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Assessment of Impact of Aircraft Noise in the Vicinity of Ninoy Aquino International Airport


Operations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have been integral to the economy by providing transportation locally and internationally not only of passengers but also of freight. Aircrafts provide an economic way of transport in terms of cost-time/distance. Nonetheless, like any land transport service such as buses, trucks and other vehicles, aircrafts emit pollutants such as gas emissions and noise. This study investigates the effects of noise emitted by operating aircrafts using runway 06/24 on communities namely Barangay San Dionisio, Parañaque City and Barangay Rizal, Makati City, which lie under the flight paths of the aircrafts. This runway is used mostly by international flights. The study excludes the effects of runway 13/31 due to the intermittent operation of the runway during the conduct of the study. This study presents noise contours in the vicinity of the airport using modeling software called Integrated Noise Model. Aircraft operations such as frequency of flights of different types of aircrafts (e.g. B757, B737, A320), flight paths and weather conditions at NAIA were gathered as required by the modeling software. A regression analysis is presented between noise levels measured on-site and noise levels obtained through modeling. Results showed an R2 equal to 0.9638736 that warrants worthiness of the simulation software as an effective tool in assessing noise conditions in the vicinities of NAIA. This study presents the perceptions of respondents from two communities in the vicinity of NAIA on how they are affected by aircraft noise such as manifestations of irritation, sleep disturbance, communication interference and hearing damage. These were analyzed along with other factors that might influence an individual’s perception such as years of residence, occupation, sex, age and household income. Analysis showed that individuals experienced the effects of noise in varying degrees but there is a general tendency to foreground their view that they have “gotten used” (nasanay na) to aircraft noise. It was also found that the communities have developed adaptive strategies to deal with noise. The review of literature provides the current issues, standards and current noise abatement procedures implemented by other countries such as the United States and United Kingdom that have been useful in the analysis of results and in the recommendations of appropriate noise abatement procedures applicable to NAIA.

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