The main conclusions of the additional impact study on the extension of Terminal 2

This additional impact study on extending Terminal 2 at Nice Côte d'Azur airport was carried out by an independent firm of experts and provides an objective and dispassionate assessment of the extension’s real impact.

Traffic growth:
The impact study indicates that, even without extending Terminal 2, air traffic will increase by 1% per year over the next ten years. With the extension, the increase could reach 2.1% per year. Therefore, this discrepancy of 1.1% per year corresponds to the extension’s impact, i.e. around an additional 14,000 aircraft movements per year by 2034.

Greenhouse gas emissions:
Based on aviation trends, the study shows that despite the increase in the number of aircraft movements, greenhouse gas emissions will be 11% lower than they are today (2024) due to infrastructure improvements and the use of aircraft that emit fewer emissions. (See page 129 of the additional impact study of 13 August 2024).
The study also indicates that the measures taken, such as restrictions on running aircraft engines while parked, GHG emissions and energy consumption, will also help to reduce air pollution.

Air pollution:
The study’s model found the concentration of pollutants to be 12 points, including at Les Moulins nursery school and Flore 2 primary school (points R6 and R8 respectively in Table 8, page 57 of the MRAe's response brief).
The variations in concentrations between the current and future situation once the exension is completed are not significant, and most of the pollutants studied will be even lower than they are at present.
Sulphur dioxide is one of the only pollutants to increase, but the increase will be minimal: from 0.30 to 0.36 µg/cubic metre, representing an increase of 0.06 µg/cubic metre.
This very slight increase should be seen in the context of WHO’s recommended value for sulphur dioxide, which is 20 µg/cubic metre. The level of sulphur dioxide is therefore 50 times lower than WHO’s recommended threshold.

By 2034, the study found almost no difference between a situation with the extension of Terminal 2 and a situation without the extension, since it is less than one microgram per cubic metre for nitrogen dioxide and around one hundredth of a microgram per cubic metre for dust.
Where markers do exceed WHO’s recommendations, this is due to background pollution from non-airport related activities (page 86 of the response to the MRAe) (industry, road transport, etc.).
The study has found that the airport complies with all the regulatory values and this compliance will continue even with the extension.

Noise pollution:
Contrary to certain claims, noise levels will not increase from 10 to 15% for the population as a whole as a result of the extension. On page 48 of the response to the MRAe's opinion, the study shows that the noise contours in 2034 with and without the extension are very similar. A slightly more marked change in contours can be seen with the extension, although the most notable changes are seen in the section over the Mediterranean Sea, thanks to flight paths being optimised as much as possible over this area.

Despite a slight increase in the noise curves, particularly at 60 < Lden < 65, the slight shift in the curve will cover certain buildings on the other side of boulevard René Cassin. These buildings are eligible for financial assistance for soundproofing homes under the Noise Abatement Plan.

However, road noise is dominant in the area, as demonstrated by the cumulative noise maps on pages 52-53 of the response to the MRAe's opinion.
Because of its proximity to the sea and the associated flight paths, Nice Airport remains one of the airports with the most favourable health indicators in its category, and will remain so with the extension.

In conclusion, by 2034, the additional study shows that air pollution from the planned Terminal 2 extension will not generate significant health risks (page 87 of the response to the MRAe's opinion).