An Overview on Environmental Management in Aviation

Air transportation is an essential contributor to the health and well-being of the global economy. Aviation contributes to the quality of life – allowing us to visit friends and relatives, to travel, to experience new places, to shrink the world. Moreover, the aviation industry provides 56 million direct, indirect, and induced jobs worldwide. On the other hand, aviation affects the environment in many ways: people living near airports are exposed to aircraft noise; aircraft engines emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants to the atmosphere; large amounts of energy and water are consumed for the passenger needs and great volumes of waste are produced; streams, rivers, and wetlands may be exposed to pollutants discharged in storm water runoff from airports and many species of plants and animals are expatriated from the vicinity of airports. These negative externalities have been acknowledged during the last decades and the aviation industry is taking mitigation measures at a growing pace. National and international authorities, aviation institutions, aircraft manufacturers, airlines and airports issue advisory documents and manuals, establish environmental standards, apply new technologies and adopt environmental management systems to achieve environmentally-friendly operations in multiple dimensions: noise, air and water quality; energy consumption, waste production and biodiversity preservation. This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of the adverse environmental impact connected with air transportation and the corrective measures adopted by the aviation industry to mitigate this impact.