Bid for new sky sound barriers

Date: 08/05/1997

By Michael Mann

EUROPE's civil aviation sector is finalising moves to impose tougher restrictions on noisy airliners, raising fears of renewed conflict with the United States.

The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) is expected to adopt a recommendation in July committing its member countries not to add any new aircraft to their fleets after 2002 which do not meet strict so-called 'Chapter III' noise standards.

Until now, airlines have tried to by-pass the legislation by equipping their older 'Chapter II' aircraft with 'hush kits'. Under the new rules, no new 'hush-kitted' planes would be allowed after the 2002 deadline.

The ECAC's initiative has for the moment superseded moves within the European Commission to introduce tighter standards which would apply only within the Union. But officials at the Association of European Airlines (AEA) claim it will eventually form the basis of binding EU legislation.

All non-EU members of ECAC are also expected to commit themselves to follow the terms of the non-binding recommendation, with possible exemptions for less wealthy eastern European countries.

But there is a serious problem. The prohibition of new 'hush-kitted' aircraft would only affect airlines registered within the Union and any other European countries which committed themselves to the new standards.

“This raises the question of what to do with American, African and South East Asian carriers. If European airlines are subject to additional constraints, it would be discriminatory if others were not as well,” said an AEA official.

The ECAC believes it would be legally impossible to reduce the number of non-European carriers using the older 'hush-kitted' planes on routes to, from and within Europe. But it feels there is an argument for preventing them from adding any new routes unless they were prepared to use the most up-to-date aircraft.

The whole issue has again raised the question of how far regional agreements which set tighter standards than the norm are possible in an international industry such as aviation.

US officials recently raised the issue of noise abatement during transatlantic 'open skies' discussions, suggesting it made absolutely no sense for the Europeans to go out on a limb and leave the rest of the world behind.

Commission officials have made no secret of the fact that their desire to act unilaterally is a direct result of the failure of international efforts to negotiate tighter noise limits within the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), partly because of American resistance. But one US source said: “If they want to do something, they should do something about the way ICAO works rather than setting tighter standards unilaterally.”

Eric Merkel-Sorbotta, director of European affairs for United Parcel Service, which moves packages around the world by air and has its own aircraft, echoed this feeling. “It does not make any sense to have regional solutions in a global industry,” he claimed.

But the AEA insists that progress is only possible in the medium term if Europe pushes ahead on its own. “To do anything through ICAO could take as much as five years,” said an official.

The ECAC's discussions will give hope to the more environmentally-concerned members of the European Commission frustrated by internal opposition to tougher 'green' standards in the sector.

The Directorate-General for transport (DGVII) has now taken the lead on the noise dossier from DGXI (environment). But different departments within the Commission have taken different lines on the issue, with Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann resisting tighter limits on emissions of nitrous oxides from aircraft engines.