Strategic noise maps & noise action plans for the protection of urban areas from Athens International Airport (AIA) operation according to european directive 2002/49

Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" (AIA) is considered a pioneer international Public-Private Partnership, being the first major greenfield airport constructed with the participation of the private sector with the BOOT method (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer). AIA's 1st day of operation was in March 2001 and the aircraft traffic on 2006 reached 191.000 movements & 15.1 million passengers. According to the European Directive 49/2002 and the Joint Ministerial Decision 13586/724-28/3/06, Athens International Airport (AIA) is included in the category of "large airports" and it consequently comes under the authority of the above mentioned legislation on the evaluation and management of environmental noise. A complete Study on Aircraft Noise [1], according to the European Directive 49/2002 [2] and Joint Ministerial Decision 13586/724-28/3/06 was undertaken under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, and AIA S.A. In this article the following results are presented: a) The 2006 Strategic Noise Map (SNM) of both indicators Lden and Lnight based on the ECAC.CEAC Doc 29 methodology "Report on Standard Method of Computing Noise Contours around Civil Airports", 1997[3], b) A statistical analysis of predicted vs measured noise levels based on the existing Noise Monitoring System, c) Effects from the removal of marginally accepted chapter 3 aircraft, d) A complete evaluation of results regarding calculation of area/land uses and number of individuals living in residences inside blocks exposed in various levels of noise, and e) A full evaluation of Noise Action Plans (NAP) regrouping existing and foreseen actions, especially regarding among others, noise abatement procedures, a comprehensive noise insulation legal framework