London Southend Airport has spoken out in favour of new European Commission proposals on aircraft noise and environmental standards. \r"It is very constructive for us to have common international standards on aircraft noise," said Andrew Walters, chairman of the airport, "to avoid the different interpretations by each individual airport and local authority. We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously."\rSouthend Airport will be publishing its 15 year plans in January 2000, and it says this forecast will assist local authorities in minimising the impact on residential areas around Southend. \rRoger Campbell, marketing manager at Southend Airport, gave EBAN his thoughts on the proposed European directives: "Working with the planning authorities hasn't happened in the past - airports have their different plans and they are not compliant with local authorities. If the Europeans can actually bring this together, then this is certainly something that helps the planning authorities to formulate their policies for the future."