The Prime Minister of Hesse, Roland Koch, has received 4,000 signatures expressing support for the retention of night flights at Frankfurt Airport.
The signatories are staff from Lufthansa Cargo and other logistics services companies.
Lufthansa Cargo and its workers have been campaigning for a practicable night flight regulation at Frankfurt Airport for months, and at one point it was reported that the airline hinted at the possibility of giving up its freighter fleet if the Frankfurt night-flight ban was implemented.
"Frankfurt is the world's seventh biggest cargo airport. Halting the night-time flow of airfreight not only jeopardises Germany's position as a leading exporting nation, it also endangers the existence of Lufthansa Cargo, one of the world's biggest cargo carriers," said Lufthansa World Council chairman Willi Rörig.
The members of the Works Council of ground staff in Germany and the staff council representing Lufthansa Cargo flight crews urged State Premier Koch to lodge an appeal against the ruling reached on night-flight operations by the administrative court in Kassel.
Koch said that while the concerns of the company and its employees are noted, the interests of nearby residents must also be considered.
In view of the present uncertain legal situation, Lufthansa Cargo has deferred a multimillion investment in a new logistics centre at Frankfurt Airport. Should a practicable night-flight ruling for the company be reached, it would invest into the three-digit millions to replace the 27-year-old airfreight centre, CargoCity North.
