Frankfurt Airport and Lufthansa sponsored an open air classic music festival in the Rhine-Main area. Fluglärm Mainz, an initiative group against aircraft noise, stated that it is no longer possible to enjoy this kind of cultural events undisturbed because of the noise from Frankfurt Airport. Reason for the concert organisation to go to court in an attempt to prohibit this kind of statements. The airport, Hessian state government, air traffic management and German air traffic control thought they could win.
The aim of the complaint was to ban their Mainz aircraft noise opponents. But they lost: ‘We are allowed to speak aloud about these inconvenient truths,’ said Lars Nevian, executive director of the initiative group. ‘There cannot be the slightest doubt about the legality of these statements. The complaint was, therefore, condemned to failure. Freedom of opinion wins. The regional court of Mainz was clear about this.’
Since the opening of the north-west runway, large parts of the Rhine-Main region are being overburdened with a unbearable noise carpet. Residential areas, schools, kindergartens and hospitals are overflown at altitudes of partly below 300 meters, sometimes every two minutes. This causes severe health damage to hundreds of thousands of residents due to aircraft noise, engine emissions and ultra-fine particles, all due to Frankfurt Airport.
