France’s night flights and the €13m question behind airport fines

France's airport curfews cannot be understood from a single national clock. A flight departing Paris-Orly shortly after its permitted window may face a different legal test from one operating overnight at Charles de Gaulle or Nantes. A regulation signed in July 2025 has made the moment an aircraft leaves its stand at Orly, rather than simply its take-off, especially important. That seemingly small distinction affects how airlines schedule aircraft, crews and connecting passengers. For people who live beneath the flight paths, it also determines what the authorities count as a breach.

Now consider the headline figure. France's airport-noise watchdog ACNUSA imposed more than €13 million in penalties in 2025. It is tempting to treat that sum as proof of record numbers of unlawful late-night flights. But enforcement data are more complicated. Airports operate under different restrictions, fines can arrive long after the flight concerned and one operator can account for an unusually large share of cases. The central question is not simply who was fined, but whether these rules are protecting the hours in which residents are trying to sleep.