Cologne extends night flights as airlines fight Frankfurt ban

Germany’s two leading cargo airports are taking diverging approaches to night flights for cargo and express airlines. Cologne/Bonn will permit night flights until 2030 but proposals to reduce flights at Frankfurt to just 17 flights a night are being opposed by airlines.

The existing permit for night operations at Cologne/Bonn will be extended from 2015 until 2030, although the airport operator will have to improve noise protection measures. There are currently about 120 take-offs and landings at night at Cologne/Bonn, mostly operated by cargo and express carriers.

Airport chief Michael Garvens welcomed the permit extension as “a fundamental contribution” to the airport’s future. It would give companies “relying on night flights” the planning security to invest over EUR 200 million within five years, and would guarantee 10,000 jobs, he said.

UPS completed a EUR 135 million expansion programme at its European air hub at Cologne in early 2006. This doubled the hub’s sorting capacity to 110,000 packages an hour. UPS operates both intercontinental and intra-European flights to and from its Cologne hub.

FedEx will transfer its Central European hub from Frankfurt to Cologne in 2010. The airport authority will spend about EUR 70 million building a new 50,000 sqm freight terminal that it will lease to FedEx, while the integrator will invest about EUR 70 million in sorting equipment and in the stationing of three MD-11s.

The German international express association BIEK welcomed the night flight extension at Cologne/Bonn, noting that night flights were an important factor for Germany with its high export quota. Uwe Detering, chairman of the aviation committee, commented: “The state government has set a clear signal for economic growth, more jobs and prosperity for the whole region.”

Meanwhile, leading German airlines have announced they will take legal action against plans to reduce the number of night flights at Frankfurt Airport from the current average of about 50 to just 17 once a new fourth runway is opened in 2011. The regional state of Hesse has proposed the cutback to reduce noise levels at nights for nearby residents in compensation for approving the additional runway which will increase the airport’s capacity by 50%.

Lufthansa, Deutsche Post and leisure airlines Condor and TUIfly all claim the night flight restrictions will impact on their operations and threaten more than 7,300 jobs. Lufthansa wants approval for 41 night flights, mostly for Lufthansa Cargo which operates its main hub at Frankfurt.