… to the MIME External Web Site. This is the external information site for the MIME Project partly funded by the European Commission within the Framework Programme 6. Here you have the opportunity to learn everything from what the project is all about to the upcoming events and news.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact the Project Management so that the MIME project can provide you with the necessary information.

Best regards
The MIME Project Manager

Background

Airlines and airports will likely face an increasing number of noise-impact constraints in future. There are already at least 128 airports worldwide with some type of noise surcharges, and the situation that the air-transport industry faces regarding noise-related environmental constraints on future growth is very grave. As has been shown in other industries, there are conditions under which a market-based mechanism using transferable permits can be used to provide improved control over environmental impacts, and at the same time, allow efficient business operations. MIME is aimed at discovering whether, and how, such mechanisms can be used to improve environmental noise control in air transport.

project Objectives

MIME seeks to determine the answers to several basic research questions:

• How can noise be translated into tradable permits?
• How would such a system be put into place?
• Can a market increase the number of viable options?
• How can ATM contribute to enabling airlines to reach their noise goals?
• Could this add a fifth dimension to the ICAO “Balanced Approach”? and
• What is the nature of an appropriate regulatory framework?

The MIME description of work contains seven work packages:

WP1 – Project Management and Coordination, providing management of the overall project and coordination of the work packages, and reporting to the European Commission. This work package focuses on administrative, financial, schedule, and coordination issues. To this end, the Project Coordinator (WP1 Manager) interacts with all project partners, and serves as the principal intermediary between the European Commission and each of the partners.

WP2 – Noise Technology, addressing all aspects of noise metrics and measurement relevant to the envisioned system of trading and environmental control. This work package focuses on noise technology, describes the state of the art, and addresses the key issue of how to translate noise impact into noise permits.

WP3 – Market Mechanisms, addressing all aspects of design and evaluation of the envisioned system of tradable permits. This work package focuses on economic issues arising from the functioning of a noise tradable permit market. The validation Strategy is defined in this WP. To this end, the WP3 Manager interacts with other project partners in order to bring together the aspects linked with noise quantification, the economic background and viewpoint of the different market actors, and the needs in terms of combined ATM, noise and business case simulations.

WP4 – Simulation and Analysis, addressing the simulation and analysis of the envisioned mechanisms in their operation with the broader air-transport system. This work package focuses on simulation and analysis and describes which simulation capabilities are required and how they will be used to perform a number of case studies addressing noise impact, permits, and the permit-trading market.

WP5 – Implementation Framework, addressing the means of implementation of the envisioned system, including regulatory matters. This work package focuses on developing a workable implementation and regulatory framework, building on the outputs from work packages 2, 3, and 4.

WP6 – Scientific Coordination, ensures that co-ordination is maintained between Work Packages 2 to 5 and that input from the scientific community is sought and integrated into the project. Whereas WP1 deals with the management of the consortium and reporting to the commission, WP6 deals with management of the scientific content of the project within the work packages.

WP7 – Dissemination, addressing dissemination of project progress and results to all relevant stakeholders. This work packages ensures a wide understanding of the aims and objectives of the MIME project among stakeholders during the lifetime of the project, and a broad knowledge among these stakeholders of the results and benefits of the project at the end.

The MIME project will result in the following:

• A system of transferable airline-based noise permits
• A method of implementation of noise permits and the means by which the chosen system would be equitably put into place at an airport;
• Requirements for tools for calculation of airline noise permit use;
• An analytic framework that would enable a single airline to understand the operation of this market and of the value of such noise permits;
• Tools to enable airport situations to be judged as advantageous (or not) for such market-based approaches
• Propositions for enabling uniform implementation of the chosen noise permit system at European airports; and
• The regulatory framework that would establish and govern this system.