VA562 misses Sydney curfew but lines up for approach anyway

[jase05]

I believe the Bae146 is also approved, even though its a jet. Hence why they use them as freighters. This may have changed but it certainly was the case

Yes, our 146’s are approved but even that is nowhere near satisfactory for us and is costing us substantially so hence why WSI can’t come quick enough

 

[SeaWolf]

There's a list of the exemptions on the DoT's website:

Curfew at Sydney Airport

Summary of Key Features The Curfew Sydney Airport has a curfew in place that applies to aircraft operations between 11.00 pm and 6.00 am (local time).

www.infrastructure.gov.au

I have been on a delayed flight that took advantage of this exemption and took off a few minutes after 11pm.

Any aircraft that received taxi clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) before the curfew period starts.

If that was the case, why doesn't QantasLink run Q400 flights to/from SYD after 11pm? (Assuming there would be demand)

Looking at the MTOW of the Dash-8 Q400, I think that QantasLink probably could get the necessary noise certs and operate them after the curfew, but given their regional range it's probably not practical in demand terms. Who wants to fly down to Canberra at 11:30pm and arrive after midnight? There might be a handful of people if it was cheap enough, but certainly not enough to make it commercially viable.