LHR Night Curfew [Archive]

starliner

16th Sep 2016, 16:56

According to FR24 this morning, there was very little inbound hold between 5am and 6am Uk local time. Was the curfew suspended due to French ATC issue? Or just coincidental?

HEATHROW DIRECTOR

16th Sep 2016, 18:38

If the curfew was suspended, surely the skies would be teeming?

Talkdownman

16th Sep 2016, 19:23

It was 'teeming' this morning between 0500 and 0600. Never have I seen or heard CBs like it before...

LostThePicture

16th Sep 2016, 21:49

The curfew is occasionally relaxed in the event of bad weather, basically so that LHR isn't starting the game at 0600L with a holding delay of 20 mins+ which will only deteriorate.

The more usual reason for a relaxation is fog, however on this occasion the powers-that-be may have decided that the risk of thunderstorm activity was reason enough for traffic to be allowed to land early.

LTP

DaveReidUK

17th Sep 2016, 08:23

Heathrow doesn't have a "curfew", so the question of it being "suspended" doesn't arise.

I suspect what the OP is referring to is the Night Quota, which limits the number of movements between 23:30 and 06:00. For example, during the Summer season (April to October) a maximum total of 3,250 movements is allowed during the Night Quota period.

There is no per-day limit on night flights provided the season limit isn't exceeded (which it never is in summer) and so the fact that there were 9 more flights than normal landing before 06:00 yesterday morning didn't necessitate any relaxation of the restrictions.

Having said that, during periods of severe disruption (including weather-related), Heathrow is allowed to grant dispensations from the night restrictions for small numbers of flights so that they aren't counted against the season's quota.

HEATHROW DIRECTOR

17th Sep 2016, 09:04

The term "curfew" has been in use at Heathrow for as long as I remember but I know all about the quotas, etc.

DaveReidUK

17th Sep 2016, 11:48

The term "curfew" has been in use at Heathrow for as long as I remember

Fair enough.

I'd always put it down in the past to sloppy journalism, together with the frequently used "night jet ban". :O

LostThePicture

17th Sep 2016, 23:32

It appears I should give up the day job in favour of swallowing more books...

Hopefully the OP found the answer s/he was looking for somewhere here. :rolleyes:

LTP