Will their motivations land?
Stay Grounded and the French Union Against Aircraft Nuisance (UFCNA) bring together residents of airports and climate activists in national and European mobilizations to obtain a cap on the number of flights.
This Wednesday, March 13, several meetings are held in Nice, Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Beauvais... Thursday, the movement meets in front of the Ministry of Ecological Transition to challenge the new Minister of Transport Patrice Vergriete.
His predecessor, Clément Beaune, committed last year to studying capping scenarios.
Why this mobilization?
“The noise is only increasing,” assures Audrey Boelhy, member of the Non au T4 collective and resident of Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy (Val-d’Oise).
According to Bruitparif, which maps noise pollution, nearly 1.4 million Ile-de-France residents are victims of plane noise.
Beyond lack of sleep, activists denounce the harmful effects of reactor noise on health, such as the development of cognitive and learning disorders in children or hypertension, based on a published study in 2022. Asked by Le Parisien, Aéroport de Paris (ADP), the operating company of Roissy and Orly, did not wish to respond.
Also read: Airbus expects to see twice as many planes in the sky in 20 years
Added to these health issues is the carbon footprint.
Aviation represents around 4% of the European Union's total greenhouse gas emissions.
The impact is likely to increase since air traffic could double by 2037, according to the International Air Transport Association.
“Measures to reduce noise are just as effective in reducing environmental impact,” says Françoise Brochot, president of the air pollution defense association (Advocnar) for fifteen years.
What are the solutions proposed?
Faced with these climatic and health findings, the associations are calling for a cap and a reduction in the number of planes in the French sky.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands) announced in 2023 a reduction from 500,000 to 460,000 flights and the end of landings at night by the end of 2024. The project, suspended by the Dutch government, should see its schedule postponed.
The operator also points out that non-binding measures such as the renewal of aircraft fleets, optimization and the continuous descent of aircraft upon landing have very little effect.
According to a study recently published by Amsterdam-Schiphol, only reducing traffic and stopping night flights works.
Why are activists counting on Europe to reduce trafficking?
A procedure, resulting from European Union law, focuses on the problem of noise generated by air traffic: the impact study using a balanced approach.
Lasting eighteen months, it allows restrictive measures to be taken, including reducing the number of aircraft by ministerial decree, and can only be initiated in the event of persistence of noise after the implementation of environmental noise prevention plans.
After a diagnosis, different scenarios are outlined to reduce noise pollution.
Then, the avenues are evaluated according to the “cost-effectiveness” ratio, indicates Françoise Brochot, of Advocnar.
Which means that the conclusions must be the result of a delicate balance between the profitability of the airport and the well-being of its neighbors.
Read also Roissy Airport: night flights are exploding, the air pollution control authority is worried
Residents and climate activists therefore hope that this study will ultimately lead to curfews or a ban on night-time traffic or a limited number of flights.
Commissioned by the department prefects, this impact study is underway at the airports of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Bordeaux-Mérignac, Nice, Toulouse-Blagnac and Marseille Provence.
Basel Mulhouse, Lyon Saint-Exupéry and Nantes Atlantique have already submitted their copies.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, an example?
In the north of Europe, Schiphol is a dream.
“If it’s possible in the Netherlands, it’s possible in France.
Roissy and Schiphol airports are of the same size,” thunders Audrey Boelhy.
If the drop in traffic has not yet occurred in Amsterdam, the airport continues to mention its desire to reduce the volume, in particular via a final press release at the beginning of the month where it reiterates the need to act at a minimum. stop night flights as quickly as possible to protect citizens.
“They understood the need to respect citizens and their demands.
It is a risk not to listen to society.
They knew how to make a difference by getting involved in health and environmental issues,” says Koenraad Backers, Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
For Françoise Brochot, who is participating in the impact study for the airport in the north-east of Paris, evokes “mixed results because the stops would not always be respected”.
Above all, the citizen regrets in the case of Parisian airports “a re-examination of non-binding measures (
change of fleets for more recent aircraft, continuous descent landing, etc.
) which will not relieve those most impacted for Roissy and a study focused only on the night flights to Orly”.