Sustainability

Noise

CAD has in place a series of measures to manage and control aircraft noise.

The principal legislation for controlling aircraft noise in Hong Kong is the Civil Aviation (Aircraft Noise) Ordinance (Cap.312, The Laws of Hong Kong) and Civil Aviation (Aircraft Noise) (Certification) Regulations. The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is responsible for enforcing the Ordinance and has implemented a series of noise mitigating measures, including:

  • Avoiding aircraft overflying densely populated urban areas by requiring all arriving aircraft between midnight and 7am to approach from the southwest of the airport over water and all aircraft taking off to the northeast between 11pm and 7am of the following day to fly south to the West Lamma Channel;
  • Encouraging all aircraft approaching the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) from the northeast between 11pm and 7am of the following day to adopt the Continuous Descent Approach procedure;
  • Requiring all aircraft departing to the northeast to adopt the Noise Abatement Departure Procedure;
  • Encouraging all aircraft equipped with satellite-based navigation technology departing to the northeast of the HKIA between 11pm and 7am of the following day to adopt a set of Radius-to-Fix (RF) flight procedures;
  • Prohibiting aircraft not meeting the relevant noise standards from landing and taking off in Hong Kong; and
  • Restricting aircraft which do not comply with the relevant noise standards from operating at the HKIA from 10pm to 7am of the following day.

In addition, CAD has installed an Aircraft Noise and Flight Tracking Monitoring System to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of various noise mitigating measures, and the noise environment in various districts.

Further details on the CAD's aircraft noise management efforts are available on the CAD's websiteThese measures have also been described in detail in the Procedures for Mitigation of Aircraft Noise prepared for the interim two-runway (I-2RS) operation.

Besides, the Airport Authority (AA) has been implementing the Noise Quota Count Scheme since 2017. The scheme sets an annual ‘Quota Count’ (QC) limit for the night period (between 2200-0659 Local Time) for each airline every year. Each aircraft type is given a QC classification based on aircraft noise level. The smaller the QC value, the quieter the aircraft. While airlines are not allowed to exceed their annual QC limit, they have the flexibility to adjust their aircraft mix, including the deployment of quieter aircraft, in order to meet their operational needs and the traffic demand. Therefore, the scheme helps to regulate aircraft operations of different noise level during the night period.