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OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHFT #0846/01 0851234
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O 261234Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL FRANKFURT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0128
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 000846 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ECON EIND ENRG SENV EU GM
SUBJECT: Blue Skies for Frankfurt Airport Expansion, Partly Cloudy 
for Night Flights 
 
¶1.  Summary: Construction of a fourth runway for Frankfurt Airport 
began at the start of 2009, following years of debate and political 
wrangling.  The runway and a new terminal will take several years to 
complete, meeting Frankfurt's anticipated capacity needs through 
2020 and ensuring its future as a large European hub for freight and 
passenger travel.  Construction could only start after   the Hesse 
Higher Administrative court ruled against objections to the project. 
 However the court decoupled the night flights issue from the 
expansion project and has opened the possibility of a complete ban 
on night flights or, alternatively, accepting the proposed number of 
flights.  The suit and countersuits over night flights may drag on 
for several years.  End Summary 
 
Runway Project Takes Off 
------------------------ 
¶2.  After years of waiting, Fraport, the company managing Frankfurt 
Airport, began building a fourth runway in early February.  The 
runway will be built on the property formerly occupied by the U.S. 
Air Force's Rhein-Main base.  Construction on a third terminal will 
begin in 2012. Fraport expects to begin using the new runway at the 
end of 2011, with the new terminal coming online in 2014. Current 
demand for flight slots exceeds supply at peak times and Fraport 
believes passenger traffic will increase from 55 million persons per 
year in 2008 to 88 million in 2020, while air freight will increase 
70% in the same time period.  Fraport estimates that it will spend 7 
billion euros on the project. 
 
¶3.  Opposition from environmental groups and local residents delayed 
expansion plans and raised fears that Frankfurt would lose 
competitiveness to other German airports, such as Munich, and 
airports in Paris, London and Amsterdam.  The state government led a 
working group, including local interest groups, which reviewed the 
project from 1998 to 2000 and agreed a quid pro quo with opponents. 
No flights would be allowed between 11 PM and 5 AM in return for no 
more opposition to the new runway.  After the state backtracked on 
this promise and allowed 17 cargo flights during this time period in 
its 2007 expansion plan, several townships and individuals filed a 
temporary injunction at the Hessen Higher Administrative Court.  The 
suits were compiled into a class action suit, but the court 
decoupled the night flight question from the overall plan, allowing 
construction to move forward. 
 
Night Flights in Holding Pattern 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  In its preliminary ruling in January the Hesse Higher 
Administrative Court supported state airport planners on all issues 
except for night flights.  The court stated that it had legal 
misgiving about the night flight regime and doubted that it would 
withstand a loser legal examination.   Although the Hesse Higher 
Administrative Court is expected to rule on the suit in September, 
the parties will in all likelihood appeal to the next level, the 
Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.  Lufthansa (LH) has also 
filed litigation against the 17 night flights, arguing that LH alone 
needs 40 night flights.  Hesse Secretary of State for Transportation 
Klaus-Peter Guettler estimated that a final ruling will not come for 
several years, at which point the project will be well advanced.  If 
the courts impose a night flight ban, more air carriers may initiate 
their own court cases.  In the meantime, the airport will continue 
to operate as before, with an estimated 50 flights taking place at 
night.  Protestors continue to occupy the forest around the 
expansion area, while police investigate an arson attack on the car 
of the project head. 
 
¶5.  State Secretary Guettler said that the 17 night flight 
allocation was made to balance airport needs with citizens' 
concerns.  He worried that a total ban would seriously impede cargo 
flights and lead firms to relocate, as FedEx did when it announced 
its 2010 move to Cologne-Bonn airport.  The CDU-FDP coalition 
government in Hesse remains fully behind the project, and the 
opposition SPD also recognizes the need to expand.  The Federal 
Ministry of Transportation could end the appeal process by declaring 
the current plan a matter of "national interest", but such a move 
remains unlikely under SPD Transportation Minister Wolfgang 
Tiefensee.  The Ministry assured the combatants some years ago that 
it would not intervene.  Guettler acknowledged that the federal 
government position could be revisited if the CDU or FDP takes over 
the Transportation Ministry following the September 2009 general 
election.  He also recommended to Pol Off that the U.S. Mission and 
other foreign governments tell the federal government they support 
the expansion project. 
 
¶6.  Comment: In moving forward with the project while the night 
flights debate is still pending, Fraport has presented all sides 
with a fait accompli.  The expanded airport will require a certain 
number of night flights to operate at capacity and retain air 
carriers that require 24-hour operations.  Political parties, with 
the exception of Greens and Left, will be loath to sacrifice the 
airport's economic viability to please a small number of vociferous 
 
FRANKFURT 00000846  002 OF 002 
 
 
constituents.  However, the court's ruling is still pending, making 
a total night flight ban possible.    End Comment. 
 
¶7.  This cable was coordinated with Embassy Berlin.