AVIATION -ENVIRONMENTAL OBLIGATIONS

Hello and welcome to the blog!

On this post, which is more of a follow up on the impact of Aviation pollution, we will be discussing the impact of noise pollution and the obligations of the aviation industry on the Planet. The blog is with a particular interest on the obligations of Nigerian airline operators.

IMPACT ON AIR FROM NOISE

Civil aviation is a critical element in Nigeria’s transportation system and indeed it's economy. Nigeria has 20 airports and many regulated airstrips and heliports; Nigeria, being Africa’s most populous country is an important destination for over 22 foreign carriers. 

Nigeria currently has bilateral Air services agreements with over 78 countries. With the attainment of America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), International Aviation Safety Management (IASA) Category One Certification, Nigerian registered carriers can now fly directly into the United States of America (USA).

Since the awareness of the international community, especially the related SGD's, the aviation industry has taken flak for its growing greenhouse gas emissions as passengers numbers rise.

But could its massive waste footprint be solved without affecting the sector’s growth? Demand for air transport is continually growing and, if this demand is to be met with all the attendant benefits, society must also accept the costs (noise, pollution, climate change, risk, resource use etc).

Aviation owes different kinds of environmental obligations, ranging from noise, air, water, and climate.

Noise, which can be defined as any unwanted sound can cause profound negative effects on humans’ health and their physical, psychological and social wellbeing and quality of life. Since the emergence of the aviation industry, aircraft noise has been one of the most important sources of excessive noise generated by human activities. Two sources of aircraft noise are the engines, which include two major types of jet and piston engines, and the aircraft frame.

You probably know about the waste problem in our oceans, but how about the ones in our skies? You might have heard about the “save our planet” campaign. This is in a bid to ensure that our generations to come can still enjoy the benefits of the earth as we did.

PROVISIONS IN NIGERIAN LEGISLATION

Part XV of the Civil Aviation Act grants the Nigeria Civil Aviation authority powers to make rules that deal with public health. Thus, the environmental obligations applicable to air carriers in Nigeria are provided for in part 15 of the regulations. 


 It provides for noise standards for the issue of noise certificates, fuel venting standards for the issue of fuel venting certificates and emission standards for the issue of emission certificates. This regulation applies to all aircraft registered and operating in Nigeria and certification will be granted or validated by the authority for an aircraft on the basis of satisfactory evidence that the aircraft complies with requirements stipulated in the regulations.

The Harmful Waste (Special Criminal Provisions) Act, Cap H1, LFN 2004; makes illegal and unlawful, the dumping of harmful waste in the air, land or waters of Nigeria. Prohibits and criminalizes unauthorized transportation, depositing or dumping of harmful waste on any land, territorial waters, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, or inland waterways of Nigeria.

Despite all the legal framework, the environment is still on the receiving end of aviation transportation. Noise has historically been the principal environmental issue for aviation. It remains high on the agenda of public concern. It is quite difficult to evaluate, as it is open to subjective reactions. It is arguable that its impacts are not a lasting one on the actual environment, but it can have significant adverse effects on people living close to an airport, including interference with communication, sleep disturbance, annoyance responses, learning acquisition, performance effects and cardiovascular and psycho-physiological effects.

Unless there are very many aircraft following a route, it is widely recognised that aircraft flying at a height of at least 10,000ft above the ground do not usually produce “significant” noise impact. But because of the subjective nature of disturbance and the wide variance of local factors, this is not an absolute rule. It is normal for aircraft noise to be associated with airports, because of the low height involved.

All commercial aircraft must meet the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO's) noise certification standards. These apply to aircraft designs and types when they are first approved for operational use, and they have been progressively tightened since the initial standard was adopted in 1971.

The environmental impact of aviation occurs because aircraft engines emit heat, noise, particles, and gases which contributes to climate change and global dimming. Airplanes emit particles and gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), water vapor, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, lead and black carbon which interact among themselves and with the atmosphere. Despite emission reductions from automobiles and more fuel-efficient and less polluting turbofan and turboprop engines, the rapid growth of air travels in the past years contributes to an increase in total pollution attributable to aviation.

The 33rd ICAO Assembly adopted Resolution A33/7 introducing the concept of a ‘balanced approach’ to noise management, thereby establishing a policy approach to address aircraft noise. The ‘balanced approach’ concept of aircraft noise management comprises four principal elements and requires careful assessment of all different options to mitigate noise, including:

·         reduction of aircraft noise at source;

·         land-use planning and management measures;

·         noise abatement operational procedures; and,

·         operating restrictions.

The Balanced Approach has since been incorporated into the European Community legislation as Directive EC/2002/30).

Other commonly applied noise management measures include:

·         depicting preferred noise routes on a map that avoid residential areas as far as possible;

·         avoiding over-flying sensitive sites such as hospitals and schools;

·         ensuring that the optimum runway(s) and routes are used as far as conditions allow;

·         using continuous descent approaches and departure noise abatement techniques;

·         avoiding unnecessary use of auxiliary power units by aircraft on-stand;

·         building barriers and engine test-pens to contain and deflect noise;

·         towing aircraft instead of using jet engines to taxi;

·         limiting night operations;

·         limiting the number of operations or the extent of a critical noise contour;

·         providing noise insulation for the most severely affected houses;

·         applying different operational charges based on the noisiness of the aircraft;

·         monitoring individual noise levels and penalising any breach.

  In the view of the fact that aircraft produces more noise during take-off and landing, airports are considered to be important contributors to the problem of excessive noise, and from a community’s perspective, one of the most obvious environmental problems of airport activities are noise pollution. In addition, noise generated by ground access systems in the airport landside area adds to the already existing problem of excessive noise in airports. With respect to the problem of excessive noise in the vicinity of airports, the airport operator need to reduce aircraft noise emissions, reduce the number of people exposed to excessive noise levels, and finally help the local community receive the airport’s plans and activities. Solutions such as urban planning, applying new technologies and designs, and restricting operation of particular aircraft types, frequency of flights and night-time flights, planning and managing land use, and redistributing noise by managing runways and routes use are some of the mitigative measures employed to meet noise quotas and prescribed limits. 

Do you agree that Nigerian operators have a role to play to reduce environmental pollution?

Share your thoughts by leaving your questions, comments and suggestions in the comment box. Thank you for taking out time out to read and share this post.

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FREEDOMS OF THE AIR?

Hello and welcome to the blog.

 Today, we shall be discussing the term "Freedom of the air". In the title, this is followed by a question mark. This is because there have been contentions that these "Freedoms"" are not, in fact, free in themselves, because they are subject to approval and limitations.

The freedoms are Nine (9) in number, which basically seeks out to erase all form of conflicts between Nations as regarding entry and exit privileges in commercial aviation.

They are a set of commercial aviation rights, granting a country’s airline (s), the privilege to enter and land in another country’s airspace. The terms 'freedom' and 'right' are a shorthand way of referring to the type of international services permitted between two or more countries. Even when such services are allowed by countries, airlines may still face restrictions on accessing them by the terms of treaties or for other reasons.

These freedoms came into force as a result of the disagreements over the extent of aviation liberalization in the Convention on International Civil Aviation Act of 1944, known as the Chicago convention. The freedoms of the air are the fundamental building blocks of the international commercial aviation route network. The use of the terms "freedom" and "right" confer entitlement to operate international air services only within the scope of the multilateral and bilateral treaties that allow them.

The first two freedoms are formulated in the Chicago convention on civil aviation. Likewise, the first to fifth freedoms are officially enumerated by international treaties, especially the Chicago Convention of 1944. Several other freedoms have been added and are usually exchanged between countries in bilateral or multilateral air service agreements. The lower-numbered freedoms are relatively universal while the higher-numbered ones are rarer and more controversial, and are not mentioned by the Chicago Convention.

The first and second freedoms grant rights to pass through a country without carrying traffic that originates or terminates there and are known as 'transit rights'. The Chicago Convention drew up a multilateral agreement in which the first two freedoms, known as the International Air Services Transit Agreement (IASTA) or "Two Freedoms Agreement", were open to all signatories. As of mid-2007, the treaty was accepted by 129 countries.

A Country granting transit rights may impose fees for the privilege. The reasonableness of such fees has caused controversy at times. For example, The United States has the authority to charge overflight fees over its territory, and over ocean regions where it has been delegated air traffic control responsibilities by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The fees are applicable only to overflights; domestic & international flights arriving/departing the US are taxed through landing fees.

Relying on this background, allow me to introduce you to these freedoms now;

1.      The right to fly over a foreign country without landing,

2.       The right to refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country without embarking or disembarking passengers or cargo

3.       The right to fly from one’s country to another country

4.       The right to fly from another country to one’s own

5.       The right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country

6.       The right to fly from a foreign country to another while stopping in one’s country for non-technical reasons

6.1.            The right to fly between two places in a foreign country while stopping in one’s     country for non-technical reasons

7.       The right to fly between two foreign countries, where the flights do not touch one’s own country

8.       The right to fly inside a foreign country, continuing to one’s own country

9.       The right to fly within a foreign country without continuing to one’s country.

The first freedom grants the privilege to fly over the territory of a treaty country without landing. Member states of the International Services Transit Agreement grant this freedom, as well as the second freedom to other members states, subject to the transiting aircraft using designated air routes. Since the end of the cold war, first freedom rights are completely universal. Most countries require prior notification before an overflight and may charge substantial fees for the privilege.

The second freedom allows technical stops, without the embarking or disembarking of passengers or cargo. It is the right to stop in one country solely for refuelling or other maintenance on the way to another country. Because of the longer range of modern airliners, second freedom rights are comparatively rarely exercised by passenger carriers today, but they are widely used by air cargo carriers and are more or less universal between countries.

The third freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo from one’s own country to another while the fourth is the right to carry passengers or cargo from another country to one’s own country. These rights are almost always granted simultaneously in bilateral agreements between countries. Even when they are granted respectively, air services agreements may still restrict many aspects of the traffic, such as the capacity of aircraft, the frequency of flights, the airlines permitted to fly and the airports permitted to be served.

Fifth freedom rights are intended to enhance the economic viability of an airline’s long haul routes but tend to be viewed by local airlines and governments as potentially unfair competition. The negotiations for this traffic right can be lengthy because in practice, the approval of at least three different nations is required. Some nations have become less generous with regards to granting this class of right. Fifth freedom traffic rights are sought by airlines wishing to take up unserved or under-served routes, or by airlines whose flights already make technical stops at a location as allowed by the second freedom.

The unofficial modified sixth freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo between two points in one foreign country, while making a stop in the home country, the airlines’ home market. It combines the third and fourth freedoms. Some nations seek to regulate sixth freedom traffic as though it were fifth freedom traffic. China is an example of a country that restricts sixth freedom traffic from third-party countries. In exchange for a smaller state granting fifth freedom rights to a larger country, the smaller country may be able to intermediate sixth freedom traffic to onward destinations from the larger country.

The seventh freedom, though unofficial, is a variation of the fifth freedom. It is the right to carry passengers or cargo between two foreign countries without any continuing service to one’s own country.

The eight freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo between two or more points in one foreign country and is also known as cabotage.  Originally a shipping term, cabotage now covers aviation, railways, and road transport. It is trade or navigation in coastal waters, or, the exclusive right of a country to operate the air traffic within its territory. Such rights have usually granted only where the domestic air network is very underdeveloped.

The right to carry passengers or cargo within a foreign Country without continuing service to or from one's own country, sometimes known as "stand-alone cabotage." It differs from the aviation definition of "true cabotage," in that it does not directly relate to one's own country.

For domestic flights, there are no licensing requirements for specific routes. Air carriers are free to fly any route within the country, subject to giving notice of the flight schedule to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency. However, international routes are subject to air service agreements between Nigeria and other countries.

Now that you know the freedoms of the air, share your thoughts by leaving your questions, comments and suggestions in the comment box. Thank you for taking the time out to read and share this post.

This post is dedicated to Nigeria on its 58th Independence. It only felt right to discuss freedom.

Whilst the task of a generation was to bring us an independent nation, clearly, the task ahead of our generation is to deliver freedom to an independent people- Fela Durotoye.


Happy Independence Day Nigeria.

Please follow my discussions on my LinkedIn account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayomide-a-jide-omole-062633112

THIS BLOG does not claim credit for any images posted on this site unless and otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this site that belongs to you, and you do not wish for it to appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.