A campaign group has lodged a formal complaint against North Somerset Council over the number of flights Bristol Airport is allowed to land after its late-night curfew, in a dispute that has been building since at least 2024 and was confirmed this week. Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN), a coalition of local residents, parish councils and environmental campaigners, says the council has failed to stop what it calls the airport's "continued abuse" of a system that lets delayed flights land after 11.30pm without counting against an annual limit.
Under its planning permission, Bristol Airport is capped at 4,000 night-time "air traffic movements" (landings or take-offs between 11.30pm and 6am) over a year. The airport can apply for a dispensation, exempting a delayed flight from that cap if it was due to an emergency or exceptional circumstances. BAAN says records show between 800 and 900 flights a year have been granted dispensation for the last three years running, which it argues shows the exemption has become routine rather than exceptional.
"This consistent pattern, sustained across three years, demonstrates that dispensations have become a routine mechanism allowing airlines at Bristol Airport to operate an additional 800 to 900 night flights each year," said BAAN campaigner Mary Collett. She and Cllr Ben Moss, who chairs the Parish Councils Airport Association representing 27 parish and town councils around the airport, say the system lets the airport's own manager decide which flights qualify for dispensation, with limited oversight from the council.
Bristol Airport disputes the complaint. The airport says it has done nothing wrong and operates within its existing planning conditions, and it says it reports night flights and dispensations to North Somerset Council regularly. The airport also told campaigners it does not recognise a council briefing document, obtained via a freedom of information request, which described the airport manager as having "unfettered power" to decide which flights are exempted.
The complaint comes as Bristol Airport pursues a separate planning application to increase its passenger capacity to 15 million a year, which would also raise its permitted number of flights, making the night-flight dispute part of a wider fight over the airport's growth plans.
This was reported by Bristol Live (Bristol Post) and Bristol247, both of whom confirmed the complaint and quoted BAAN's and the airport's positions directly.
What this means for your journey: this dispute is about aircraft noise for nearby residents rather than flight schedules for passengers, so current departures and arrivals are unaffected. If you are arriving late or departing early, our [taxis guide](/taxis/) covers getting away from the airport outside regular public transport hours.