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fromAnnette Schlegl
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In the opinion of 16 municipalities, an approach procedure to Frankfurt Airport, which was tested for six months, should not become the norm because of the aircraft noise.
The mayors of 16 municipalities in the Rhine-Main area are afraid. They fear that a delayed approach to landing at Frankfurt Airport will become the norm – and that this will cause more than 350,000 people to permanently increase aircraft noise. They are defending themselves against the “Segmented Approach” procedure, which has been tested all day for aircraft from the south since March 1st. Before the Aircraft Noise Commission meets on December 1st on the subject in Kelsterbach, they request in a joint notification that the approach procedure not be included in regular operations.
The “Segmented Approach” approach was tested for six months and accompanied by noise measurements. On October 6th, at the meeting of the aircraft noise commission, a written report from the aircraft noise officer of the Hessian transport ministry on the results of the trial operation was available.
The mayors of the 16 municipalities looked at the report – and came to a unanimous opinion: The aircraft noise has increased significantly for them, but has hardly decreased noticeably in the populous cities of Offenbach and Mainz. Municipalities in the Offenbach district in particular are affected by more aircraft noise, plus the cities of Babenhausen and Rüsselsheim and the municipalities of Schaafheim, Nackenheim and Bodenheim.
Segmented Approach
Segmented Approach (segmented approach) is a curved approach procedure in which aircraft coming from the south “thread” themselves in a tight curve onto the straight standard approach route shortly before Frankfurt Airport.
The densely populated cities Offenbach and Hanau as well as Mainz are thereby flown around.
The approach procedure has existed since 2011. Until February of this year, however, it was only used for delayed landings after 11 p.m.
From March 1st The Segmented Approach was also tested during the day for six months, namely in three time windows from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The pilot decides for himself whether he wants to approach the runway from the south using the segmented approach. The approach then takes place via individual clearance from the tower. ann
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The people in Heusenstamm had to suffer particularly: at night, the noise level increased for them by 2.8 decibels, which corresponds to almost a doubling of the noise. In Offenbach, on the other hand, it only decreased by 0.3 decibels. “In Rüsselsheim, the Bauschheim district was affected by overflights for the first time,” said Mayor Udo Bausch (non-party) at a joint press conference on Wednesday in the Neu-Isenburg town hall. In addition, the noise was distributed to residential areas that are not equipped with soundproof windows, said Neu-Isenburg’s mayor Herbert Hunkel (non-party). Rodgau’s mayor Jürgen Hoffmann (SPD) complained that the data from the Rodgau noise measuring station were not included – although Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) had promised in writing.
According to Markus Bucher, aircraft noise officer for the city of Neu-Isenburg, there were very few flights at the beginning of the year due to the pandemic. Therefore, 30 percent of the flights could be handled using the curved approach procedure. Then the number of flights increased rapidly – and the segmented approach decreased rapidly because it is difficult for the pilots to thread their way into the “pearl necklace” of the aircraft on the standard approach route with so much air traffic. “Only three percent of all approaches now take place in this approach procedure,” said Bucher.
The results are therefore clear, summed up the Mayor of Heusenstammer Halil Öztas (SPD), who sits on the aircraft noise commission for five municipalities. The segmented approach makes “no sense”. With normal utilization of the airport, the approach procedure cannot be integrated into operations and therefore does not lead to relief. He also mentioned the issue of safety: if the pilot turned in his aircraft later, he would not see the runway until later.
“The noise should be reduced at the source and not by shuffling around,” said Hunkel. As there would be, among other things: the increase in the approach angle, a real upper noise limit, the extension of the night flight ban to the marginal hours, quieter aircraft. Unfortunately, the airport operator Fraport is not ready to exclude particularly noisy aircraft from landing at Frankfurt Airport.
“The population expects us to work for healthy living conditions,” said Bausch. The 16 mayors are therefore also considering legal steps if the segmented approach is adopted into regular operations.
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