[sokoloff]

We have a local field with an 11P-7A curfew (landing/takeoff surcharge technically).

I’m not sure it does much to keep the airport quiet as I’ve been in a holding orbit of three low-altitude airplanes from 6:45 AM to 7:00 with all of us waiting to avoid the curfew fee.

So, instead of slipping relatively quietly into the field from a random route to a straight-in, neighbors got to hear me orbit for three rectangular patterns over the same ground points plus two other airplanes doing the same low-altitude holding. If I were a neighbor, I’d much rather the simple straight-in to be encouraged.

The sports teams all just pay the fee; I never had to break the 11PM side while I was based there, but I would have as well. (It was less than an hour’s worth of gas, so it wouldn’t make sense to divert and reposition later.) I suspect the curfew makes people feel good while making the actual experience worse.

[angry_octet]

The curfew at Sydney is $1M (USD 730K), so large that airlines go to considerable lengths not to violate it, making sure they have accurate forecasts for the winds from LAX and running predictive models for various landing scenarios. They will really burn avgas if they can squeak it in before curfew, and they have been known to divert flights to Canberra or Brisbane and put the passengers into a hotel overnight rather than risk it.

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/environmental/cur...

[ric2b]

But those extra 15 min in the air cost money, so it's still an incentive to not plan on arriving before the curfew ends.