Rescheduling of International Late-Night Flights

Noise Levels at International Airports       

      

This is to highlight the adverse impacts of the  present practice of majority of International Flights arriving and departing the Indian Airports around midnight / silent hours.  As a result, the quality of life of people in metros, living near the Airports and under the Flight Paths, is adversely affected by Noise levels, arising out of aircraft  and  from the surface access to airports, particularly from road transport, during silent hours .The permissible noise level limit in Residential areas during silent hours is 45 dB(A).

 

Why Preferential Treatment for West?

  

Because of the western countries' policy of shutting airports at night, the flights to Europe cannot leave India in late afternoon and reach there at midnight. If India were to go for night curfews, because of the growing concerns over quality of life for residents in metros, most flights will have to leave Europe at night, to reach India when the airports are open.

Level Playfield    

 At present, all international flight movement in India happens, in about 16 hours of the day, which means greater noise and emission levels of pollution for the concerned metros. Instead, the international flight movement – arrivals and departures- should be evenly spread out in 24 hours, taking care that late-night flights are minimized, to reduce the adverse impact on quality of life of the residents, in the neighbor hood of the Airports.

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