Skies above Airdrie will soon be quieter

It’s no secret that on the ground, Airdrie residents are a little tired of what’s going on overhead.  Planes, lots of them, enroute to the Calgary International Airport.  They’re either taking off, or coming in. Regardless, they are making a lot of noise and making life miserable for residents of several Airdrie neighbourhoods.

However, there will soon be fewer planes flying over Airdrie’s friendly skies.

Recently, the Calgary Airport Authority hosted an open house with Nav Canada to discuss the issue with residents and to present proposed flight paths along with some new methods of landing which should greatly reduce the volume of air traffic navigating over the city.

One of the solutions will be new technology within the planes that will allow them to make a more efficient approach and land more precisely.  This new tech equipment is a GPS system which will design curved flight paths which can alter the plane’s approach and also reduce engine power.

For example, airplanes currently approaching the Calgary airport from the south must fly north past the airport virtually to Airdrie before they can completely turn and head back.  A new guidance system will enable plans to turn sooner, carving at least 18 to 20 kilometres off their flight path as they descend.  Not only will it shorten flights by three or four minutes, it will save on fuel costs for airlines by saving 200 litres of fuel.

The Calgary Airport Authority has received complaint calls over the years from Airdrie residents fed up with low-level aircraft over their neighbourhoods.  The calls become more frequent once the new, longer north/south runway opened at Calgary International.  Residents of the King’s Heights neighbourhood are especially affected by the noise as planes bank left to turn back south to the airport.  To appease Airdrie residents, the Calgary Airport Authority installed a noise monitoring system on the rooftop of a south Airdrie shopping centre.

In 2014, there were 72 noise complaints from 44 people in Airdrie.  There have also been complaints from various land owners in Rocky View County as from as far west as the Village of Madden.  Complaints have not been restricted to areas outside Calgary, however.  There were 1,500 calls from 233 Calgarians in 2014 as well.

Residents at the open house were informed that 60% of planes will be able to start using these revised approaches using satellite-based technology by spring. As well, aircraft will be following a different landing procedure which calls for a continuous descent, rather than one that calls for increased engine thrust while making a turn over Airdrie.

There will still be active air traffic without the new technology but it’s a path in the right direction.

Calgary International Airport is the nation’s third busiest airport. Efforts in the past have been made to direct flights taking off over commercial areas.   The airport authority encourages those affected by excess noise to call a noise hotline at 403-735-1408.

More public consultation will take place after the new approach systems have been implemented and tested in 2016.