All airports when thinking about measures to reduce noise must follow what is called The Balanced Approach. This was a concept devised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and came into force in 2001. The EU has signed up to it. ICAO knew what it was doing. The aim is to make it as difficult as possible for flight reductions to put in place to cut noise. Operating restrictions on aircraft are only permitted as a last resort.

 

Here is a clear description of the The Balanced Approach from EASA:

https://www.easa.europa.eu/eco/eaer/topics/airports/managing-environmental-impacts-around-airports

“In line with the Environmental Noise Directive, aircraft noise management at airports involves monitoring and assessing the situation, and then defining a baseline, future objectives and an associated noise action plan.

 

The Balanced Approach plays a key role in this action plan and consists of the following core elements:

  • Reduction of noise at source involving research programmes aiming at reducing aircraft noise through technology and design.
  • Land-use planning and management policies to avoid incompatible developments such as residential buildings in noise-sensitive areas.
  • Noise abatement operational procedures to enable the reduction or redistribution of noise around the airport and make full use of modern aircraft and air navigation capabilities.
  • Operating restrictions on aircraft that limit access to or reduce the operational capacity of an airport, for instance noise quotas or flight restrictions.

 

Greater emphasis may be placed on certain elements of the Balanced Approach compared to others, depending on the airport noise abatement objectives and the cost of mitigation measures

Whilst recognising that operational restrictions should be used only after consideration of all other elements of the Balanced Approach, 79% of European airports recently surveyed by Airport Council International Europe (ACI-E) indicated that they employ various measures (e.g. restrictions on noisier aircraft, night flight restrictions, runway restrictions, noise budgets and movement caps).