Mayor Christiane Hinninger, representative of the state capital of Wiesbaden on the Aircraft Noise Commission, says: “The revised operating plan will result in Wiesbaden being more severely affected by aircraft noise in the evening hours. This also poses an additional health burden that is unacceptable. Protection against aircraft noise must not be subordinated to the airport operator’s operational preferences. Shifting short-haul flights to rail would be the most effective way to protect people in the region from additional aircraft noise, despite rising demand for medium- and long-haul flights.” 

The Commission calls for the noise pollution associated with the revised operating concept to be kept to a minimum. Northwest departures should be limited to the minimum necessary for operations. The Commission has also called on German Air Traffic Control to examine additional time slots for noise breaks, including at night and during other noise-sensitive times.

During the planning approval process for flight operations under westerly weather conditions, it was promised that northwest departure routes would be used only in exceptional cases, accounting for approximately 1.5 percent of flights. The revised operating concept now provides for an annual average of up to 25 percent of northwest departures during the day and 20 percent at night. 

The deviations from the approved operating concept have a particularly strong impact between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. This is the busiest hour for the northwest departure routes. The Commission considers this concentration of departures to be critical because it triggers additional noise peaks during a time when health protection is particularly important.