Proposed legislation banning scheduled flights to take off or land at Budapest’s international Liszt Ferenc Airport between midnight and 5 am will come into effect in just a few days, on August 1. According to news site Hvg.hu the proposal most likely will only prohibit planes landing from the direction of the downtown or Pestszentlőrinc, thus instead of the capital, the agglomeration would receive the noise pollution.
As we have previously reported, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós has announced the city will propose a flight ban at Budapest’s international Liszt Ferenc Airport between midnight and five am to reduce noise pollution in the area. Meanwhile, a long-term proposal will move cargo aircraft and low-cost airline flights to another airport, further away from Budapest.
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Hvg.hu has asked the airport’s communications directorate about the exact rules and future restrictions of air transport in regards to the night flight ban.
“The required legislation and operating procedures are being amended.” – Budapest Airport wrote. The reply was sent on July 24, which means that these planned changes were still pending at that time. According to the Airport, there is a continuous professional consultation aimed at minimizing air traffic over Budapest between the midnight and five am deep sleep period, however, there is only one week left to implement the plan.
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There are still three airlines – Wizz Air, Ryanair and British Airways – with scheduled flights landing between this period in Budapest. It comes as no surprise, however, that according to their August flight schedules, all three companies planned their after-midnight flights just like before.
The news site also contacted the affected airlines. If the restriction comes into effect, it will not be possible to take off or land over the capital between 0 and 5 o’clock, “however, access to Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport from the southeast will still be available.” Therefore, the restriction does not affect Wizz Air’s flight schedule – Wizz Air wrote.
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This implies that the only proposal which does not require to change the time schedules will be likely introduced: demanding planes not to land from the direction of the downtown or Pestszentlőrinc only from Monor. This way air traffic would not decrease, only instead of Budapest the agglomeration would receive the noise the same noise pollution.
Still, experts say that even moderate winds threaten the landing of flights coming from the direction of Monor, while airlines complain that they have to deal with delays either due to the mistakes of air traffic control or some other reason.
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