- Dortmund Airport again subject to the Supreme Administrative Court
Dortmund Airport is once again under scrutiny at the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG). The state's top administrative judges will address a lawsuit by residents against the renewed approval by the Münster District Government to extend operating hours into the night on August 23. The residents argue that there is insufficient noise protection, as the court has now announced.
A dispute with a long history
An approval for this was already granted in 2014. Since then, residents and the neighboring city of Unna have repeatedly clashed in court. Most recently, the OVG ruled the approval of the supervisory authority on January 26, 2022, as unlawful. However, the top NRW administrative judges did not revoke the approval. Instead, the defects were to be remedied in a further procedure. The OVG did not allow an appeal in 2022. The airport filed an appeal but was unsuccessful.
According to an OVG spokesperson, the city of Unna is no longer among the plaintiffs. Moreover, out of the originally five plaintiff residents, only three remain for the hearing on August 23.
The first night hours are in focus
Now, the second change approval from June 9, 2023, by the Münster District Government as the supervisory authority is at issue. This allows the airport to extend its operating hours to the first night hours under certain conditions. According to the airport's argumentation, the hour after 22:00 enables airlines to connect to major hubs and optimize flight schedules and machine usage on European routes.
The airport currently has approved operating hours from 6:00 to 22:00. However, an average of four landings per day are possible until 23:00 in exceptional cases. In the event of unexcused delays, the exception permit even extends to 23:30. For take-offs, the permit provides times up to 22:30. If the number of approved take-offs and landings after 22:00 is exceeded, the approval of the Münster District Government's flight control must be obtained. The exception rule only applies to aircraft with a low-noise design.
The decision is scheduled for January 2022.
The Commission has upheld the motion filed by the airport, allowing the consideration of the second change approval for extended operating hours. Despite the appeal by the residents, the Commission decided to proceed with the hearing scheduled for August 23.
