Careful reading of the key reports published over the last decade and a half suggests many night flights are less essential than is often thought
What flies at night?
Night flights are different to day flights. During the day most flights using European airports are short-distance; only 13% are over 2,000 kilometres; nearly 80% are less than 1500km; the most common distance is around 500 km. During the ‘deep night’, between 12pm and 5pm, 30% of flights are long-distance flights (over 2000 kilometres). The other noticeable difference is the number of cargo flights at night. More than 40% of cargo flights take place between 11pm and 7am. 17% of non-scheduled flights take place during the night. Source: EuroControl Trends in Air Traffic Volume 5, 2009
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Why fly at night?
The EuroControl Report found that there are three reasons for night flights:
- The airlines use the last hours of the day and the first hours of the night to catch up on delays and ensure their aircraft are in the right place for the next day.
- Night flights allow the budget airlines and the non-scheduled airlines (usually operating holiday charter flights) to make full use of their aircraft. This keeps their costs down.
- Freight at night is necessary because customers want the goods the next day.
We deal with the freight argument first. Most freight does not need to arrive at night. A report from the International Logistics Quality Institute in 2004 found that just 10% of short-distance express freight is time-critical, with no evidence that most of the freight on long-distance night flights is time-critical.
The other two arguments for night flights – to ensure the aircraft are in the right place for the next day and to make full use of the planes – are simply for the benefit of the airlines. If they could not operate at night, they would be forced to offer fewer flights or buy more planes and fares may rise. A comprehensive European Commission report put it like this:
“the argument for night flights seems to be basically commercially rather than operationally driven.” Source: Assessing the Economic Cost of Night Flight Restrictions, European Commission 2005
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Does this rule out all night flights?
The European Commission report found:
“If the same restrictions apply to all the competing airlines flying the European long-haul routes, they do seem to be able to adapt their schedules and get over slot availability, congestion, and connections, and fly by day.”
That would be a huge ‘ask’, requiring international logistical changes. It could not be achieved by one country on its own.