A blog from Frankfurt
Originally put together by ‘Mainz and Rhine-Main: Together against aircraft noise’; abridged by John Stewart
13/1/14
If this blog was a film, it would be x-rated. It contains graphic and compelling descriptions of the suffering of people hit by aircraft noise when the 4th runway opened.
When the fourth runway opened at Frankfurt in 2011, it resulted in massive protests, which still continue with thousands of people occupying the terminal every Monday evening. The flight paths over the city and the surrounding area were re-organised to accommodate the new runway, bringing serious aircraft noise to over 100,000 people for the first time.
In this blog some of the people tell of the way their lives were turned upside down.
Give the noise-affected a voice
This blog aims to give a voice to people like us who are living with continuous noise above our heads, at levels of 80 decibels or more, 18 hours a day from 5am to 11am.
The emails and other comments below give you an idea of what we are suffering:
“A silent Christmas? Time for contemplation? Elsewhere, it is accepted as a matter of course. Not here! Because of the unimaginable noise that has been imposed upon the people by the airport authorities”.
“Imagine it: Sunday, a relaxing mood, the sun is already shining, a day to enjoy peace and quiet – in fact: at 5 o’clock in the morning the first aeroplane startles us out of our sleep – and then it goes on, every the minute, at 80 decibels, without a break. No one can recover from that. The result of a policy made between the aviation authorities and the politicians. A policy imposed on citizens”.
“Over 100 years ago in 1905 the bacteriologist and Nobel laureate Robert Koch prophesized: “The day will come when man will have to fight noise as inexorably as cholera and the plague.” It has come true today in the case of aircraft noise victims. Greetings from the Frankfurt South: 5.00 am and already overflown”.
“Since 5.00 o’clock the planes have being coming over the south of Frankfurt, unbearably low…..remember, the airport is planning even more of them”.
“Silent night, holy night, until 5 o’clock when the planes wake you up. They crash and roar over Frankfurt South. Roth, Bouffier, Schulte [German politicians] and other lousy types are still in a deep sleep”.
“There would be a simple means to demonstrate to these people the noise hell we have to endure. Invite one of them home for 3 days home over Christmas. We have to suffer for 3 days 18-hours of continuous sound. At the feast of peace, we have to endure the whole days sitting under the noise. We can not even escape to work or to school. Fuck Christmas! May it pass quickly”.
“We should tell Al-Wazir [the leader of the Greens who had just taken his party in a controversial regional coalition with the Conservative CDU Party] that hedoes not match his Green by his words with his deeds. As long as at planes fly at low altitude from 5.00 clock (like today) over Frankfurt South, the situation remains intolerable. The problems have been there ever since the 4th runway opened in 2011. It is reckless torture. Everywhere is too loud. All of us are systematically denied sleep. Fraport [the airport] has become one of most hated companies in Rhine-Main. It must be smaller!”
“The World Health Organisation warns that annually 1 million healthy years of life lost in the EU by noise. These economic costs should be offset against the supposed profits of aviation. It is high time for a shift in the policy!”
“My generation looked back to 1945 and hoped and believed that totalitarianism had been finally overcome! I was thoroughly wrong!”
“2009: 485, 783 aircraft movements at Frankfurt Airport; 2012: 482, 242 aircraft movements at Frankfurt Airport. Without a single extra flight, the catastrophic fourth runway led to a DOUBLING of the noise and 100,000 people needlessly suffering more noise.The Frankfurt hub at its current size, with absurd growth ambitions for more transfer passengers, is a crime against the people. Things need to change. There are a huge number of unnecessary short-distance flights to Berlin and Dusseldorf when there is an excellent train service. 37.7% of Lufhansa’s flights from the airport are short-distance. This is ecologically unsustainable. Mayday, mayday … we need your help!”
“We need noise limits for continuous noise – but also for individual events. And we need others noise laws to apply to aircraft”.
“Hello from Sachsenhausen, I was as a child taught not to lie, do not cheat, do not steal, etc…. to respect nature and to help our planet live in harmony with nature. And to be tolerant of other people and their cultures! These were the values I have also taught my son. He is now 12 years and has seen the politicians sell out to the airport. 100,000 thousands of people ‘displaced’; our homes brutally destroyed; the environment dirty; and disastrous for the global warming! Our family is sick, our child is not sleeping and I could only cry when every 60 seconds a plane shakes our house”.