Noise refers to disruptive sounds. It can occur in various contexts and be perceived differently depending on individual factors. The noise level of flying aircraft in daily flight operations can place strain on the airport’s neighbors. Fraport is aware of its responsibility to affected local residents and takes their concerns seriously. For this reason, Fraport has been continuously measuring aircraft noise in the region around the airport for many years, making the results available to the public, and is committed to noise abatement.

Noise is produced by pressure fluctuations that spread through the air in waves. The greater these fluctuations in pressure, the louder the perceived noise. 

Human hearing can detect pressure fluctuations over a very wide range, from barely perceptible noise to noise that causes physical pain. 

Scientists measure noise in decibels (dB). This is the unit of measurement for the sound pressure level, which is logarithmic. On this scale, the hearing threshold is set at 0 dB to cover the entire range of human hearing. The pain threshold for human hearing is about 130 dB. 

The noise footprint is determined using two units of measurement: the single event sound level and the equivalent continuous sound level. The single event sound level measures the maximum sound pressure level of an individual noise event. The equivalent continuous sound level (Leq) is a median of various noise events over a longer period of time. 

The equivalent continuous sound level is therefore a measure of the average noise footprint. The Leq is calculated based on the number, duration and intensity of noise events that have occurred or are expected to occur in an observation period. Noise impact researchers agree that the equivalent continuous sound level is highly correlated with the level of disturbance caused by traffic noise and should be used over other potential noise measures when assessing the disturbance caused by aircraft noise. 

If a mobile station to measure aircraft noise is required in a municipality near the airport, residents can contact their local authorities who will then send a written request either directly to Fraport or to the Aircraft Noise Commission Frankfurt.