Noise Abatement

Airport Commitment to Community

To maintain safe operations, take-off and landing patterns are primarily determined by wind direction and weather. Second to safety is the desire to minimize the impact of aircraft noise on residential areas. CVG has a longstanding commitment to addressing noise concerns:

  • Majority of nighttime activity is directed over less populated areas
  • Industry-leading flight tracking system monitors compliance
  • Designated departure corridors are designed to keep larger jets away from residential areas

During summer 2023, construction activity on CVG's airfield may impact usual flight patterns. Scroll below for more details.

South Flow North Flow Normal Nighttime Operations Nighttime Westerly Winds
Arrivals
Departures
Runways

Disclaimer: Plane animation is for visual understanding of runway use only. It is not an actual depiction of aircraft departures and arrivals.

Animation: South Flow
As winds are flowing from the south, aircraft are arriving from the north and departing to the south and west.
Arrivals
Departures
Runways

Disclaimer: Plane animation is for visual understanding of runway use only. It is not an actual depiction of aircraft departures and arrivals.

Animation: North Flow
As winds are flowing from the north, aircraft are arriving from the south and departing to the north and west. Aircraft departing to the north on runway 36C have to follow the river corridor.
Arrivals
Departures
Runways

Disclaimer: Plane animation is for visual understanding of runway use only. It is not an actual depiction of aircraft departures and arrivals.

Animation: Normal Nighttime Operations
In an effort to mitigate the effects of heavy nighttime airport activity, majority of nighttime activity is directed over the west side of the airport, as it is a less populated area. Aircraft arrive over the west onto runway 9 and depart to the west off of runway 27.
Arrivals
Departures
Runways

Disclaimer: Plane animation is for visual understanding of runway use only. It is not an actual depiction of aircraft departures and arrivals.

Animation: Nighttime Westerly Winds
Strong winds from the west preventing safe arrivals from the east. In this circumstance, aircraft arrive over the east and depart to the west.

 

Daytime Operations (7am-10pm): Aircraft takeoff and land into the wind. Based on historical south/southwest wind conditions at CVG, approximately 80% of the time aircraft land over the north (south flow) and takeoff to the south and west. North winds and poor weather conditions require north operations (takeoff to the north and west and land over the south), which is approximately 20% of the time. Large jets are required to adhere to noise abatement departure procedures established for each runway. Regional jets and/or prop aircraft can turn on course when instructed by Air Traffic Control.

 

Nighttime Operations (10pm-7am): The nighttime program at CVG was established to focus the majority of nighttime traffic over the west side of the airport (arrivals to Runway 9 over the west and departures from Runway 27 to the west). The center north/south runway (Runway 18C/36C) is designated as the alternate nighttime runway. 

View WebTrak for near real-time flight tracking

Beginning June 5th, there will be a temporary change in runway utilization due to the closure of Taxilane N to allow for airfield construction. This closure is currently scheduled to last until the beginning of September 2023. Please note that this closure may cause more than average flights to use north/south runways during this time based on operational flow. This includes nighttime operations. We appreciate your patience during this period while construction activity impacts airfield and airspace operations at CVG.

If you have a current noise concern you can: