Hesse welcomes Deutsche Post plans to reduce night flights from 2005
Deutsche Post AG is to further reduce its night air mail network in stages from the start of the summer air schedule in March 2005. This will lead to a considerable reduction in night aircraft movements, particularly at Frankfurt am Main airport. Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel, Chairman of the Board of Management at Deutsche Post World Net, explained the planned changes in talks with the Minister-President of Hesse, Roland Koch. Minister-President Koch was pleased about the planned reduction of night flights and unequivocally welcomed Deutsche Posts plans. He said that they were the successful result of the regional governments efforts to reduce noise nuisance at night even before the expansion of the airport.
The restructuring of the night air mail network and the shift toward more road haulage will lead to a reduction in the number of night flights in the Deutsche Post mail network from 20 today to 14 in 2005, and the current figure will be cut by half as a result of a further reduction to ten in 2006. The people of Frankfurt am Main in particular will benefit from the restructuring, as the overnight air mail star-formation route will be discontinued and replaced by direct flights.
In future, just four night flight movements will be needed for letter mail in Frankfurt, instead of the current twelve. From 2006, a further reduction to two flight movements is planned. In making these changes in its mail transport, Deutsche Post is realizing additional savings potential while at the same time further reducing the environmental impact of the services it provides. The new network structure also guarantees that there will be no reduction in quality for customers with regard to Deutsche Posts excellent mail transit times.
“Within the context of our efforts to achieve the most efficient utilization of our networks, the impact on the environment plays a special role, both with regard to noise nuisance and emissions. Deutsche Post is endeavoring to keep the burden on citizens to a minimum, while at the same time guaranteeing its outstanding quality of service. So in making changes to the night air mail network, we are also fulfilling our social responsibility,” said Klaus Zumwinkel. However, the Chairman of the Group was of the opinion that even in Germany, sufficient possibilities for night flights were indispensable for German business in order to remain internationally competitive in the long term.
Minister-President Koch welcomed Deutsche Post?s announcement. The cancellation of eight to ten night flight movements represented a considerable reduction in the burden on people living in the Frankfurt area. In giving up a large number of night flights, Deutsche Post had responded to peoples justified concerns and had accepted its social responsibility. The Hessian regional government sees this as an endorsement of its policies for the further development of Rhine-Main airport.
