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fromAndrea Rost
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shut down
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Thomas Scheffler from the Alliance for Citizens’ Initiatives (BBI) speaks in an interview about the other distribution of aircraft noise and internet protest.
The northwest runway is closed, the number of flight movements at Frankfurt Airport has decreased massively due to the corona pandemic. Has the Alliance of Citizens’ Initiatives achieved its goals now, Mr. Scheffler?
No, we are still far from reaching our goal. Closing the northwest runway is just one of many demands that we have made. We are of course pleased that aircraft noise has decreased significantly in the region, but we also know that this will not be a permanent condition. In addition, not all neighboring communities are currently equally relieved from aircraft noise. There are also cities and municipalities where it has become louder in certain areas.
Where is that the case, for example?
The urban areas of Raunheim, Rüsselsheim, Offenbach or Neu-Isenburg are now scanned centrally. This has to do with the concentration on the west runway and the center runway, which means that air traffic is distributed differently. The municipalities south of the Main are now more polluted, even if there are significantly fewer planes in the sky.
What do you want to fight for as an alliance of citizens’ initiatives in the future?
Our demands remain the same as before Corona: limitation of flight movements in Frankfurt to 380,000 per year, introduction of a night flight ban from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and closure of the northwest runway. In our view, air traffic should not rise to the level of previous years after the crisis. And there shouldn’t be any government grants and subsidies to make that possible.
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Thomas Scheffleris one of the spokesmen for the Alliance of Citizens’ Initiatives (BBI), which includes more than 80 initiatives in the Rhine-Main area.
The mergerwas founded in March 1998 to coordinate joint actions against airport expansion.
To Monday demosIn Terminal I of the airport, the alliance has been calling regularly since the opening of the northwest runway in autumn 2011. So far, more than 300 events have taken place.
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Construction work on Terminal III continues despite the Corona crisis. Is she surprised?
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The fact that the majority owners, in other words the state of Hesse and the city of Frankfurt, have Fraport granted at will, just shakes my head. One of Europe’s largest construction ruins is being built with a sight – that’s a construction scandal like the almost endless history of Berlin Airport. The expected losses will later be socialized, i.e. the taxpayer bears the costs. Our demand “No Terminal 3” is justified as ever. After the pandemic is contained, no sensible person expects a return to the situation as before.
The Monday demos at Frankfurt Airport are suspended until further notice. How is the protest of the initiatives currently going?
We offer vigils on the Internet every Monday between 6 and 7 p.m. These are video conferences to which you can join, of course with a significantly smaller group of participants. And we called on you to support the “Save people, not planes” petition that the Stay grounded platform initiated. We can only organize the demos in the terminal again when major events are allowed.
What is your wish for the future of Frankfurt Airport?
In our view, Fraport should say goodbye to the vision of a large international hub and concentrate on the region’s business and tourist travel needs. The so-called hub function has survived. You can see that from the fact that the wide-bodied aircraft A380 is now a phase-out model. I hope that against the background of the pandemic, we will be able to convince politicians and board members of this idea.
Interview: Andrea Rost
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