FRANKFURT, Germany, 5 April 2012. A ban on night flights will remain in effect until further notice at Frankfurt Airport, Germany -- Europe's third-busiest air hub -- which could impose severe long-term financial difficulty on the German flag passenger carrier Lufthansa, which operates at Frankfurt as the airline's primary operating base.
A German court ruled Wednesday ruled that night-flight regulations defined in a planning approval notice cannot be sustained, which means that a ban on flights from Frankfurt between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. will remain in force until further notice.
Lufthansa officials say they need night flights at Frankfort to enable the airline's cargo operations to compete effectively with up-and-coming cargo operations airports in the Middle East, adding that the night-flight ban at Frankfurt is "a terrible blow for Germany as a business location."
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Lufthansa had been allowed 17 nighttime cargo flights until residents near Frankfort Airport went to court to prohibit flights during six late-night hours. The court ruled in favor of local residents last October just before the airport opened a fourth runway.
Since then, regular Monday protests at the airport have also seen as many as 5,000 protesters calling for the ban to be extended by two hours each night and for the new runway to be shut down, according to Reuters.
"There is no doubt that one of Europe’s largest hubs will fall behind in international competition,” says Christoph Franz, chairman of the executive board and chief executive officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
For more information contact Frankfort Airport online at www.frankfurt-airport.com, or Lufthansa at http://investor-relations.lufthansa.com.
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