September 13, 2024 saw the biggest revolt yet against night flights. Well over 100 organisations from across the globe called for a ban on nights.

Night flights are hated by people. They are bad for our health. And most of them are not needed.

Why fly at night?

The EuroControl Report (Trends in Air Traffic Volume 5, 2009) found that there are three reasons given 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 as far back as 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.

John Stewart’s Weblog 15 September 2024