Frankfurt Aircraft Noise Commission calls for significantly higher noise charges and an end to incentive programs

The noise surcharges at night from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. are to be increased by at least 350 to 500 percent. According to the existing fee schedule, noise surcharges at Frankfurt Airport are only levied at 200 percent.

Other airports, such as Hamburg and, from September 2019, Zurich, demand surcharges of 300 to 500 percent during this time.

In the opinion of Airport Director Weiß, the economic advantages of delayed flights must also be eliminated at Frankfurt Airport.

The quiet period between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. agreed in the talks on the construction of Runway Northwest is referred to as the mediation night.

In addition, the noise charges in the off-peak hours from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and separate noise surcharges for late flights were to be increased significantly.

Up to now, the noise surcharges in these hours have amounted to 50 percent. As these are flights during the legal night, which is already particularly worthy of protection under the Air Traffic Act, flights should also be subject to significantly higher noise surcharges during the off-peak hours than during the day.

A significant proportion of the drastic increase in flights after 10 pm in 2018 was caused by flights that were scheduled to take place before 10 pm. "The reduction in delays of flights scheduled during the day on the legal night leads to a delay domino effect that continues into the mediation night." The Aircraft Noise Commission is therefore calling for an increase of 150 percent in these off-peak hours.

According to the current coalition agreement of the Hessian state government, aircraft that still meet the outdated technical standards should no longer be allowed to operate at Frankfurt Airport in future. In the opinion of the Executive Board of the Aircraft Noise Commission, this plan of the Hessian state government should be prepared and supported by correspondingly high noise surcharges during the day and significantly higher ones at night at the level of airport charges.

Noise charges currently account for only 13.6 percent of total charges at Frankfurt Airport. The remaining proportion of charges relates to other reference values. "In order to give the use of low-noise aircraft at Frankfurt Airport significantly greater weight than before and to make the intended steering effect a reality, the noise-related share of charges should be gradually increased from 2020 and reach a share of at least 30 percent of the total charges after five years at the latest," says Weiß.

Air traffic has increased significantly, particularly in recent years. This is due to Fraport AG's incentive programs, which have been in place since 2014. The growth rates at Frankfurt Airport in 2018 alone were around 8 percent, both in terms of the number of passengers and flight movements.

"This strong increase", states Commissioner Weiß, "also had an impact on the significant increase in delayed flights both after 10 p.m. and after 11 p.m.". There is currently no sign of a significant structural improvement in the delay situation in the short term, which means that the number of delayed flights will continue to rise in future."

Against this background, the Commission believes that financial support for the increase in air traffic must be stopped immediately and the incentive programs terminated. The Aircraft Noise Commission therefore agrees with the position of the airlines and rejects the artificial generation of further flight demand by attracting additional airlines.