A night flight ban could be imposed at Cologne/Bonn airport in Germany following yesterday’sconfirmation of a full ban at Frankfurt but this would only stop passenger flights and leave
night-time UPS and FedEx services unaffected.Germany’s top court in Leipzig yesterday ruled that no scheduled flights will be allowed atFrankfurt Airport between 23.00 and 05.00, confirming a temporary ban imposed last autumn by alower court in a long-running dispute over night-time noise levels at Germany’s largestairport.
The ban hits Lufthansa Cargo and air freight forwarders most of all. Lufthansa Cargo CEO KarlUlrich Garnadt declared: “On North Atlantic routes in particular, the night-time departure isindispensable for our customers. The migration of urgent express products to other hubs in Europewill continue.” Lufthansa Cargo relied on transporting freight both on cargo and passenger planesvia Frankfurt, and switching to other airports “is impossible”, he stressed.
In response to the Leipzig decision, the minister-president of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW),Hannelore Kraft, said that she now wanted to press ahead with long-standing plans for a night banon passenger flights at Cologne/Bonn airport, where residents have long protested about noiselevels. A night ban on passenger flights was agreed by the regional Social Democrat – Greencoalition government. However, Germany’s most populous state now faces early elections on May13.
“The procedure for the introduction of a night-time core period of quiet from 00.00 to 05.00 forpassenger aircraft at Cologne/Bonn airport is nearly concluded,” she told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeigernewspaper.
But Kraft stressed that cargo flights, which comprise the bulk of flights during the night atCologne, would be excluded from any ban. “Freight flights are not up for discussion,” she stated. “We welcome here the use of new, quieter aircraft and expect noise protection to be improved.”Night-time freight flights are permitted until 2030 under the airport’s long-term operatinglicence.
Both UPS and FedEx have invested heavily in hubs at Cologne/Bonn airport and are major employersat the airport.
UPS is currently in the midst of a $200 million expansion of its 30,000 sqm European air hub atCologne. This will increase sorting capacity by 70% from the present 110,000 to 190,000 packagesper hour upon completion at the end of 2013. UPS employs some 2,300 people at the Cologne air hub,with a further 200 jobs expected once the expansion is completed. A total of 38 flight departuresoperate nightly for UPS from Cologne.
The company has also stressed that Cologne will be its main European hub in the long runfollowing the planned takeover of TNT Express, although Liege, the base of TNT Airways, will remainan important facility.
FedEx moved its Central & Eastern Europe hub from Frankfurt to Cologne in 2010. More than500 employees work at the €140 million, 51,000 sqm facility which can sort up to 18,000 parcels anddocuments an hour. FedEx operates 66 weekly flights through the hub, mostly intra-European feederflights, but about half are during the day and only a small number are during the “core” nighthours. Last month, FedEx introduced a B777F to operate its four weekly Cologne-Memphis flights inplace of an older MD-11 freighter, thus quietening noise levels.
