Clamour grows to ground Union night flights

Date: 20/11/03

MEPS and non-governmental organizations have called for a ban on night flights at airports throughout the EU.

The issue, which is set to be the subject of a new discussion paper by the European Commission, was also raised during a conference organized by the Greens-European Free Alliance group in the Parliament this week.

It was told that some ten million people in the EU regularly suffer from noise disturbance caused by aircraft at night.

In 2001, the Parliament and Council of Ministers adopted a directive on environmental noise, which sets a deadline of 2006 for the aviation, haulage and rail industry to meet noise reduction targets.

But Dutch Green MEP Alexander de Roo, deputy chairman of Parliament's environment committee, told the conference that action was needed now. He said: "We are calling for an immediate ban on night flights between 11pm and 7am at all airports in the EU."

German Green deputy Hiltrud Breyer said there was evidence that that the mental development of children living near airports was being affected.

"Their reading ability and long-term memory is being considerably damaged," she claimed, adding that a recent study had shown that allergies and respiratory diseases increase when children are subjected to a combination of emissions and noise.

ESO: In Focus: Night flights set to continue after European Court of Human Rights' ruling, July 2003 http://www.europeansources.info/record/night-flights-set-to-continue-after-european-court-of-human-rights-ruling-july-2003/

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