BRUSSELS AIRPORT TO BAN NIGHT FLIGHTS
The Belgian government plans to ban all late night flights at Brussels’ international airport, home to DHL International, by 2003, Belgian news sources have reported.
Widebody planes will be banned from takeoff or landing at the airport between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. beginning in 2001. In the summer of 2003, all flights will be banned between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.
The flight ban, part of a growing movement around the world to reduce aircraft noise, hits cargo carriers particularly hard. Most cargo flights leave and arrive at night after passenger flights have ended.
DHL, which operates its European hub in Brussels, said the government action puts 6,000 jobs at risk, because DHL may be forced to move its main sorting operation.