A Brussels press release on 27 February from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe rang alarm bells for hub operators—including Václav Havel Airport Prague—about **inconsistent application of the EU’s Noise Balanced Approach Regulation 598/2014**. ACI Europe Director-General Olivier Jankovec warned that several member states have introduced night-flight bans and other operating restrictions **without first exhausting quieter-aircraft incentives and land-use planning tools mandated by the regulation**. The trade body argues that such unilateral moves jeopardise connectivity, increase ticket prices and undermine Europe’s post-pandemic competitiveness. Prague Airport, which handled almost 16 million passengers in 2025, told Czech media it supports the ACI position. Management fears ad-hoc curfews elsewhere could disrupt transfer traffic patterns and force airlines to redeploy capacity away from Central Europe. The airport already operates differential noise charges that reward airlines flying new-generation Airbus A220 and Boeing 737-MAX aircraft; executives say further restrictions would punish early adopters while doing little for communities. For corporate mobility planners the stakes are tangible: late-evening inbound slots are crucial for same-day connections from Western Europe to Czech automotive and semiconductor plants, while outbound red-eye flights feed long-haul links via Frankfurt and Doha. **Any squeeze on night operations would lengthen trip times and drive up hotel costs for short-notice technical interventions.** ACI’s paper urges the European Commission to publish compliance guidance and threatens legal action against states that skip cost-benefit analyses before imposing curfews. Prague Airport says it will feed Czech-specific data into the consultation, citing studies that show a projected **32 % drop in highly annoyed residents by 2030** thanks to quieter fleets and continuous-descent procedures already in place. The outcome could shape slot availability and labour-planning assumptions for multinationals with regional HQs in Prague for years to come.
Source: ACI Europe press release
