Night flights at Nuremberg airport rise as residents call for restrictions

Nuremberg is one of only three German airports allowed to operate around the clock, along with Hanover and Leipzig/Halle. At most other German airports, traffic stops between midnight and 5am. In Franconia it continues through the night.

Night flights there are up by about 30 percent, according to the airport's own figures cited in the report. On 11 September, 14 departures were scheduled during the night hours. Eight went to Antalya, with further services to Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Palma, Rhodes, Istanbul and Corfu listed in the airport's timetable.

The airport's chief executive, Michael Hupe, has said the 24-hour licence gives carriers a commercial advantage, letting them fly more rotations per day. A charter airline can manage up to three rotations a day to Turkey in summer, he said, if it can place its first and last flights in the night hours. Airlines earn money only while their aircraft are in the air, and the airport benefits financially too.

Hupe has also pointed to the airport's resilience in disruptions. Late landings remain possible, and diversions elsewhere would be costly. Cargo express operators also use the unrestricted hours.

The growth in night traffic has brought mounting opposition. Residents and conservation groups timed their protests to the end of the school holidays, and some now call for night operations to be stopped altogether.