Beautiful day. The appointment, Monday April 29, of Bouygues-Egis as the new manager of the site reignited tensions around the Beauvais airport expansion project, announced in February 2023. Caroline Cayeux, president of the Beauvaisis agglomeration, attempted to reassure by promising a “green airport”.
Chosen by the Beauvais-Tillé Airport Mixed Union (SMABT) this Monday, the Bouygues-Egis company will become manager of the northern Paris airport for the next 30 years. After this announcement, more than 200 people went the same day in front of the headquarters of the Beauvaisis Agglomeration to protest against the expansion of the airport and the associated nuisances (air, noise and visual pollution).
“We have the ambition of a green airport with environmentally friendly car parks, with a certain number of objectives that we have set in the specifications to precisely improve the quality of the environment,” Caroline Cayeux defended herself to France 3 the next day. The former Minister of Local Authorities and current President of the Beauvaisis agglomeration also specified that the number of movements (landings and takeoffs) “would be set at 45,000 per day within ten years”, against 32,000 at present.
“If technology can allow a reduction in air greenhouse gas emissions, this progress is reduced to zero if we increase the number of planes”deplores to Green Dominique Lazarski, president of the Association for the Defense of Airport Residents (Adera). She adds : “We are creating a beautiful garage to fly more planes.”
“They forget all the flights in their carbon footprint, while the airport itself represents less than 1% of emissions. It’s simply greenwashing.”reacts Charlène Fleury, coordinator of Rester sur Terre, a network which brings together anti-aircraft collectives.
A representative case
“Beauvais airport is not a special case”, analyzes Charlène Fleury. This project is part of the development of air transport in France and Europe. The majority of airports in France are planning an increase in the number of trips, such as those of Lille or Nantes. As a reminder, aviation represents 2.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions and the sector forecasts around 4% growth per year (our article).
These developments go against the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 by almost all countries on the globe. To hope to contain warming below 2°C, air traffic will necessarily have to decrease, according to a 2021 study by the Shift project and Supaéro Décarbo (our article). “With our Stay on Earth network, we are fighting against these projects and demanding a cap on the number of flights per year, to return to the volume before the Covid pandemic,” explains Charlène Fleury.”
Thinking about climate and health
“Airplanes emit a lot of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, but we must not forget that they are also a Source of noise and air pollution”insists Dominique Lazarski.
Overexposure to airborne noise increases cardiovascular disease. For each increase of 10 decibels, the additional mortality is estimated at 18%, according to the study Discussion on the effects of aircraft noise on health. The consequences of noise pollution from air traffic cost society six billion euros per year, according to Ademe.
In addition, the Airparif organization estimated that the concentration of ultrafine particles – which penetrate the blood system and cross the placenta – around Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport was just as high as along the Paris ring road.
