Amsterdam Schiphol is under orders to get quieter. A package of measures under the ICAO Balanced Approach is meant to cut the number of people seriously disturbed by aircraft noise by 15 percent. On 17 August the Dutch infrastructure minister sent parliament the second interim measurement: three of the four targets have been met or beaten. Serious annoyance is down 17 percent, sleep disturbance almost 30, and homes inside the night-noise contour 35.
What matters is which measure did the work. Airlines at Schiphol pay landing charges scaled to how loud their aircraft are, and the ministry reports that this pricing has had a far bigger effect than it had estimated. Banning the noisiest aircraft at night did less than expected. Around 40 percent of the fleet now belongs to the quietest generations, and the final figures are due in December.
So…:
What are you trying to forbid that you could put a price on instead?
Source:
Picture:
Schiphol Group (press) // Roger Cremers