‘Lift night curfew, see light of day’

India has requested the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to review night curfew restrictions imposed by some countries on the operation of airlines. In a paper presented to the ICAO, India has called for a review, arguing that the imposition of night curfew creates a mismatch in utilising infrastructure round-the-clock and hampers the growth of airlines.
“The concept of night curfew adversely affects the concept of free flow of air traffic and causes inconvenience to the travelling public. In addition, curfew at some airports during the night causes congestion at other times of the day, leading to an adverse impact on the environment,” said a senior Government official.
It has been pointed out that night curfew adds to the airspace capacity requirements during the day, thereby leading to congestion in the airspace. This, in turn, increases gaseous emissions due to increased holding time by aircraft, thereby further polluting the environment.
India has argued that with modern aircraft becoming quieter there was a need to review the existing curfew, since night curfew was resorted to by some airports because of the high levels of noise caused by aircraft with earlier designs.
22/10/07 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2007, General Aviation Oct 2007