Lufthansa Cargo will be able to maintain night flights out of Frankfurt following a recent ruling for the expansion of Frankfurt airport. Among measures approved is the construction of a fourth runway and the expansion of Frankfurt Airport City. However, to placate local residents, a total night-flights ban had been proposed as part of the solution, which would have severely disrupted Lufthansa Cargo’s lucrative Far East services.
LH Cargo had threatened huge local job losses and even suggested it might be forced to move to an alternative airport if the ban came into place. The agreement calls for a complete flights ban between 11 pm and 5 am ‘with the exception of freight carriers based at Frankfurt, which will be allowed 17 movements in this period’.
Currently the airline operates seven to eight movements daily during that period, so an expansion of over 100 per cent is possible. The building of the fourth runway has permission to begin, although it is unlikely to start until later in 2008.
Fraport board chairman, Dr Wilhelm Bender, called the ruling for the expansion of the airport a “historic day for Frankfurt Airport and for aviation in Germany”. He added that the 4 billion euro expansion was the biggest private enterprise investment project in Europe and was a huge employment generator that will create up to 100,000 additional jobs in the region.