ACI WORLD NEWS
World in motion
James Roach provides a round-up of the latest ACI news from across the globe .
ACI welcomes new noise standard
A new standard that will require improved noise performance from newly certified aircraft types was agreed at the Ninth Meeting of ICAO ’ s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection ( CAEP ) on February 7 .
The agreement will mean that from 2017 , new large civil aircraft types will need to be at least 7 EPNdB ( Effective Perceived Noise in Decibels ) quieter than the current Chapter 4 standard .
This is only the fourth new noise standard in the history of the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ).
All civil aeroplanes and helicopters built today are required to meet noise certification standards set out in Annex 16 to the Chicago Convention and adopted by the Council of ICAO .
Angela Gittens , ACI ’ s director general , said : “ ACI welcomes this important step forward by ICAO in agreeing to a new aircraft noise certification standard . Noise standards are vital to airport and aviation industry efforts to operate and grow responsibly and sustainably .
“ Airports need to work constructively with the communities around them and noise standards must respond to the voices of those communities in order that airports obtain their permission to operate and grow .
“ ACI looks forward to future ICAO standards being introduced more frequently , which could also provide an incentive for research and development into aircraft noise reduction technology .”
Young Aviation Professionals Programme
ACI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICAO and IATA establishing the global Young Aviation Professionals Programme .
The programme is designed to attract well-qualified young aviation professionals who have an interest in international civil aviation policy development , and bring them to Montréal to work with the three organisations .
“ ACI is proud to work alongside ICAO and IATA as we continue to develop professionalism in the industry ,” said ACI World ’ s director general , Angela Gittens .
“ The global aviation business is becoming more complex , and for the first time this will give the best and the brightest an opportunity to participate in its future development from three perspectives .”
Mixed 2012 traffic fortunes for ACI regions
Global passenger traffic increased by 3.9 % in 2012 , according to ACI ’ s preliminary traffic figures for the year . It was once again a year of regional contrasts , with many emerging market airports posting healthy upturns in passenger traffic while the world ’ s top international airports in North America and Europe recorded more modest gains .
Double-digit growth rates in passenger traffic were observed in Istanbul ( IST ; 20.2 %), Jakarta ( CGK ; 14.4 %), Dubai ( DXB ; 13.2 %) and Bangkok ( BKK ; 10.6 %) in 2012 .
Applications for the Young Professionals Programme will be accepted beginning early in 2013 and the selected candidates will work for four months each at ACI , IATA and ICAO .
They will contribute to work programmes relating to aviation safety , security and environment focusing on the inter-relationships between regulatory activities and the airport and airline industries .
The programme pairs well with the successful Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme ( AMPAP ), which is a strategic initiative of ICAO and ACI launched in 2007 .
AMPAP is available to airport executives around the globe and graduates earn the prestigious designation of International Airport Professional ( IAP ).
Moderate growth of 2.5 % was observed in December of 2012 as domestic passenger markets recoiled in Europe , Latin America , Africa and North America . Conversely , the Middle East and Asia-Pacific persistently post strong gains in international passenger traffic with growth of 12.3 % and 9.0 % respectively for the month of December .
“ As the global economy and international trade picks up steam we are optimistic to see higher growth rates for both passenger and freight traffic in 2013 ,” says ACI ’ s economics director , Rafael Echevarne .
12
AIRPORT WORLD / FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013