Glasgow Airport launches Noise Action Plan
The airport is required to publish an updated Noise Action Plan every five years. The 2018-2023 plan has been produced based on feedback gathered from the local communities that neighbour the airport during a 13-week public consultation held earlier this year.
Glasgow Airport has developed a package of measures over a number of years designed to minimise and mitigate the adverse effects of noise.
In updating this latest plan, the airport took into account the latest research and policy on the adverse effects of aviation noise and has proposed the following key enhancements over and above the existing mitigation measures.
- The development of an enhanced Noise Insulation Policy to mitigate noise for a significantly higher number of residents from a wider area who are affected by aircraft noise.
- The introduction of a new WebTrak online flight tracking tool which will provide members of the public with a transparent view of aircraft flight paths and noise levels.
Glasgow Airport Managing Director Mark Johnston said: “Operating such an important national asset comes with responsibilities, and in talking regularly with or neighbouring communities and stakeholders, we appreciate that airport-related noise is an important issue.
“Managing noise responsibly is not only an important part of our day-to-day operation, it is also vital in making sure the airport is able to grow but in a manner that continues to balance the positive economic and social benefits our connectively ensures with some of the more negative effects such as noise.
“We have previously implemented a comprehensive package of measures which have helped reduce the airport’s noise footprint and remain committed to doing so.
“The feedback we received during the public consultation from local communities proved invaluable in shaping the Noise Action Plan, which I’m pleased to announce will include an enhanced Noise Insulation Policy that will benefit hundreds of households locally and our new WebTrak online flight-tracking system which is accessible via the Glasgow Airport website.
Gil Paterson, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, said: “I am really pleased that a noise insulation policy will be put in place that will tackle and reduce noise levels within hundreds of households in my constituency and I very much look forward to an early start to this initiative that will combat the effects of noise from aircraft.”
The Noise Action Plan is a requirement of the European Union’s Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EU and the Environmental Noise (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
John Bynorth, Policy and Communications Officer at the environmental charity, Environmental Protection Scotland (EPS), welcomed Glasgow Airport’s decision to use a ‘Web Trak’ online tool to enable households to check which actual flights are going over their homes.
He said the airport’s new guidelines on decibel levels formulated as part of its latest noise action plan would also benefit residents living close to the flight paths.
He said: “The Web Trak system, which is used by airports around the world, is an excellent initiative which utilises the latest technology to enable residents to have the most up to date information possible so they can assess the decibel levels caused by specific flights which travel near their homes.
“It will allow them to find out the details of a particular flight so they can establish how regularly it uses a particular trajectory and the decibel levels caused by that aircraft close to their home.
“This sort of forward-thinking approach by Glasgow Airport provides additional reassurance for communities living under the flight-paths.
“The decision to lower the decibel threshold for the noise insulation scheme will also potentially benefit the lives of hundreds of households who may have concerns over aircraft noise.
“It shows that Glasgow Airport has listened to the views of residents in these communities during their consultation.”
A downloadable version of the Noise Action Plan 2018-2023 is available here .
