Airlines accused of deliberately violating curfew at Orly

Airlines have multiplied breaches of curfew rules this summer at French airports, in particular at Paris-Orly, the scene of “deliberate breaches“, Accused Thursday the independent authority controlling these nuisances. “There has been a very strong increase in overflow thefts“, beyond the start of the curfew, in force on several airport platforms including Ile-de-France, or in violation of the companies’ commitments, the president of the Airport Nuisance Control Authority (Acnusa) told AFP. , Gilles Leblanc.

These airliners late and landing in the middle of the night, it causes “obviously an increase in local tensionsand protests from local residents’ ociations and political leaders, he warned. This problem is, according to Gilles Leblanc, due to flight programs that are too ambitious and without margin of error: the model low cost airlines is to fly their aircraft all day in a chain of rotations, and any delay is reflected until the end of the day.

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A “calamitous health, environmental and climate essment”

In Orly, subject to curfew from 11:30 p.m., late planes can request exemptions from the General Directorate of Civil Aviation to land after this limit. If they don’t get it, they divert to Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG), where the curfew is at 12:30 a.m., but it also happens that they land after the fateful hour. And the next day, “they leave Roissy first thing in the morning for a 10-minute flight to reposition themselves at Orly“, was indignant Gilles Leblanc, denouncing a”calamitous health, environmental and climatic balance sheet“. In July alone, CDG saw “113 arrivals in presumption of default– the fault not being characterized until the case has been judged -, of which 50 were diverted from Orly.

Some companies have even forced the curfew at Orly, an offense which can cost them up to 40,000 euros in fines but which is not necessarily dissuasive according to Mr. Leblanc. In Nantes too the situation isvery problematic“:”We have already received 183 prosecution filesfor alleged violation of the curfew since the beginning of the year, against “210 last year for the whole year“, he revealed. And if the companies tend to place the responsibility for these delays on air traffic control – indeed in a tense situation in Europe -, Gilles Leblanc estimates, in view of the files investigated, that they are mainly due to a “disorganization» carriers.