7. Noise Action Plan

We will continue to operate our Noise Working Group which contains representatives from Aberdeen Airport, Air Traffic Control and all helicopter operators. The Noise Working Group meets regularly to highlight areas of concern and share best practice to reduce noise.

We will continue to publish an Annual Noise Report which will be available on our website and contain:

• statistics on the number, type and time of day of aircraft and helicopter movements;

• adherence to Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) and Continuous Climb Departure (CCD) targets;

• number and timing of engine test runs;

• statistics on noise complaints;

• information on the Consultative Committee and Noise Working Group; and

• progress against actions in this Noise Action Plan

3 We will undertake a review of the contents of our Annual Noise Reports, in consultation with local stakeholders, to ensure that the

Number of meetings and actions/outcomes produced from meetings

Completion of review and update to Annual Noise Reports

Incorporate feedback into 2024 report. Publish updated report early 2025

Communities

and

report provides clear and useful information that is valuable to our local communities.

We will update our noise webpage with information on key noise initiatives and strategies. Update of webpage

We will present key noise issues and report on our progress against this Noise Action Plan to the Aberdeen Airport Consultative Committee and Noise Working Group as appropriate

We will upgrade our complaints and enquiries process with a new system that will allow improved analysis of trends. This will be used in combination with our noise and track-keeping system to investigate any complaints related to off-track infringements.

Updated webpage to be published by end of 2025

Number of meetings and actions/outcomes produced from meetings Ongoing

We will continue to operate a dedicated online noise complaint system. We will log all complaints and seek to respond to all complaints and enquiries within 5 working days. We will publish complaint statistics in the Annual Noise Report and to the Airport Consultative Committee.

We will review the accessibility of our complaint system and introduce new ways to contact us with complaints if required.

Number of enquiries and complaints received and rate of response. Ongoing

Estimated number of People Affected

We will monitor how communities feel about our aircraft track visualisation modelling software and strive to increase the number of users

We will continue to use our Propeller Fund to provide financial support to community groups and charities that are committed to improving the opportunities, facilities and

Completion of review

Review complete by end of 2024

Software deployed and publicly available. Number accessing the tool. User feedback. Ongoing

Communities within and beyond the 55dBLden contour (estimated >7,500 people)

Number of projects funded and value of donation Ongoing

Communities in close proximity to the airport

services available to local people most affected by the airport.

We will continue to operate a differential landing charge system during the night whereby quieter aircraft receive discounted charges, providing a financial incentive for airlines to adopt quieter aircraft

We will undertake a review of our differential landing charges and other methods of incentivisation to determine if it would be viable to introduce additional measures at Aberdeen Airport.

Number of aircraft by Quota Count (QC) Ongoing

Communities within and beyond the

As part of AGS group we will work with our partners in Sustainable Aviation to achieve the visionary noise goals of FlightPath 205012 which seek to achieve a 65% reduction in perceived noise, or 15dB, from aircraft by 2050 compared to 2000.

We will support the development of Sustainable Aviation’s updated Noise Roadmap and will encourage the development of electric and hybrid electric aircraft and consider the noise implications of future aircraft technology.

Completed review

Review completed by end of 2025

Progress against the EU Flightpath 2050 target of 65% reduction in perceived noise, or 15dB, from aircraft by 2050 compared to 2000. Ongoing

Communities within and beyond the 55dBLden contour (estimated >7,500 people)

We will continue to enforce our policy on aircraft test runs. We will investigate any complaints received from ground running activity and revisit our policies if appropriate.

Sustainable Aviation targets. Ongoing

Number, location and duration of engine runs. Ongoing

12 See https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/7d834950-1f5e-480f-ab70-ab96e4a0a0ad

Communities within and beyond the 55dBLden contour (estimated >7,500 people)

Communities in close proximity to the airport

Estimated number of People Affected

We will undertake noise monitoring of engine ground running to better understand its potential impact on our closest neighbours. We will use the information for this monitoring to review our ground running policies and investigate potential further control measures.

We will replace diesel powered ground power units (GPUs) with fixed electrical ground power (FEGP) at the terminal stands to allow aircraft to take electricity directly from the local grid, helping to reduce noise by limiting the amount of time that aircraft will need to run their engines at stands.

Monitoring complete

We work with our airlines to encourage and assist them in to undertake reduced engine use for taxiing and towing to reduce noise emissions from aircraft on the airfield.

Number of GPUs replaced

Monitoring to be undertaken in 2025

Communities in close proximity to the airport

We will use our new aircraft track keeping systems to proactively monitor fixed wing aircraft routing and any off-track occurrences. We will use this data in discussion with airlines to identify any issues with off-track occurrences that can be resolved.

We will implement a process for fining airlines for off-track occurrences and distribute fines to the Propeller Fund.

We will continue to implement best practice on aircraft noise management according to guidance that was published by the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise whilst the commission was still active. We will review and implement any future

Discussions with airlines

Targets will be set following Sustainability Strategy Review

Communities in close proximity to the airport

Communities

Number of off-track occurrences and fines raised Ongoing with fines to be introduced by end of 2025

Communities within and beyond the 55dBLden contour (estimated >7,500 people)

Number of guidance documents reviewed Ongoing

Communities within and beyond the 55dBLden contour (estimated >7,500 people)

best practice guidance issued by the Civil Aviation Authority where appropriate.

We will continue with our Airspace Change Proposal. As part of this we will continue to assess the noise impacts of any proposed changes, in line with the CAA’s Airspace Change Process and our agreed airspace design principles.

We will promote adherence to the Arrivals Code of Practice (ACOP) and in particular the achievement of Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA) and Continuous Climb Departure and (CCD) targets where possible through forums such as Flight Ops Safety Committee (FLOPSC) and other communication events. We will monitor and report compliance with these targets in the Annual Noise Report.

Progression through Airspace Change gateways Ongoing

Estimated number of People Affected

We will continue to annually monitor nighttime aircraft noise in accordance with the Night Period Noise Management Plan as agreed with Aberdeen City Council in our Section 75 agreement.

We are undertaking a review of the Night Period Noise Management Plan in collaboration with the Council to determine whether it would be appropriate to update the noise controls in line with the latest aircraft noise technology improvements

Percentage of flights achieving CDA and CCD compared to targets Ongoing

Communities

24 We will actively contribute to improving aircraft noise information in local planning policy and seek to influence policy where appropriate. We will encourage the use of good acoustic design to avoid and minimise

Annual monitoring Ongoing

Completion of review

Land-use Planning and Management

Review complete by end of 2025

Number of new development plans reviewed and number of responses issued to local planning authorities Ongoing

Communities within and beyond

Communities within and beyond the 50dBLnight contour (estimated >1,100 people)

Communities within and beyond the

Communities within and beyond the 55dBLden contour (estimated >7,500 people)

Ref Action Performance Indicator Timescales

adverse impacts arising from the development of new noise sensitive buildings and encourage the adoption of the principles advocated by the Professional Practice Guidance: Planning & Noise – New Residential Development.

We will continue to implement our current Noise Insulation Policy to mitigate noise for residents and noise sensitive buildings most affected by aircraft noise in line with current aviation noise policy

We propose to extend our residential Noise Insulation Policy to mitigate noise for a greater number of residents most affected by aircraft noise, going beyond current aviation noise policy.

Number of eligible properties

Estimated number of People Affected

Communities

Annual review

Our Noise Action Plan is consistent with the ICAO Balanced Approach and The Airports (Noise-related Operating Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2019, which requires operating restrictions to be considered only after other measures of the Balanced Approach have been exhausted and only where it is cost effective to do so. We will continually review the effectiveness of our mitigation measures in the context of the balanced approach to ensure that mitigation is considered in a consistent way with a view to addressing noise impacts in the most cost-effective way

Number of eligible properties

Communities

Extended Noise Insulation Scheme to open in 2025

Operating Restrictions

Tracking of Noise Action Plan and mitigation measures. Ongoing n/a

7.1 Estimating the reduction in the number of people affected

The Environmental Noise (Scotland) Regulations 2006 require that Noise Action Plans must meet the requirements in Annex V of the Environmental Noise Directive (EC Directive 2002/49) which includes the requirement that each action plan should “contain estimates in terms of the reduction of the number of people affected (annoyed, sleep disturbed, or other).”

The extended noise insulation scheme (action 26) will reduce annoyance and sleep disturbance for those who are eligible and take part in the scheme. For example, considering the latest year of modelled data for the 92-day summer (2023), extending the noise insulation scheme will result in the eligibility increasing from approximately 10 people to approximately 1,000 people, resulting in a reduction in annoyance and sleep disturbance for up to 990 additional people.

Actions 11 to 13 will drive the industry to continue to improve aircraft noise performance with a Sustainable Aviation target of 15dB reduction from aircraft by 2050 compared to 2000. This equates to a reduction in the percentage of highly annoyed persons by approximately 29% and a reduction in the percentage of highly sleep disturbed persons by approximately 20%13 .

13 Reductions estimated using Formula 6 and Formula 9 of Commission Directive (EU) 2020/367 amending Annex III to the Environmental Noise Directive (EC Directive 2002/49)