Contact:
Robert A. Payne
Phone: +49 69 690 -78547
E-Mail: r.payne@fraport.de
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Frankfurt (pts023/04.02.2003/11:32) - Fraport AG has submitted a zoning application to the responsible hearing authority -- the President of the Darmstadt administrative district -- for the construction of a maintenance base for the Airbus A380 superjumbo at Frankfurt Airport (FRA). After notifying aviation authorities in December 2002 of this planned expansion project, Fraport (the owner and manager of FRA) has now been informed by the Hesse Ministry of Economy, Transportation and State Development that the project requires a zoning procedure (project approval procedure).
"We already assumed in December 2002 that a zoning procedure would be required," said Prof. Manfred Scholch, vice chairman of Fraport's executive board. "Therefore, all planning documents, expert opinions and other documents attached to our pre-planning notification, were prepared in the quality and depth required for a zoning procedure." The President of the Darmstadt administrative district will now check whether the submitted application documents are complete and, thereafter, initiate the actual zoning procedure by publishing Fraport's application in the official gazette.
"We urge the fastest possible realization of this maintenance facility. This does not have anything to do with Frankfurt Airport's planned and urgently required capacity expansion through construction of another runway," said Scholch. "We want to and will make Frankfurt Airport ready for this new generation of aircraft -- and thus we will strengthen Frankfurt Airport's hub position and provide for its sustainable future. Lufthansa, our main customer, also requires such planning security for its own A380 fleet of at least 15 aircraft in the long term, which it wants to station at FRA starting in 2007." Because the A380 will go into operation irrespective of FRA's necessary capacity expansion, Fraport has kept the A380 zoning procedure separate from planning for the new landing runway.
Referring to official data of Lufthansa and Airbus Industrie, Fraport's vice chairman emphasized that the A380 was quieter and less polluting during take-off and landing than the Boeing B747-400, currently the world's largest passenger aircraft. "In contrast, the flight profiles correspond to the B747-400," explained Scholch. "Airbus Industrie designed the A380 to have the same climb performance as Boeing. The A380's approach for landings is defined by an instrument landing system (ILS) glide path. Like any other aircraft, the A380 follows a glide path angle of three degrees."
Fraport AG expects that the zoning procedure for the A380 maintenance base will be concluded in 2003. "We have really done our homework and made thorough preparations," said Scholch. "That's why this relatively short time span is realistic." The documents submitted with the zoning application essentially included technical plans for the maintenance areas (including the area for a warehouse, the taxiway to the existing runway system) and for relocating Okrifteler Strasse in this area, as well as a total of 14 expert opinions.
The existing runway system will not be modified. According to findings of an international working group, runway modifications will not be necessary at FRA to accommodate the A380.
For More Information, Please Contact:
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
Attn: Robert A. Payne
D-60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel.: +49 69 690 -78547
Fax: +49 69 690 -60548
http://www.fraport.com
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