FLEET RENEWALS STEADIER

In recent years airlines have rapidly replaced their aeroplanes for more environmentally friendly types. Throughout the country, the number of operations flown by the noisy MD-80 aircraft declined by almost 30 per cent during the review year, compared with the year before. Between 1999 and 2005 the number of operations throughout the country flown by DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft combined fell from about 102 000 to about 28 000. The overhaul by the major operators of their narrow-bodied generation of equipment is coming to an end with the removal of these planes.

According to a traffic noise report for Helsinki-Vantaa for 2004, completed during the summer, the Lden 55 dB-rated aircraft noise area had slightly expanded following more than a decade of continual shrinkage. The number of residents living within the area affected by noise was estimated to have risen by a couple of thousand, to about 11 000. However, the results for 2004 were affected by the complete overhaul of Runway 2, which lasted almost half a year. Correspondingly, during the summer of 2005 the six month long renovation of Runway 1 caused changes in airport runway usage.