Lufthansa Cargo at standstill for two hours today

LUFTHANSA Cargo’s Corporate Works Council is staging a works meeting today that will, in effect, stop operations for two hours. The stoppage is to protest the threatened ban on night flights at Frankfurt Airport.“An outright ban on night flights poses a risk to many thousands of jobs in Frankfurt, Europe’s biggest air cargo hub,” said the Council’s chairman, Willi Rörig. “Whereas some industries are being supported with billions of euros in the crisis, a healthy industry here is being forced to its knees.”Lufthansa Cargo chairman, Carsten Spohr, said: “The logistics services industry is the second biggest industry in Hesse and the three biggest employers in Hesse are logistics services companies. In view of that, it is entirely obvious that an absolute ban on night-flight operations would not only massively weaken the Rhine-Main region but also serious damage Germany’s position generally as an export motor.”In August, the administrative court in the state of Hesse approved plans to expand Frankfurt airport, but suggested that permission that had been granted for 17 flights between 10pm and 4am contravened noise-pollution regulations.Lufthansa Cargo wants at least 41 nightly movements and is investigating how to appeal any ruling that limits that number.