Originally Posted by channa
Terrorism? Please. That's the most overused excuse in the book.
The perimeter rule is actually a legacy rule back from before the days of the A319/A320 or Next Generation 737s. The goal of the rule was two-fold: 1) to facilitate the growth of Dulles since it was in the middle of nowhere, and 2) to ensure smaller aircraft at DCA due to noise concerns as the surrounding area is quite populated.
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If I remember correctly there was a night time limitation and I believe the last flighst came in before 10pm ( could be wrong but it was something like that). Now I think the last flight in of the day is like mid-night. Not sure about departures (noiser then arrivals) but I think that's most limited by demand. There may be some 10pm departures not sure.
Don't think airlines fly only older nosier jets to DCA. Se pretty much the same you see everywhere else depending on Airline.