A third runway for Munich

Munich airport, Germany's second largest and a key Lufthansa base, has won approval for plans to build a third runway when a federal court rejected the remaining appeals against it.  Whilst a challenge for Heathrow in terms of attracting airlines the news will strengthen the London airport’s case as it tries to persuade the British government to go along with the Airports Commission’s recommendations.

Munich airport currently serves around 40m passengers a year and expects this to rise to about 58m by 2025.

The complaint against a prior decision from a Munich court in 2014 was brought by a Bavarian environmental group, Bund Naturschutz, and five individuals.

The Leipzig-based federal court had already rejected a similar complaint brought by local municipalities in February.  It said last Wednesday the Munich court decision was now fully binding and the airport had the right to build the runway.

Obstacles remain and it is likely that those opposed to the expansion will attempt to go to a higher court.  www.munich-airport.de

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum