The ANA announces that it has taken measures to address the increasing number of noise complaints from residents at Findel Airport.
The ANA has recorded approximately 20 complaints in 2019, 1,000 in 2020 and 3,000 in both 2021 and 2022. It should be noted that the vast majority of complaints in recent years (more than 90%) have come from some members of the non-profit organization DIGHSE, founded in 2020 during the health crisis. The administration strives to respond to all justified complaints as soon as possible. In addition, the ANA is committed to meeting regularly with local residents associations and a working group on noise issues has been set up by its supervisory ministry to try to find the best possible solutions to each problem encountered.
IFR traffic and GTQ departure
The southbound departure path (GTQ) from runway 06 (east-north-east direction), has undergone several changes in recent years, namely:
- Until 1 January 2020, aircraft turned immediately south after passing a ground-based navigational aid beacon. The Military Area TRA Lauter (TRA205), an area extending to the Luxembourg border on the German side, limited the possibility of continuing on a straight course before turning right.
- Since 2 January 2020, aircraft are required to turn as soon as they pass a defined altitude, which concentrates the track area for all different aircraft types. This change in the GTQ departure procedure had to be made for reasons of compliance with international regulations and in particular the decommissioning of beacons. In collaboration with Skeyes (formerly Belgocontrol), the ANA has redesigned this procedure to take into account the new standards dictated by the European Union regulations:
- Thus, from 02 January 2020, the minimum altitude before turning south was set at 1,700 feet.
- Since 31 December 2020, this altitude has been set at 2,200 feet in response to complaints from residents of the municipality of Schuttrange about increased noise pollution.
- From autumn 2023, it will be increased again to 2,700 feet for a trial period of six months. This follows simulations carried out internally and in order to further limit noise nuisance in response to complaints received.
Therefore, ANA informs that the change of the GTQ departure route is due to compliance with European regulations and that the restrictions of the TRA Lauter military zone constrain ANA in the design of its flight procedures.
Climate change, and in particular the fact that aircraft have to land and take off into the wind, has led to an 8% increase in the use of runway 06 compared to the reference year 2019, which has resulted in an increase in overflights of this area.
Night flights
With regard to night flights, a curfew is in place from 23:01 to 05:59, during which time aircraft are not allowed to land and take off at will. Exceptions are defined by article 13 of the Grand Ducal regulation and these are respected.
(https://legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/rgd/1998/05/24/n5/jo) .
The number of night flights has been reduced by more than 30% since 2019.
VFR traffic
Concerning complaints related to sport aviation and VFR (visual flight rules), the ANA has also taken measures to reduce nuisances.
- A charter between the clubs, local residents and the authorities has defined a training circuit dedicated to non-standard laps ("touch and go"), to avoid flying over villages as much as possible.
- In order to sensitize pilots, ANA has been analyzing all the routes used by these aircraft on a regular basis since January 2023 and sends its observations to the sport aviation clubs when the circuit trajectory is not respected.
The ANA would like to remind you that all the statistics relating to aircraft movements are available on data.public.lu and that a form for reporting noise pollution is available via the link: https://www.surveygizmo.eu/s3/90261754/ANA-D-claration-d-incidents-Compte-rendu-volontaire