India asks West to lift 'night curfew' at airports

New Delhi: India has taken the first step towards ensuring that reaching Europe or US does not necessarily mean staying awake till 3 or 4 am for travellers boarding flights from India. At the recently concluded International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) meet in Montreal, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla asked the West to reconsider its policy of shutting airports at night.
And for good measure, he asked them to imagine what would happen there if India were to close its airports at night due to increasing concerns of noise pollution causing trouble to people living nearby. Currently, a majority of international flights arrive in India between 9 pm and 3 am. But if India were to go for night curfews because of the growing concerns over quality of life for residents of metros, most planes will have to leave Europe at night to reach here in time when airports open.
This immediately had the desired effect. While there was opposition from European states, who cited local laws, both the US and UK are learnt to have agreed to go in details of this demand.
The latest advancements in aviation technology has enabled drastic reduction in noise levels by having a far lower "noise footprint". All new-generation planes like the A380 or Boeing 787 boast of being super quiet both inside and outside the cabin. "Night movement can be restricted to such planes only," said a source.
ICAO is unlikely to take this demand lightly as India was re-elected to its council under the head of countries.
04/10/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007, Foreign Oct 2007