§ 88. Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps have been taken to notify contracting States, pursuant to Article 4 of the Paris Agreement of 1960, that certificates of airworthiness granted by the United Kingdom will in future include a condition limiting the amount of noise to be produced by the aircraft in question and that validation of certificates of airworthiness in respect of imported aircraft will 25W be dependent on the fulfilment of that condition.
§ Mr. JayDuring the debate on Aviation on 21st November last, I said that I was considering whether noise should be included as a factor in the certification of aircraft. I have now decided that a scheme of noise certification should be introduced under which future civil aircraft operating in this country will be required to secure a certificate from my Department, or from an appropriate foreign authority, saying that they can comply with certain noise standards. This arrangement will ensure that civil aircraft and aero engines are designed from the drawing board to give a quieter performance than existing aircraft. In consultation with my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Technology, I shall proceed with discussions, which must take some time, with the manufacturers and the airlines to ensure that the right standards are fixed to achieve substantial and practicable reductions in noise at the earliest opportunity. I shall also maintain close contact with the United States and the French authorities in order to obtain uniformity of standards and hence common objectives for the manufacturers of the various countries.
As was made clear at the recent International Conference, there is probably little that can be done to improve the noise performance of existing aircraft without the economic penalties becoming very heavy. Similar problems arise with aircraft whose development is already under way. These matters will have to be explored in the discussions I have already mentioned.
It is possible under existing legislation to introduce this scheme for aircraft using the airports of the British Airports Authority and those belonging to the Board of Trade, and I propose to do so from a date to be determined. Further powers to apply the scheme throughout the country will be sought at the appropriate time.
The form of the noise certificate to be adopted, and the question whether it should be combined with the certificate of airworthiness, will have to be considered, together with other questions, in the internal and international discussions to which I have referred.