GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION

TECHNICAL CENTRE, OPP. SAFDURJUNG AIRPORT, NEW DELHI

CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 10 – AVIATION ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
SERIES ‘A’ PART I
ISSUE I, 18TH DECEMBER, 2014 EFFECTIVE: FORTHWITH

F. No. 04-01/2010-AED (Vol. II)

Subject: Noise Management of Aircraft Operations at Airports.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Noise represents one of the most significant environmental challenges

associated with aircraft and airport operations. Over the years, there have been
significant improvements based on technology evolution, effective noise abatement
procedures and other measures. At the same time, given the industry’s growth and
the presence of population agglomerations near airports, large parts of population
are still affected by aircraft noise.

1.2 Reducing the effect of aircraft noise on people and communities is one of
ICAO’s main priorities. ICAO had adopted the “Balanced Approach” to address
aircraft noise which is based on four pillars: 1) Reduction of noise at source; 2) Land
use planning and management; 3) Noise abatement operational procedures; and 4)
Operating restrictions. It provides ICAO Contracting States with an internationally
agreed method for addressing aircraft noise in a comprehensive manner.

1.3 To address the aircraft noise related issue in an objective manner, this Civil
Aviation Requirements (CAR) is issued in compliance to Section 5A sub-section 1
of the Aircraft Act, 1934 in conjunction with rule 29C of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

1.4 This CAR stipulates the general requirements, procedures and practices to be
adhered to by the stakeholders in order to manage the noise generated from aircraft
operations inside and in the vicinity of all airports and to reduce its adverse impact
on human beings and the environment without hampering the sustainable growth of
the industry.
CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 10
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SERIES A PART I 18 DECEMBER, 2014 
2 APPLICABILITY

The provisions of this CAR shall be applicable to the following:

2.1 Airports meeting the criteria as mentioned in the Requirement and Procedure
for Monitoring Ambient Noise Level due to Aircrafts issued by the Central Pollution
Control Board, Ministry of Environment & Forest (MOEF) in June 2008.

2.2 All Indian scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo aircraft operators
engaged in commercial operations including General Aviation.

2.3 The provisions of this CAR are not applicable to flights undertaken by Ministry
of Defence in the national interest and for carrying VVIP, Head of States and other
eminent personalities and under any emergency situation where it is not possible to
follow noise abatement procedure due to technical reasons from safety point of view.
Further, flights engaged in search & rescue, patrolling, fire-fighting, humanitarian
missions, emergency medical service purposes are also exempted from the
requirements mentioned in this CAR.

3 REQUIREMENTS
 
3.1 Airports

3.1.1 Airport operators shall carry out a noise mapping study around their airports
including the areas directly under the flight paths, to assess the existing noise loads
and the population affected within the various noise contours/maps using an
internationally accepted noise model and actual data (e.g. flights, aircraft types,
routes used, radar tracks, etc.). Noise maps shall be validated with actual field noise
measurements data.

3.1.2 Airport operators shall develop a Noise Management Action Plan based on
the outcome of the noise mapping study. The airport operator shall implement the
same to reduce the noise generated from aircraft operations at airports.

3.1.3 Airport operators shall update their noise maps and noise management action
plans in view of the forecasted traffic growth to their airports at least once in five
years.

3.1.4 For the purpose of noise mapping and noise management action plan, airport
operators shall follow guidelines contained in Annexure I to this CAR.

3.1.5 Airport operators shall establish a fully operational real-time permanent Noise
Monitoring System (NMS) in accordance to the provisions of the ‘Requirement and
Procedure for Monitoring Ambient Noise Level due to Aircraft’ issued by the Central

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CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 10
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SERIES A PART I 18 DECEMBER, 2014 
Pollution Control Board of Ministry of Environment & Forest (MOEF) in June 2008
and the Minimum Technical Characteristics of the NMS as contained in Annexure II
to this CAR.

3.1.6 Airport operators shall use additional mobile NMTs (e.g. portable/mobile) for
monitoring of noise in sensitive areas such as residential/silence zones in the vicinity
of the airport.

3.1.7 Airport operators shall develop a system of monitoring permissible noise limits
prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Board or
any other applicable authority in respect to a particular airport. The airport operators
shall take necessary corrective action against any exceedences to prescribed noise
limits.

3.1.8 The report on noise monitoring from the NMS shall be submitted to DGCA on
annual basis. The noise monitoring reporting requirements are contained in
Annexure III to this CAR.

3.1.9 Airport operator shall develop following noise abatement procedures specific
to their airport, jointly with AAI/ATC in order to reduce/minimize the noise generated
through aircraft operations at their airports:

i) Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) at all airports in place of step down

approaches and Continuous Climb Operations (CCO).

ii) Optimum and efficient utilization of all the operational runways on a fixed
hourly basis in order to evenly distribute the noise generated during take-offs
and landings. It will be the sole responsibility of the airport operator to identify
the sensitive runways and the flight paths from community annoyance point of
view.

iii) Engine run up management procedure by identifying such locations where

engine run-ups can be performed along with information about aircraft
orientation, permissible time of day, maximum permissible thrust level and
duration, etc.

iv) GPU/APU Management procedure and provision of Fixed Electrical Ground

Power (wherever applicable) in order to minimize the use of Ground Power
Unit (GPU) and Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) during aircraft parking at bay.

3.2 Aircraft Operators

3.2.1 Aircraft operators shall develop procedure to adopt low power and low drag
operation in conjunction with Continuous Climb and Descent Approach, wherever

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CIVIL AV
VIATION REQUIREM
R ENTS SEC
CTION 10
TH
H
SERIESS A PART I 18 DECEMB
BER, 2014
such proocedures have been developed
d b
by the airpo ort operatorr/ATC and are in place e.
In this regard, thhe airlines shall follo ow noise abatement
a take-off or
o approacch
proceduures design ned to opttimize the distribution n of noise on the ground whille
maintainning the req
quired leveel of safetyy. Pilot mus st plan the continuouss descent iin
such a manner th hat the airccraft does not fly levvel for 2nm m during anya stage of
o
descent. Further, th
hrust reducction altitude
e for all airc
craft should
d be not lateer than 150
00
ft AGL.

3.2.2 Aircraft
A operrators shall also devellop safe op
perating pro ocedures to o land at an
ny
airport with
w minima al use of th
hrust reversse. Such procedures shall be de eveloped fo or
complian nce withoutt compromiising with thhe safety off aircraft an
nd its occuppants as weell
as withoout compro omising the
e runway ca apacity. Th
he flight cre ew shall ha ave the finaal
authorityy to decide
e on use off thrust revverser on caase to case e basis. It shall be th
he
sole ressponsibility of the airllines to pro
ovide enouugh training g to their pilots
p in this
regard.

3.2.3 Aircraft
A operrators shall carry out all
a engine ru
un-up only at locationss earmarke
ed
by airport operator for this purrpose.

3.2.4 Aircraft
A operrators shalll follow use
e of noise preferential
p routes to avoid noise e-
e areas on departure and arrival, including the use off turns to direct
sensitive d aircra
aft
away froom noise-se ensitive are
eas located under or adjacent
a to the usual take-off flighht
paths ass designed d by airportt operator/A
ATC/AAI foor this purpose. It will be the solle
responsibility of the
e aircraft op nough trainiing to their pilots in this
perators to provide en
regard.

4 MON
NITORING AND SUR
RVEILLANC
CE

T DGCA shall monittor the inforrmation pro

The ovided by thhe airports and airline
es
to ensurre proper co
ompliance with
w the pro
ovisions contained in tthe said CA
AR from timme
to time.

(Dr. Prabhat Kumar)

Director G
General of Civil
C Aviatio
on

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CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 10
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Annexure I
Minimum Requirements for Noise Studies and Noise Management Action
Plans

Phase 1: Noise Mapping & Validation

i) Noise maps shall be developed with the use of specialized software (such as INM
7 or higher, CadnaA, IMMI, or others) The noise maps shall take into consideration
actual air traffic data (e.g., types of aircraft, number of movements, distribution of
runway use, landing and take-off paths), meteorological data, sensitive receptors,
and (if necessary/possible) 3D terrain model and land uses.

ii) Following indices may be calculated: Lden (where day is 0600-1800,

evening1800-2200, and night 2200-0600), Lday, Levening, Lnight, LDE (where day
is 0600-1800and evening 1800-2200 with no penalty), Leq-24h, DNL (where day is
0600-2200and night 2200-0600), and LAmax.

iii) The noise mapping/validation phase and the relevant detailed report shall include
at least the following:

a) Background information about the airport (e.g., location, runways, number of

flights and passengers, runway usage, flight movements per aircraft type for day and
night time, main take-off and landing flight paths, past noise measurement history (if
any), existing noise abatement procedures, population and land-use information in
the vicinity of the airport, other noise sources and sensitive receptors, description of
the Noise Monitoring System, if available).

b) Detailed description of the noise model and the methodology, including actual
model input data (e.g., number of flights, aircraft categories/types, flights paths used,
flight procedures, radar tracks if used), assumptions, calculation process, metrics,
preliminary results, etc.

c) Results of noise mapping shall be validated using actual measurements of aircraft

noise around the airport, preferably at the points as chosen during the modeling. For
airports with established NMS, data for the same calendar year for which the model
was run shall be used plus additional 24 hour measurements for all the above
indices, where required. If data from an NMS are not available, 24 hour
measurements should be carried out using mobile units. Depending on the validation
results and especially the comparison/evaluation of measured data vs theoretical
data from the model computed at the exact measurement location for the air traffic
volumes and characteristics of the measurement period, an update of noise-mapping
may be required.

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d) Presentation and assessment of the noise mapping results, including calculations
of the area and population in each noise zone, as well as at sensitive receptors (e.g.,
hospitals, schools, archaeological sites, protected areas). The results will be
calculated and presented at least for the following noise indices: Lden, Lday,
Levening, Lnight, LDE, Leq-24h, DNL, and LAmax. The presentation of results in the
form of noise contour maps and tables will be based on 5 dBA intervals starting from
55 dBA to >75 dBA for all metrics, except for Lnight which should start from 45 dBA.
The report should include a comparison with the limits set in the Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Noise Pollution Rules of 2000 and other guidelines or
limits.

Phase 2: Action Plan

The Action Plan shall be created following the review/approval of Phase 1 by the
DGCA. The airport operator shall ensure the involvement of the stakeholders that will
be responsible for the implementation of the action plan. The Action Plan should
include at least the following:

a) Executive summary.

b) Description of the airport.

c) Legal context, including limits and assessment criteria.

d) Summary of Phase 1 results.

e) Evaluation of the area and estimated number of people in each noise zone,
identification of problematic areas and situations that require improvement.
Description of noise abatement measures already in force.

f) Presentation of noise-reduction measures based on international best practices

and subsequently formulation of measures to reduce the noise impact, including
environmental, operational and financial assessment of each of the proposed
measures. The measures to be evaluated shall include, depending on the specific
airport operations: noise abatement operational procedures, operating restrictions,
land use planning and management, and other initiatives. For the proposed
measures (where relevant) new calculation of the noise curves is required to
determine expected improvements in terms of area covered, exposed population,
etc.

During the development of this section, ICAO’s DOC 9821 AN/451Guidance on the
Balanced Approach to Aircraft Noise Management (latest edition) should be taken
into consideration.

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CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 10
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SERIES A PART I 18 DECEMBER, 2014 
Annexure II
Minimum Technical Characteristics of Noise Monitoring Systems (NMS)

a) The establishment of the NMS shall be in accordance to the Requirement and

Procedure for Monitoring Ambient Noise Level due to Aircrafts issued by the Central
Pollution Control Board of MOEF in June 2008. The establishment of the NMS shall
also consider the requirements of ISO20906: 2009 “Acoustics: Unattended
monitoring of aircraft sound in the vicinity of airport” or other similar standard.

b) At least two permanent Noise Monitoring Terminals (NMTs) shall be installed per
runway with more than 25,000 movements (where a movement is a take-off or a
landing). The permanent NMTs shall be located on both sides of the runway, in the
nearest residential area and, as far as possible, under the flight paths of the aircraft.
At least one mobile NMT (e.g., portable/mobile) shall be used for measurements in
the residential areas/silence zones and under the flight paths, where noise levels are
expected to be high.

c) Noise monitoring shall be carried out continuously in accordance to the provisions

of the ‘Requirement and Procedure for Monitoring Ambient Noise Level due to
Aircraft’ issued by the Central Pollution Control Board of Ministry of Environment &
Forest (MOEF) in June 2008. The NMTs shall be placed in locations to minimize
disturbances from other noise sources, obstructions, etc.

d) The NMS shall be comprised of a central receiving station to download, process,

archive and visualize data collected and transmitted from all NMTs as well as from
the airport’s flight information system. All the NMTs should be operational in a real
time mode and the central station should be able to access the NMTs in network
mode. The communication between NMTs and the central receiving station must be
two-way. The NMTs should be controllable (on/off, change of parameters) remotely
via the central receiving station.

e) The NMTs should have a stand-alone operating terminal, appropriate for outdoor
installation for continuous measurement of aircraft noise. On-site data storage
should be available for a minimum of 7 days, in case of communication disruptions.

f) Data must have portability to the central receiving station.

g) The software installed on the central receiving station must be user-friendly and
able to undertake data acquisition, permanent data archival/storage, data/statistics
analysis and display, provision of map background, report generation, and
correlation with flights, with the additional possibility of relaying data of flights based
on radar data for future update of the system.

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CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 10
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SERIES A PART I 18 DECEMBER, 2014 
h) The NMTs should be field operational and tolerant to extreme environmental
conditions in India, in high or low temperatures, high rainfall, high humidity coastal
conditions and high temperature desert conditions. The microphone shall be
weather-proof and placed at a height of between 6 to 10 meters above ground level.

i) The NMT should have an audio data storage facility for listening and storing noise
events. The NMTs should have provisions for optional camera attachment and
processing of relevant data.

j) The NMTs shall be capable of recording meteorological data such as wind

direction and speed, relative humidity, air temperature, etc.

k) The NMTs (including the microphone) should conform to IEC 61672-1(2002-05)

Class 1 standards, self-calibrating option type. Acoustical calibration and verification
should be in accordance to the provisions of ISO20906: 2009.

l) The NMS should be able to segregate the noise from other sources, such as
vehicle traffic and industrial noise, and the noise generated due to aircraft
operations.

m) The NMS should be able to be adjusted for different types of event detection
processes (e.g., specific noise level threshold, duration of noise event, consideration
of background noise level).

n) The NMS should have the capability to generate daily, weekly, monthly and
annual reports for each and all of the stations for at least the following indicators
(daily, monthly, annually): Lday (0600-1800), Levening (1800-2200), Lnight (2200-
0600), Lde (0600-2200), Lden (day: 0600-1800, evening: 1800-2200, night: 2200-
0600), LAmax, DNL, TDNL, EDNL, BDNL (as defined in the Requirement and
Procedure for Monitoring Ambient Noise Level due to Aircrafts, CPCB, MOEF,
2008), Ln10, Ln90, Ln50, and Lmin.

o) The NMS shall have the provision for interface with radar data on real time basis.

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CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS SECTION 10
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SERIES A PART I 18 DECEMBER, 2014 
Annexure III

Minimum Noise Reporting Requirements

a) Summary monthly and hourly distribution of flight movements

b) Summary distribution of flight movements per aircraft type
c) Runway use statistics
d) Description of NMS and existing limits
e) Data on enforcement of Noise Abatement Procedures (including violation data
where appropriate).
f) Noise monitoring results for all relevant metrics, such as Lday, Levening, Lnight,
Lde, Lden, LAmax, etc. (including data reliability information)
g) Engine run-up data (e.g., types of aircraft, airlines)
h) Noise complaints
i) Diagnostic and self-testing calibration
j) Other relevant information (e.g., future plans)

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