Munich Airport Third Runway Opposed

Munich residents have shown opposition to a plan that would see the city's airport - the second largest in Germany - gain a new runway. In a vote, 54 per cent said they objected to the new Munich Airport runway - a move that represents a fresh wound to air travel growth in this key economic area.

So far this year, the much-touted new Berlin Brandenburg Airport has failed to open on time and at Frankfurt Airport, restrictions have now been placed on night flights.

Munich Airport is second only to Frankfurt as far as human traffic is concerned - with almost 38 million passengers passing through it last year. This statistic also made it Europe's 6th-busiest airport and the world's 27th-busiest. Put into operation as recently as 1992, Munich Airport has two terminals, the second of which opened in summer 2003, and a pair of parallel runways.

Third Munich Runway

The addition of a third Munich runway has proved a controversial subject and, now, the city's population has, in the main, said it doesn't want it to happen.

As far as the airport itself is concerned, a third runway is vital to allow the site's future expansion to take place and Lufthansa - one of nine airlines that use Munich as a hub - has labelled the vote result ‘regrettable.' Already, the flagship German carrier has threatened to move its operation to another site unless it can gain more of a presence there.

Munich Airport Third Runway

The Munich Airport third runway vote was coordinated by the city of Munich, which has a 23 per cent share of the site. It followed, by almost 12 months, a favourable ruling on it delivered by a German district government.

"The fact that a relative majority of Munich residents voted against the construction of a third takeoff and landing strip shows how difficult it has become to make clear the significance of important infrastructure projects in our country", Michael Kerkloh - Munich Airport's CEO - explained in a statement.

Airport International will report further on this hotly-divided issue in future News coverage.