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- Understanding aviation noise
- Improving impact management
- Quality of life interventions
Schiphol Airport, the Netherlands
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- Overview
- Conclusion
- ANIMA survey data analysis
Overview
A change concerning an operational procedure was made for one departure route at Schiphol Airport (Microklimaat Leimuiden). A radius-to-fix approach was implemented aiming at concentrating the flight path while making a turn, thereby preventing the spread of flights over a densely populated area. In this way, it was intended that fewer households would be exposed to aircraft noise.
The picture below shows the flight path for the flight turn (yellow). By applying the radius-to-fix procedure, flight paths are less spread towards Leimuiden and more concentrated towards the North (in the direction of Burgerveen, Kudelstaart and Rijsenhout).
Conclusion
When residents around airports were able to listen to actual changes in operational flight procedures, the percentage of highly annoyed people was higher than predicted from general exposure-response curves. The consideration and the decision-making process related to changes in operational flight procedures should not only be based on technical calculations of noise exposure and extrapolating from that to predicting annoyance. Instead, airports need to adopt a more holistic approach – complementing calculations with a nuanced understanding of people's reactions regarding noise exposure. The residents' current perception of aircraft noise and annoyance aspects should also be taken into account in the decision-making process.
ANIMA survey data analysis
Overall, there seem to be more prominent factors influencing participants' quality of life than aircraft noise annoyance or sleep disturbances. However, these variables still have an influence and, if addressed, could positively impact the quality of life in regions surrounding airports. An important aspect to keep in mind is that the study areas significantly differ concerning aircraft noise annoyance. Therefore, reducing aircraft noise annoyance might have a positive impact on the residential satisfaction of people living close to an airport. Further, aspects such as worries concerning safety and noise annoyance in general (also regarding other noise sources) may be targeted with certain interventions, thereby improving quality of life.