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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (May 29):
Question:
In reply to my question at the meeting of this Council on April 18, 2012, the Government indicated that the Civil Aviation Department had, since October 1998, implemented a number of aircraft noise mitigating measures to minimise the impact of aircraft noise on the districts near the flight paths. Such measures included: (i) arranging flights departing Hong Kong from 11pm to 7am the next day to use the southbound route via the West Lamma Channel, and flights arriving in Hong Kong from midnight to 7am the next day to land from the waters southwest of the airport, as far as possible so as to avoid aircraft overflying densely populated areas in the early hours; (ii) requiring aircraft approaching from the northeast to adopt the Continuous Descent Approach when landing; (iii) requiring aircraft taking off towards the northeast to follow the noise abatement departure procedures so as to reach a higher altitude within a shorter distance; (iv) allowing only aircraft of a lower noise level (as defined in the Convention on International Civil Aviation) to land and take off in Hong Kong; and (v) requiring all aircraft which could make use of the satellite navigation technology to follow a set of "Radius-to-Fix" turn procedures when taking off towards the northeast and turning south to the West Lamma Channel so as to reduce the noise impact on Ma Wan residents, etc. However, I have learnt that aircraft noise during the aforesaid hours still causes nuisance to the residents of quite a number of housing estates, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the monthly data recorded in 2012 and 2013 by various aircraft noise monitoring terminals on aircraft noise levels which reached 70 to 74, 75 to 79, and 80 decibels (dB) or above during the aforesaid hours;
(b) of the types of aircraft with noise levels reaching 80 dB or above last year, and the names of the airline companies to which such aircraft belonged; and
(c) whether it will further enhance the existing aircraft noise mitigating measures to reduce the nuisance caused to residents in the districts concerned; if it will, of the details?
Reply
President,
Our reply to the various sections of Hon Albert Chan's question is as follows:
(a) The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) has 16 noise monitoring terminals. The aircraft noise events recorded by these terminals in 2012 and 2013 (up to March) by month are set out in Annex 1;
(b) The types of aircraft with noise events of 80 decibels or above in 2012 and the operating airlines concerned are set out in Annex 2;
(c) The CAD has implemented a series of aircraft noise mitigating measures in accordance with the balanced approach to aircraft noise management promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The measures are comparable to those adopted by other major international airports.
Since February 2012, CAD has implemented a new set of flight procedures that aim to allow aircraft which could use satellite-based navigation technology in their flights to adhere closely to the nominal centre line of the flight track when departing to the northeast of the Hong Kong International Airport and making south turn to the West Lamma Channel, thereby keeping the aircraft at a distance away from the areas in the vicinity of the flight paths, and reducing the aircraft noise impact on these areas.
With the advancement of technology in aviation, aircraft engines are quieter than before, and the improvement in the design of airframe has also helped reduce noise significantly. The CAD has been requesting the airlines to introduce newer models of aircraft to replace the older ones, and to deploy quieter aircraft for night time operations. Airlines are taking follow-up actions as appropriate, and are progressively replacing their aircraft fleet with newer models of and relatively quieter aircraft. The CAD will continue to closely monitor the progress made by the airlines in their aircraft fleet replacement and their deployment of quieter aircraft for night time operations, as well as the effectiveness.
Furthermore, the Airport Authority Hong Kong and the CAD will conduct a detailed study on the feasibility of introducing aircraft noise charges on the basis of the 24-hour operation of the Hong Kong International Airport, and with reference to the guidelines relating to aircraft noise charges issued by the ICAO. The aviation industry and the stakeholders will be consulted accordingly.
Ends/Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:30
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