In the air or on the ground, we’re constantly measuring noise levels and working to reduce them.

How is noise measured?
The noise from planes is measured for many reasons. It is important to understand the impact on our local communities and to know whether the noise levels are increasing or decreasing over time.

In the UK, noise measurements are evaluated using the average noise level during the day (a 16-hour day) during the summer period. The measure of noise is given in decibels (dB). This averaged decibel measurement ‘LAeq’, is the most common international measure of aircraft noise, it means ‘equivalent continuous noise level’.

What’s the average noise level near you?
Most government policies for airports relating to aircraft noise use the 57dB LAeq (16 hour) as the threshold for when people start to be concerned about aircraft noise. This has been determined through significant government research.

To show where the different average noise levels are around the airport, we have developed maps showing ‘noise contours’. Below is the ‘noise contour map’ for the area around London Luton airport in 2016, combining noise for all flights.

Noise Monitors
We have three fixed noise monitoring terminals which constantly monitor the noise levels from departing aircraft.  We also have 6 portable noise monitoring terminals which we use to measure noise a bit further afield in our local communities.

These noise monitors allow us to track the noise over time and evaluate trends.

Criteria and site requirements for the location of portable monitors
At the airport we have developed a protocol for determining a suitable location of our portable monitors. When deciding on a location our main aim is to achieve an equable geographical spread around the airport so that as many communities as possible are included in our programme. We consider all requests for the positioning of the portable monitor – all requests should be emailed to [email protected].

Community Schedule
We have developed a community Noise Monitoring Schedule which can be found below.

Noise Monitoring Schedule for 2024

Noise Monitoring Schedule (Portable)

Noise Monitoring Schedule (Handheld)

 
Community Noise Reports
After our noise monitor has been out in the community, LLA produces a community noise report. Our latest community noise reports can be seen here.