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Night flying restrictions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Night flying restrictions or night-time curfews,[1] including night flight bans, are any regulations or legislation imposed by a governing body to limit the ground-perceived exposure to aircraft noise pollution during the night hours, when the majority of residents are trying to sleep. Such regulations may include restrictions to available flight paths, or prohibitions against takeoffs, or prohibitions against takeoffs and landings, or prohibitions against ground operations (engine runups or taxiing).

List

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Europe

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Example: Night flying restrictions at German airports, data from 2006

Several night flying restrictions including full night flight bans have been introduced in Europe in order to ensure that residents living near airports can sleep at night.

  • Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, Hungary: A night flight ban between midnight and 05:00 was introduced in August 2019 by agreement between the city of Budapest and the Ministry of Transport. Nearby residents received a government subsidy to install soundproof windows.[2]
  • Cologne Bonn Airport, Germany: In April 2012, the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia introduced a night flight ban for passenger aircraft from midnight until 05:00.[3]
  • Frankfurt Airport, Germany: In October 2011, the Supreme Court of Hesse imposed a ban on night flights between 23:00 and 05:00. This decision was upheld by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig in April 2012.[3] During the morning and evening periods (22:00–23:00 and 05:00–06:00) a limited number of flights are allowed, providing they comply with ICAO Chapter 4 noise regulations. Further restrictions apply to noisier aircraft.[4]
  • London airports: The night restrictions for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted define a night period, 23:00–07:00, and a night quota period, 23:30–06:00. During the night period, the noisiest types of aircraft (classified as QC/4, QC/8 or QC/16 under the Quota Count system) may not be scheduled to land or to take off (other than in the most exceptional circumstances, such as an emergency landing). In addition, during the night quota period movements by most other types of aircraft (including the new QC/0.25 category) will be restricted by a movements limit and a noise quota, which are set for each season.[5]
  • Zurich Airport, Switzerland: A strict night-time curfew has been in force since 29 July 2010 between 23:30 and 06:00; the time between 23:00 and 23:30 may only be used to reduce backlogs of delayed flights.[1]

Oceania

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Curfews are not as common at international airports in Oceania as they are in Europe, though some airports do still have curfews if they surround densely populated suburbs.

Australia

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Curfews at Australian international airports
Airport State/territory Curfew? Notes
Adelaide South Australia Yes (23:00 to 06:00) [6]
Brisbane Queensland No Curfew proposed,[7] objected to by airport.[8][9]
Cairns Queensland No [10]
Canberra Australian Capital Territory No [11]
Darwin International Airport Northern Territory No [12]
Gold Coast Queensland Yes (23:00 to 06:00) [13]
Hobart Tasmania No [14]
Melbourne Victoria No [15]
Newcastle New South Wales Yes (22:00 to 06:00) [16]
Perth Western Australia No Curfew previously proposed, rejected multiple times.[17][18][19]
Sunshine Coast Queensland No While there is no curfew at Sunshine Coast Airport, approval is required for aircraft to take off or land at the airport from 23:00 and 05:30.[20]
Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) New South Wales Yes (23:00 to 06:00) Despite being the busiest airport in Oceania and a hub for the Asia-Pacific region, Sydney Airport has a late night curfew due to its location in the densely populated suburb of Mascot.[21]
Western Sydney New South Wales No Western Sydney Airport is currently under construction. However, due to its location away from densely populated suburbs, it will not have a curfew, unlike Sydney Airport.[22][23]

New Zealand

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Curfews at New Zealand international airports
Airport Curfew? Notes
Auckland No
Christchurch No [24]
Queenstown Yes (22:00 to 07:00) [25]
Wellington Yes (00:00 to 06:00) International arrivals allowed until 01:00.[26]


See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Night flight ban". Zurich Airport. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Budapest to Introduce Night Flight Ban in August". Hungary Today. 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Night flight bans put focus on noise management". Airport Business. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. ↑ AIP Germany. Version 06/16 (2016, May 26). AD 2 EDDF 1-16 (2.20.2.1.4).
  5. ↑ "DfT statement". UK Department for Transport. Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2017-03-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ "Curfew Information". Adelaide Airport.
  7. ↑ "Greens announce bill to impose curfew on late nights flights from Brisbane Airport | Australian Greens". 6 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 March 2026. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Cost to regional Queensland of Brisbane caps & curfew". Archived from the original on 2025-11-29. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  9. ↑ "Chapter3: Brisbane Airport" (PDF). Brisbane Airport (BNE). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-07-04. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  10. ↑ "Cairns Airport Guide". DriveNow.com.au.
  11. ↑ "Aircraft Noise". Canberra Airport.
  12. ↑ "Darwin International Airport Master Plan" (PDF). Darwin International Airport. 2017.
  13. ↑ "Faq's - Gold Coast Airport".
  14. ↑ "About us". Hobart Airport. Archived from the original on 2026-01-13. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  15. ↑ "Airlines". Melbourne Airport. Archived from the original on 2026-01-19. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  16. ↑ "Newcastle Airport | Itinerant aircraft". Archived from the original on 2026-05-22. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  17. ↑ "Perth Airport does NOT need a curfew — and here's why". 21 May 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  18. ↑ "Airport curfew will damage WA economy". 2 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "Perth YPPH Air Traffic Operations" (PDF). Bureau of Meteorology - Australian Government.
  20. ↑ "Managing noise impacts at Sunshine Coast Airport". Archived from the original on 2026-02-12. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  21. ↑ Opening Hours Archived 2026-05-08 at the Wayback Machine Sydney Airport
  22. ↑ Western Sydney Aerotropolis flight paths unfair councils say Archived 2026-05-26(Date mismatch) at megalodon.jp ABC News
  23. ↑ "FAQs | Western Sydney International Airport". Archived from the original on 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  24. ↑ "Mitigating the Impact of Noise - Christchurch Airport". www.christchurchairport.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2024-06-04. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  25. ↑ "Aviation Services & Charges". Queenstown Airport. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  26. ↑ "Airport noise". www.wellingtonairport.co.nz. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
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