TFC answers. Why is it that many airports around the world take off and land all night, while we don't fly

TFC responds is our column in which we try to dispel doubts, clarify rules and occasionally satisfy the curiosity of our readers

In fact, it is a question we often receive, declined in similar ways, and so we decided to prepare this article.

One indication is given by ITA Airways' last flight times for the day between Rome (Fiumicino) and Milan (Linate). The last one from the capital takes off at 10 p.m. and lands at the Milan city airport at 11:10 p.m., while in the opposite direction the last departure is at 9 p.m. with landing in the capital at 10:10 p.m.

Briefly stated: after 11 p.m., between Italy's two largest cities, no flying. And a similar thing happens among major cities in other European countries.

The same happens in North America, where after 10-11 p.m. traffic drops sharply, made exception for so-called 'red eye' flights leaving the West Coast in the late or very late evening to arrive at dawn on the East Coast. And they, too, are a relative novelty in the sense that until about 30 years ago they did not exist.

On the contrary, anyone who has traveled in Asia will have seen airports open at full capacity 24/7 and flights departing and arriving at all hours of the night. How do you explain this Huge difference between commercial air transport in the West and that existing elsewhere in the world (but especially in Asia, understood as the Middle East, Indian sub-continent, and Far East)?

The reasons are environmental, economic, and social, but all can be traced back to the 'high level of quality of life to which those living in the most developed regions of the planet are accustomed.

Let's start with ground-level considerations: Which of you would fly between Rome and London if the flight departure time was 2 a.m., arriving at 4:30 a.m.? Almost none. And those few They would only do it if the ticket price was very low, significantly lower than flights on the same route operated between 6-7 am and 11-24 pm.

For the company that would operate that link It would mean collecting little or nothing, due to airplane anyway half empty and fares to the bone, moreover in nighttime hours that would have higher personnel-related costs than daytime hours. Better, then, to leave the planes parked on the ground rather than in the air under those conditions. Some low-cost (with personnel costs significantly lower than those of full-service carriers) sta trying to probe these time slots., with flights operating after midnight to and from Eastern European destinations. But those connections are still white flies.

And here we come to the discussion of quality of life, speaking of which while for most of us Western Europeans or North American inhabitants it would be unacceptable to take a plane at two in the morning to get just a couple of hours of volo, in other regions of the planet (including some former Soviet bloc countries) is.

It should also be considered that air transportation does not only mean airplanes, airlines and aircrew, but also airports and ground personnel, whether they are check-in, duty free or bar and restaurant workers or baggage and ramp staff.

It is clear that The possibility of a large volume of night flights would result in the need to have a workforce nearly twice as large as that now employed at airports in Europe and North America. And even here, the cost-benefit ratio, for the companies operating the airports, would be too unbalanced on the former.

Finally, staying on the subject of airports, it should not be forgotten that some of Europe's major airports have nightly 'curfews,' nightly curfews (usually between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.) aimed at safeguarding the quality of rest (and back to the quality of life theme) Of the communities living nearby.

This measure affects some of Europe's major airports, including. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and the City in London, Amsterdam Schipol, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich, just to name a few. In Italy, it is forbidden to land and take off after 10 or 11 p.m. at Florence and Ciampino.

In other airports, Italian and European, the number of slots that can be operated between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. is significantly reduced compared to daytime hours and is mostly filled by cargo operators.

Of course, landing (or leaving) in the middle of the night and finding airports operating at full capacity as they do in Dubai, Doha, Delhi, Bangkok or Singapore has its appeal. But it is highly unlikely, at least in the short to medium term, that this will happen in our neck of the woods.

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