Geneva airport has been told by how much it must reduce noise disturbance for people living in the surrounding region. Switzerland’s second busiest airport expects flight movements to increase by almost a quarter by the year 2030.
On Wednesday, the government approved the noise reduction expectations that are contained within a wide-ranging strategy to upgrade Swiss aviation infrastructure to meet future demand. It sets targets for reducing the area around the airport exposed to harmful noise levels within the next 12 years (see image below).
Plan showing permitted noise corridor for Geneva airport. The red line marks the current area and the orange line the expected reduction of affected areas by 2030.
Swiss government aviation document
A recent report by the Swiss environment ministry revealed that excessive aircraft noise pollution affects 24,000 people during the day and 75,000 people at night. The figures cover the whole of Switzerland and relates not just to Geneva airport.
With the volume of commercial flights expected to significantly build up in the next few years, all Swiss airports will be subject to rules that seek to limit the amount of noise disturbance. Geneva predicts traffic to increase from 191,000 aircraft movements and 17.3 million passengers last year to 236,000 movements and 25 million passengers by 2030.
Geneva airport welcomed the government’s announcement for giving the airport clear guidance on how it can manage its expansion. “The reduction in noise pollution by 2030 is an ambitious goal, but Genève Aéroport considers it important and necessary for a sustainable development and the respect of its neighbours,” it said in a statementExternal link.
The airport added that it had spent more than CHF30 million ($30 million) in the last two years to improve its environmental footprint.
The airport operators plan to encourage airlines to upgrade fleets to quieter aircraft that emit less CO2. It also wants to reduce the number of flights that get delayed to later than 10pm. After this cut-off point, noise pollution levels are graded at ten times more harmful when the authorities measure their impact.
More than 400,000 cross-border commuters now work in Switzerland
This content was published on
More than half of all cross-border commuters were resident in France (around 57%). Large proportions also lived in Italy (23%) and Germany (around 16%).
Amherd and von der Leyen discuss ongoing Swiss-EU negotiations
This content was published on
Swiss President Viola Amherd and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have met and talked about the ongoing negotiations between Bern and Brussels.
This content was published on
One million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold: this is the fortune that two Swiss nationals are accused of having moved across borders for at least four years.
Girls in female-dominated classes earn more later on
This content was published on
At the age of 30, women from school classes with a 55% share of girls earn $350 more per year than women from classes with a 45% share of girls.
This content was published on
Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont reported a downturn in performance for the first half of its 2024/25 financial year. Both sales and profit declined.
COP29: Swiss NGOs call for strong financial support
This content was published on
Ahead of COP29, Swiss NGOs call for wealthy nations to pay $1,000 billion a year to help other countries solve climate problems.
One million Swiss exposed to harmful noise pollution
This content was published on
Some 1.1 million residents are exposed to traffic noise that exceeds legal limits, the office communicated on Monday. And when road noise levels die down at night, people face the disturbance of plane and train traffic, says the latest edition of a noise pollution study conducted every five years. Railway noise affects 16,000 people during…
This content was published on
Despite the uncertain economic climate and strong Swiss franc, these are high times for Switzerland’s three international airports – Zurich, Geneva and Basel. An economic impact study published in May 2011 by the Civil Aviation Office showed that the three international and four regional airports had a combined economic effect of at least SFr9.7 billion…
This content was published on
Politicians, business leaders and people living around the airport have demanded action after a compromise solution to alleviate disturbance comes under strain just one year after being introduced. Local residents have long complained that the steadily increasing number of flights has disturbed their sleep, health and property prices. Their complaints intensified five years ago when…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.