The airport expansion project has contributed to a dramatic increase in the number of air operations at El Dorado International Airport. OPAIN has expanded, and continues to expand, the domestic and international terminals and aircraft docking and platform spaces, among other works, while Codad has designed, constructed, increased and improved runway rapid exits to reduce the time that each aircraft occupies on the runway. Between 2008 and 2014, these works contributed to an increase in air operations of 22%. Between 2015 and the conclusion of the expansion works (in 2018-2021), the airport's capacity is projected to increase from 50 to 90 air operations per hour and from 27 to 40 million passengers a year.

This increase in air operations exacerbates the environmental and social impacts on neighbouring communities.  The noise experienced by those communities frequently exceeds national limits for residential areas: in one study, 84% of noise measurements in the areas violated the 65 dB national daytime standard, while 100% of noise measurements violated the 50 dB national nighttime residential standard. 

Physical buffers around the airport's runways are almost non-existant with only a road and, for some, a mound of dirt separating Fontibón residents from the runway and aircraft. The insulation of homes and buildings is also incomplete and inadequate: a 2012 study of noise-affected areas by Bogotá's Secretary of Health (see documents) found that only 2.7% of study participants had partial sound insulation in their homes and only 1.1% felt protected from the noise.

A recent report by the Inter-American Development Bank's independent accountability office (known as MICI) describes their first-hand experience with the inadequate noise mitigation:

“During its visit to the Project area, the Compliance Review Panel … was able to experience firsthand not only the impact of the noise on the daily life of residents (such as the need to interrupt a conversation or classroom activities when airplanes take off and land because it was impossible for the other person or the teacher to be heard, or the vibrations caused by some aircraft), but also the discomfort produced in some homes by the soundproofing, which in the Panel’s experience is in poor condition, does not really reduce noise, and prevents, among other things, ventilation in the homes.” (MICI Report, paragraph 2.99)

The World Health Organization warns that chronic exposure to high levels of environmental noise can lead to hearing impairment, cardiovascular disease, mental health problems, impaired cognition, and severe sleep disturbance, among other harmful effects. Children are particularly vulnerable to developmental harm, with studies finding a relationship between long-term exposure to aircraft noise and impaired reading comprehension and memory.

Some of these harms are already visible in the Fontibón community. Bogotá's Secretary of Health estimates that 67% of Fontibón's population sleeps poorly, while up to 37% suffers chronic insomnia, leading to related problems with headaches, irritability, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. Neighborhood children are especially vulnerable to health harm.

Luisa, 15 years old, suffers from cardiac arrhythmia which she attributes to the noise and vibrations generated by the airport. She explained to Comunidades Unidas and Accountability Counsel:

“Because of the noise and the vibration I wake up scared, my heart accelerates more than it should, the arrhythmia makes me tired, causes pressure in my chest, I struggle to breathe. In college it does not happen so much, here in the house because I am scared more, it happens more frequently.

There are ways to help the growth of the city, the airport is undoubtedly necessary, but we must think a little about the people who live nearby, of the effects on us. There are children like me, there are students who cannot perform the same, then we cannot give the same professionally to the country, or at school. I think it also affects the standards of Colombia in education. Yes, it is good to invest, but also in us who live nearby and who already have a life in this place.”

Due to her condition, Luisa must reduce her physical activity. She suffers interrupted sleep, stress and difficulties concentrating and her academic performance is reduced. Multiple international studies have identified an association between elevated levels of air traffic noise, especially at night, and increased rates of heart disease and arrhythmia (see for example here, here and here).

Although OPAIN asserts that noise mitigation is the responsibility of Aerocivil under the specific terms of the concession agreement, such an argument cannot negate the environmental and social responsibilities of OPAIN, Codad S.A. - and their investors - under those investors' environmental and social safeguards. Those responsibilities apply to the project as a whole; the client cannot "contract out". MICI dismissed the same argument, when it was made by the Inter-American Development Bank, in strong terms:

"The MICI considers that Management’s argument that neither the Bank nor the Client is responsible for or has any influence on air activities and that the Bank is not involved in any activities on the Aerocivil side is an attempt to be relieved of responsibility and contradicts ... the essence underlying any Bank financing, as reflected in the standards set in Bank policies, particularly Operational Policy OP-703. This policy is a tool that should be used to achieve social and environmental success in any IDB project. There is an express requirement to identify, assess, and manage both direct and indirect impacts and risks, and it is the Bank’s obligation to determine how to manage them, whether they are produced by the Bank’s client or by a third party. It is also surprising that Management should attempt to disassociate itself from any aspect related to the Airport’s air operations, which are the source of the Project’s future financial success." (MICI report, paragraph 2.88)

Similarly, paragraph 22 of IFC Performance Standard 1, which also applies to equator projects under Equator Principle 3, requires that: “Where the government or other third party has responsibility for managing specific risks and impacts and associated mitigation measures, the client will collaborate in establishing and monitoring such mitigation measures.”

And the recently-released OECD Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct advise that: “In cases where the enterprise is contributing to adverse impacts or risks that are caused by another entity, it should take necessary steps to cease or prevent its contribution as described above, and also, build and use leverage to mitigate any remaining impacts to the greatest extent possible …”

It is incontestable that applicable international standards oblige OPAIN and its investors at the very least to evaluate noise impacts and to build and use leverage to collaborate with Aerocivil to establish and monitor effective mitigation measures. We are not aware of any such steps being taken.