What will ‘alleviating’ the ban on night flights mean?

Simon Calder talks night flights, Athens airport, airlines’ duty of care and the effectiveness of train strikes

Lighting the way: some departures to Heathrow are held on the ground so they do not arrive in the middle of the night (Getty/iStock)

Q After the aviation chaos this week, the transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he was going to put in place “temporary alleviations to allow night flights” at some airports. What does this mean in practice?

Name supplied

A The one major UK airport with significant night-flight restrictions is London Heathrow. No departures are scheduled between 10.50pm and 6am, nor arrivals between 10.55pm and 4.40am. Note those are scheduled times, and arrivals can vary; Heathrow also has a voluntary ban in place that prevents flights from landing before 4.30am. Some arrivals from South Africa and Australia are held on the ground before departure so they don’t arrive too early.