Noisy aircraft to be banned

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 5

Noisy aircraft to be banned

PA Wellington The Government has adopted measures to gradually phase out noisy aircraft from Wellington Airport, leading to a complete ban by April, 1994. The Associate Minister of Works and Development, Mr Neilson, whose Miramar electorate contains the airport, said yesterday the decision was "wonderful news for long-suffering Eastern suburbs residents.” Mr Neilson said the controls would introduce a progressive reduction in the number of scheduled flights of noisy aircraft and extend the night curfew for noise-offending aircraft. The Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Jeffries, said that from next October 1, no more noisy aircraft, including the older Boeing 737-200 series, would be allowed through Wellington than at the same weekly period the previous year. The present midnight to 6 a.m. curfew would be extended to between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. for noisy planes. Mr Neilson said responsibility was now on airlines to either buy or lease quieter aircraft, as Ansett had, or install hush kits to meet the new standard. “People can already hear the difference between the Chapter 2 Boeing 737-200 s, the most frequent aircraft through Wellington and the Chapter 3 Boeing 7675,” he said. “The 737-200 produces 10 times more noise than the 767.” Mr Neilson said Air New Zealand considered the phase-out period “ridiculously short,” and had not willingly accepted a timetable. But this week, the first pure jet service to the Queenstown district was launched when Ansett New Zealand flew its new BAI 46 whisper jet from Auckland to Queenstown, to mark the start of its scheduled service. The aircraft lived up to its whisper-quiet name and residents in the crowd which gathered at the airport said it was the answer to Queenstown’s needs.

Community leaders have criticised “noisy jets” and Ansett’s chief executive said the Queenstown Lakes District Council had shown foresight by making sure the only jets using Queenstown were the “environmentally-acceptable” ones.