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ENGLISH
Cologne/Bonn Airport is now allowed to use an area in the apron A area that has been closed by the authorities for a long time to park aircraft again. The corresponding planning approval notice has been delivered.
In 2007, Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH added a concrete area to Apron A for parking aircraft. It had been used to park machines on lawns since the 60s. This sub-area was officially approved in 2007 on the basis of the legal situation applicable at the time, without the need for a planning approval procedure.
In 2014, following a lawsuit, the Federal Administrative Court criticized the approval authority's actions and prohibited further use of the section until the approval process under aviation law had been completed. Because of this, the airport decided in 2015 to initiate the planning approval process, which for the first time also included carrying out an environmental impact assessment.
“We welcome the fact that the planning approval process has now been completed. The measures contained therein serve in particular to organize the operational processes at the airport in the best possible way in the interests of our passengers and the airlines. A part of apron A that was not usable in recent years is now available again for parking aircraft near the terminal. This avoids unnecessary towing operations, conserves resources and improves operational processes,” says Thilo Schmid, CEO of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH. “The planning approval decision also secures the binding basis for the further positive development of the site and creates planning security. This is of central importance for the airport, but also its partners and the companies based here, and secures jobs in the long term,” says Schmid.
