German Deutsche Post improves night airmail network
Deutsche Post is continuing to improve its night airmail network. From March 29 this year, the number of flights transporting mail within Germany will be reduced from 23 to 20 per night. Trucks and sprinters will take the place of the canceled flights – with neither a loss in quality nor a time delay for the customer. This improvement will also bring further relief to Frankfurt am Main airport.
Nuremberg airport will no longer form part of the night airmail network. The number of take-offs and landings at Frankfurt airport will fall due to the elimination of the Nuremberg – Frankfurt – Nuremberg route and the reduction of flights between Frankfurt and Cologne from 15 to 12 per night.
By taking this step, Deutsche Post is again reacting to the environmental discussion and the associated threat of a ban on night flights. The company already reduced nighttime flight activity at Frankfurt by a total of eleven take-offs or landings in October 2000, January 2002 and April 2003. For reasons of quality, however, the company cannot entirely do without this airport, which is one of the most important airmail hubs.
Apart from the three night flights from and to Frankfurt, both direct flights from Cologne to Leipzig and from Cologne to Berlin/Tegel are being canceled. The new Cologne – Berlin/Schönefeld route will integrate the capital even more effectively into the network, while the shift to Schönefeld will reduce nighttime flight activity at Tegel. In addition, smaller and therefore quieter aircraft will be employed on four routes.
