Tourism Ministry Director-General Shaul Tzemach announced Sunday that the ministry would seek an end to the ban on flights from Ben Gurion Airport between the hours of 1:40 and 5:30 a.m.  The ban aims to reduce noise and minimize the airport’s impact on residents of surrounding towns.

Tzemach said removing the ban would help the airport handle a recent tourism boom, and would lead to an increase in flights that would add millions of dollars to the economy. Airlines asking to operate at night would be required to use quiet aircraft, he said.