The Hindu Business Line : ‘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.

Quieter engines

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.

The ICAO has already upgraded the noise requirements and today aircraft for interstate operations are certified to Chapter 3 standards. These aircraft are typically quieter by 20 dB than the earlier aircraft designs, which translates into a 75 per cent reduction in noise. Chapter 3 standards were adopted in 2001 and became applicable on January 1, 2006.

Now the Chapter 4 noise standards are more stringent than those in Chapter 3. The new standards would apply to newly certified aircraft that would be 10 dB quieter than Chapter 3 designed aircraft.

The paper points out that the earlier aircraft, which were certified for Chapter 2 design requirements, can also be modified by incorporating engine hush-kits to produce less noise in dBs and associated with ATC procedures and they too can effectively bring down noise levels.

Making a case for doing away with night curfew, India has said that Frankfurt airport’s share of noisy aircraft has dropped from 49 per cent to 9 per cent, which indicates that the operation of noisy aircraft is getting reduced while the operation of quieter aircraft is on the increase. Night curfew, which generally exists for seven to eight hours, is imposed from around 10 p.m. by several countries around the globe.

In Europe alone, night curfew affects flights operated by Air India and Jet Airways to Birmingham, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Brussels.

Growth Pressure

Further, India has pointed out that growth in the air transport industry needed additional improved airspace and infrastructure capacity.

The ICAO estimates that airlines last year carried an estimated 2 billion passengers with this year’s average additional passenger growth estimated at 2.8 billion.

“Growth in the air transport industry needs additional improved airspace and infrastructure capacity and therefore it is necessary to review the need to continue with night curfew at airports,” said a Government official.

Interestingly, India had presented a similar proposal in 2003 where it had argued that the practice of night curfew leads to restrictive air traffic handling capacity situations.