U.S. and European Airport Leaders Address Airport Environmental Issues in Brussels

On June 28-30, nearly 130 participants gathered in Brussels, Belgium for the European-U.S. Airport Environmental Issues Conference. The Conference was co-organized by ACI-NA and Brussels International Airport Company, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Commission, European Civil Aviation Conference, ACI-Europe, Association of European Airlines, American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and International Association of Airport Executives. Speakers from the U.S. and European airport industry and legislative and regulatory bodies provided their perspectives on the environmental concerns facing airports, experiences in dealing with those concerns and made suggestions for managing future concerns.

David McMillan, Director General of Civil Aviation for the European Civil Aviation Conference, and Nancy LoBue, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Policy, Planning and Environment for the FAA, provided their thoughts on environmental challenges shared by the airport industry in both Europe and the U.S. McMillan discussed the evolution of airport environmental concerns in Europe from locally-focused to globally-focused and the growing demands on the aviation industry to decrease emissions and noise. He stated that international cooperation is necessary to address these demands, possibly in the form of emissions trading. LoBue discussed the need to reduce noise and emissions while air traffic increases. While noise is already a major concern at the largest U.S. airports, emissions issues continues to grow in importance. She agreed that global cooperation is needed and stated that ICAO is the best forum for action.

A panel of members of the European Parliament discussed the key aviation environmental issues with which they are dealing, their opinions on how the aviation industry is perceived, and ideas for the industry's long-term vision. Panelists cited noise and emissions as big issues and emphasized the importance of keeping an open dialogue with the community surrounding the airport.

Other panels focused specifically on land use planning and community relations, noise, operational procedures and restrictions, and local air quality. Speakers discussed such aspects as the need for more stringent ICAO-driven noise standards, the actual benefits of continuous decent approach, the impact of night flight restrictions on the cargo industry, mitigation options for local emissions, and the growing importance of climate change in the aviation industry.

For more information regarding the Conference and other environmental affairs issues at airports, contact ACI-NA's Jessica Steinhilber.