Combining a theoretical approach and practical considerations for establishing aircraft noise charge schemes

•Discussion of efficiency of airport noise charge methods in paying for mitigation.•Proposes new formula for charges, based on the noise social cost at an airport.•Use of hedonic price method with values for aircraft noise levels and traffic.•This formula is analysed with figures for nine airports in Taiwan.•The proposed formula enables the charges to be balanced with the costs.

This research has developed a systematic aircraft noise charge scheme, based on noise social costs, with a view to its application in Taiwan. The paper starts with a brief review of current structures and applications of noise charges, a market-based measure, in mitigating aircraft noise worldwide. The evaluation of aircraft noise social cost is an attempt at putting noise nuisance into monetary terms. The total and average noise social cost per flight at one airport is clearly different from another, depending mainly on the size of the noise contour and the number of residents affected. This research estimates the average noise social costs at various airports, using nine Taiwanese airports as case studies. Depending on the marginal impact of a flight and the mixture of aircraft types at each airport, the noise social cost per landing and take-off is then estimated for different aircraft types. The results of this study can inform airport, airline and local administration policies for taking environmental concerns into account when setting up noise charges, revising noise insulation schemes, and developing strategies for airport expansion and airline operations.