The externalities resulting from airport operation has been a subject of empirical investigation in economic literature, at least since 1960s. Most of the research focused on negative relation between airport noise and property values. The results were summarized in meta-analysis of 23 previous studies based on North American data by Nelson (2004) – suggesting significant noise discount, but also country level differences.

The study extends the scope of analysis, covering airports outside United States and Canada (mainly in Europe). Additionally, in the paper we discuss the joint effect of airport noise and land use restrictions enforced in selected areas around the airport on property values. We argue that the nature of land use controls related to airport operation can significantly affect the relation between noise and property values, and should be controlled for in order to get unbiased results in hedonic models.