The airports Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA), Lelystad Airport (LA) and Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTHA) did not show any exceedances for noise in the past year. This is what the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) writes in its 2020 enforcement reports on these 3 regional airports. The global corona crisis and the resulting measures and sharply reduced flight movements are of great influence.
Noise standards and rules for the use of the airport apply to all regional airports in the Netherlands. Regulations for departure routes must also ensure that flying over inhabited areas is as little as possible. The ILT checks whether the MAA, LA and RTHA airports comply with noise standards and rules and can impose sanctions if necessary.
After the end of each operating year (period 1 November - 31 October), the ILT draws up an enforcement report with the results of its supervision. This volume differs in all respects from previous years of use due to the influence of the global and national COVID-19 problems. In addition to public life, aviation is also strongly influenced by the measures and restrictions. Comparisons with, broad outlines or developments from previous years cannot therefore be made.
In this operating year, the ILT saw no reason to take measures in connection with noise exceedances. In addition, with regard to Maastricht Aachen Airport, the ILT has been lenient with corona-related night-time cargo flights.
With regard to Rotterdam The Hague Airport, the number of night flights halved. 8 of those flights were further investigated but the ILT found no violations. In addition, all 71 deviations from prescribed departure routes appear to be the result of instructions from air traffic control with a view to safety. Lelystad Airport shows the same characteristics as MAA and RTHA: a strong decrease in noise pollution from March 2020 as a result of the reduced flying due to corona measures, according to inspection of living environment and transport.
