Airport Director Paul-Gerhard Weiß welcomes the announcement by Hesse's Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir to increase the pressure on the airline Ryanair due to the many delayed landings.
"The night flight restrictions for Frankfurt Airport stipulated in the planning approval decision in 2007", explains Weiß, "also allow landings after 11 p.m. until 11.59 p.m. at the latest as an exception." Landings after 11 p.m. therefore do not automatically constitute a violation of the night flight ban. The decisive factor is therefore whether the delays already result from the flight schedule.
Ryanair is responsible for the majority of delayed landings. In March alone, there were 29 delayed Ryanair landings. "There is a strong suspicion that this is due to the flight scheduling and the Minister must intervene here to prevent the airline from dancing around on its nose and damaging the health of the people affected in the region, as well as to prevent illegal competitive advantages over its competitors," Weiß clarifies.
The flight data of the particularly frequently delayed flights at Frankfurt Airport have been handed over by the Ministry to the responsible regional council for examination. The experts are now to determine whether an administrative offense has been committed
If this is the case, appropriate sanctions could be imposed, according to the head of the airport department. Proven violations of the night flight ban could be punished with a fine of up to 50,000 euros as part of administrative offense proceedings by the responsible Darmstadt Regional Council.
Councillor Weiß refers to the fears that the city had already expressed in the run-up to the approval of so-called low-cost airlines at Frankfurt Airport by the Hessian Ministry of Economics that more aircraft noise would inevitably be generated. In this context, he also regrets the state government's paradigm shift in the state development plan to develop Frankfurt Airport primarily as a hub, but also to allow airlines such as Ryanair to take off and land, lured by Fraport with discounts, and not to position this air traffic at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport as originally planned.