Why are flights from India to North America usually late night?
My question is regarding Red-eye flights . Majority, if not all, flights from India are always after business hours. Few reasons I found on the internet:
- Fuel savings due to dense air
- European and US airports do not operate outside business hours.
- Even, US/European hegemony
My question is what is the real reason for such an arrangement?
Also, I had the confusion whether this question is more suitable to Aviation.SE or Travel.SE, but decided to post it here.
Best Answer
Flights are planned based on a variety of reasons, with one of the biggest reason being connecting with "banks" at the departing and arriving airports. Banks are time periods when a large percentage of flights land and depart at a hub airport. By timing your flights to arrive for the morning bank in the USA means easier connections for their passengers continuing on.
Other factors include landing costs which can vary at different times of day, weather patterns during the night vs day, traffic loads along the way, available gates at the airports.
No simple one answer fits all for this question.
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Why do international flights leave at night from India?
It's partly because some airports in developed countries impose night curfews, and partly because some airports around the world operate 24/7/365.Why international flights are late night?
# In the nights, flights are able to get direct routing and less waypoints. In common man language it means they get to fly on a route that is closest, without much turns and ups and downs, as they would during the day. # In nights, the air is denser, allowing flying at a lesser thrust.Why do flights in Middle East take off at midnight?
India and the Middle East are stuck in an era where flights are scheduled based on their arrival time in Europe and Asia. Almost all international flights from India leave in the middle of the night so they arrive in daylight at their destination.When normal flights will start from India to USA?
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Answer 2
One factor that hasn't been mentioned is noise abatement procedures which are put in place to avoid noise pollution.
For example, heathrow, gatwick and stansted all limit flights as they are located in urban areas; so if your flight is connecting through these airports, it may also dictate timings.
Boeing provides a comprehensive database that lists restrictions enforced at airports but its a bit more technical.
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