The Council also decided to convert the draft Directive into a draft Regulation so as to ensure the measures come into force at an early date. Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock has also begun a preliminary investigation into harmonising EU rules banning night flights, looking into the development of guidelines on where bans should apply, for how long and on what aircraft types. In its review of the hushkit directive, the Environment Committee of the European Parliament recommended that night flights for hushkitted aircraft be banned. Freight industry representatives have already indicated their opposition so it's not sure how the plenary session of the EP will vote. Noise nuisance is an important issue as it is often one of the negative effects of aviation that is most directly felt.
Many airports argue that they have to allow night flights to compete with other airports.
However night flights cause relatively more noise nuisance than flights by day. In Europe, there is no overall policy guideline for night flights, some airports have a night ban and some do not. In view of this, noisy airplanes are being fitted with so-called hushkits. A hushkit is a device that reduces noise emissions, but hushkitted planes still produce a lot more noise than modern engines and they increase the amount of emissions. The Community has, since 1992, introduced a series of Directives aiming to reduce the environmental impact of air transport.