Lufthansa Cargo dialogue on night-flight ban
Talking things over
An unusual discussion took place in the office of Karl Ulrich Garnadt in mid-November. The Lufthansa Cargo Chairman, together with Claus Richter, Vice President Transport Management and Flight Operations, had invited critics of night flights to an open debate. Besides Offenbach City Councillor Paul-Gerhard Weiß, two people from Mainz affected by aircraft noise – Barbara Laddey and Jürgen Schober – were also in attendance. Although no agreement on the need for night flights was reached during the 90-minute dialogue, the participants agreed at a farewell photo behind an MD-11 that the discussion had been good and should be continued.
Operations on the new runway Northwest of Frankfurt commenced on 21 October. Night flights in Frankfurt have been banned since 30 October. Both the airlines and local residents are dissatisfied with the situation. What’s your personal view?
Schober: The fact is – even before the opening of the new runway, flights over Mainz and the surrounding area had greatly increased in an easterly wind. Aircraft have noticeably been flying at a lower height since the spring. Since the opening of the new runway, the nuisance has so increased that enjoying life outdoors in good weather has become virtually impossible. In an easterly wind, we are totally exposed on our balcony in Mainz-Lerchenberg to approach flights on both runways – to the noise of jets from right and left. It’s like flight noise in stereo. With flights over their homes every 60 seconds now, residents in the region will obviously be asking themselves what the future holds when they’re told by the Fraport airport operator that air traffic is to increase substantially in the years to come.
Garnadt: No doubt about it: The new runway is subjecting people in the region to additional flight noise. A solution designed to compensate for that was defined in the approved zoning plan. It would have reduced the previous number of night flights from 50 to only 17 and greatly eased the burden on local communities. But the surprise ruling from the court in Kassel banning night flights is now jeopardising the development of Europe’s major logistics hub. So the opening of the new runway was not a good day for the logistics industry, despite the obvious need for expansion at Frankfurt Airport.
Laddey: It was a good day for residents in the Rhine-Main region, because they’ll now enjoy peace and quiet in the night. During mediation, a night-flight ban was definitely envisaged as a form of compensation for the new runway. The uproar over the court’s decision is beyond me, I can’t really understand it, since a possible ban had to be reckoned with. I ask myself why a company lacked the foresight to have a B plan in the drawer or did not modify its flight procedures in the first place.
Garnadt: We plan conscientiously and to the best of our knowledge, and we relied on the night flights approved by the airport operations coordinator. A final ruling on the nightflight issue is still pending from the highest administrative court in Leipzig. No one could have reckoned with a decision now from the court in Kassel, which was really no longer responsible for making a ruling. We have to fix a timetable for our flight schedules by a definite deadline: That timetable has to be coordinated with all the countries and airports o which we fly. We can’t work on two tracks, having one timetable with night flights and the other without. It simply wouldn’t work. We’d have preferred to have had legal security for our planning six months ago.
Weiß: Those arguments are difficult for people to understand. The mediation process clearly stipulated a night-flight ban to compensate for the new runway and the state assembly in Hesse endorsed that decision. And in earlier rulings, the administrative court in Kassel had always made it perfectly clear that a nightflight ban is crucial for offsetting the additional noise nuisance from the new runway.
Garnadt: In the debate, Lufthansa has always emphasised that a blanket ban on night flights constitutes an existential threat to the business model of the logistics industry. Apart from Frankfurt, none of the world’s other ten major airports have had a ban imposed on night flying. Closing this hub of the German export and logistics industry for six hours from 11 pm to 5 am will have a devastating impact on the Frankfurt base and thousands of employees.
Weiß: A strict intepretation of the meaning of a night-flight ban would halt all flights, even between 10 pm and 6 am. That’s what the law says. If an average of 17 nights were allowed, as the airlines want in the hours between 11 pm and 5 am, delays would be included as well.
How then can cities like Offenbach adopt a credible stance towards the Airport? That the Airport causes noise is indisputable, yet economically you profit immensely from it.
Weiß: Absolutely. For many people in Offenbach, the airport is a major employer. It offers jobs and interesting career prospects, and not only for highly qualified staff. The airport simply belongs in the Rhine-Main region and the local communities know that they have to live with it and the inconvenience. However, the decisive issue is where does the dividing line lie between business interests and the interests of local residents. Following the expansion of the airport, more than 1,000 flights daily will be routed over Offenbach. Meantime, new building projects are not permitted, or subject to restrictions, on around 80 per cent of the urban area. That is confronting local communities with major challenges. Incidentally, we do not share in business tax revenue, despite the enormous burdens. A night-flight ban as compensation, as well as noise reduction measures by the airlines and airport operators, are extremely important.
Richter: And that is precisely where we are making intensive efforts. The noise footprint of today’s aircraft is in some cases 70 per cent smaller than that of older models, like the Boeing 747-200, let alone that of military aircraft such as the Galaxy planes flown by the US army. In cooperation with air traffic control and the airport, we are, simultaneously, developing new and quieter landing procedures. The Segmented Approach, which Lufthansa Cargo was the first airline to introduce on night flights, has significantly reduced the noise nuisance in Offenbach, for instance.
Laddey: But the Segmented Approach is not used during the day. Other measures, such as a steeper approach or flying at higher altitudes are not included in the steps taken in Frankfurt. Moreover, when flights take off in a westerly direction and detour over the south, noise in Mainz increases perceptibly.
Richter: That’s true. But those procedures can only be flown when aircraft are separated farther apart, on a night with only 17 flight movements, for instance. The overriding priority is and remains flight safety. Given the huge number of aircraft taking off and landing in Frankfurt, the gliding approach, or so-called Continuous Descent Approach, is just not feasible at the airport.
Laddey: It would be possible, if capacity was reduced. Cost efficiency and growth cannot in the long run be the principal yardstick. Frankfurt is not a desert airport, that can expand limitlessly, it is located in a densely populated region. I believe that other cities, perhaps promoting their quietness and quality of life will in future prove more attractive to companies and service providers than the Rhine-Main region.
Garnadt: With all due respect, all the surveys reveal that companies establishing a presence in the Rhine-Main region name the airport as an important advantage. Frankfurt and its surroundings hardly resemble a health resort, but economic success and prosperity are making the region increasingly
attractive. The population figures are also rising steadily in towns in the immediate vicinity of the airport, ike Raunheim.
Richter: It should not be forgotten, either, that we as Lufthanseats live in the region and have set down firm roots here. In the emotional discussions, that tends to be overlooked.
Schober: Lufthansa Cargo has had to restructure its timetable as a result of the night-flight ban. We appreciate that that was virtually impossible at such short notice, because you never reckoned with the ruling reached by the administrative court in Kassel. But given that, it would now be better to seek long-term alternatives to keep Lufthansa Cargo operating on a profitable basis.
Garnadt: Such a solution will unfortunately not work. The relocation of individual flights to Cologne/Bonn is merely a makeshift expedient introduced in the winter timetable in response to the surprise ruling from Kassel. Those flights are economically and ecologically absurd. Generally, we transport about half our freight on board passenger aircraft. But networking between passenger aircraft and freighters is only a realistic proposition in Frankfurt – and it’s essential for the sustained success of our business model.
What lies ahead for Frankfurt Airport with noise abatement measures in the coming years? And what are you expecting from the ruling that is scheduled to be reached by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig next year?
Laddey: I’m hoping that the Federal Administrative Court will endorse a night-flight ban between 10 pm and 6 am on 13 March next year. Furthermore, additional measures to reduce noise must be implemented, even if the capacity and earning potential of the airport is reduced with steeper approach procedures.
Garnadt: I’ll be perfectly frank. At the Frankfurt base, we and our employees want to remain the world’s most successful cargo airline. To that end, we need a limited number of economically essential night flights. I hope the Federal Administrative Court will appreciate and recognise that need. Irrespective of that, we will continue our noise abatement measures by investing in new aircraft and technologies.
Weiß: It is important that the issue be discussed on equal terms by all those involved – politicians, the people and industry. That has not always been the case in the past and it has cost the politicians in particular immense credibility. In parallel, intensive efforts need to be invested in active noise abatement – there’s vast potential still to be explored on that score.
Richter: I’m hoping, too, that the Leipzig ruling will permit the necessary night flights at the world’s seventh biggest airport. Simultaneously, we will continue to work consistently on active noise protection. Lufthansa Cargo will continue to set the pace, as it has done with the Segmented Approach. With our relatively small fleet, we are also predestined to pursue a pioneering role. At the same time, I’m convinced that we’ll succeed in containing aircraft noise so as to ease discomfort and inconvenience for the majority of the people living in the airport vicinity.
Schober: During this round of discussions, we are in any case prepared to continue the talks. It is important that we sit at the same table with the Lufthansa Executive Board, Fraport and Air Traffic Control to seek joint solutions for the region
Chaired and recorded by Nils Haupt and Michael Göntgens