Proceedings against airport expansion: Lawsuit against 8,100 night flights in Leipzig/Halle

A vigil protested in court, and in the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Bautzen it was about noise protection, night flights and local self-government law. The oral hearing of the lawsuit brought by environmental associations, citizens' initiatives and a neighboring community against the 300 million euro expansion of the cargo area at Leipzig/Halle Airport began on Tuesday.

Germany's second largest cargo airport after Frankfurt/Main has become too small for the logistics giant DHL. DHL has operated an international hub for express air freight since 2008. In order to increase capacity and create space for larger aircraft, the DHL area is to be expanded by 39 hectares, taxiways, de-icing areas and operational buildings are to be built. Because the airport has a night flight permit, which is rare in Germany, around 80 to 90 cargo planes currently take off and land here every day between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

However, business is stagnating. The airport company reports cargo throughput of 1.4 million tons for 2023, 2024 and 2025. According to media reports in March, DHL Express is not filling vacant positions. At that time, DHL had around 4,500 employees.

The ten complainants cannot understand why there should be expansion. The expansion is “devastating for the climate”, increases noise and fine dust pollution for residents and damages the adjacent nature conservation areas in the Leipzig riparian forest and the Saale floodplain, according to the lawsuit, which the environmental association BUND helped to formulate.

The nearby town of Schkeuditz, which benefits from the airport in terms of jobs, is also against the 1,100-page planning approval decision that has been in place since September 2024. This basic building permit from the Saxony State Directorate limits the neighboring community's ability to designate residential areas.

On Tuesday the main focus was on the expected increase in night flights. It is calculated that there will be 8,100 more take-offs and landings in 2032.

Protests against the expansion have been raging for a long time. 8,000 complaints were examined for planning approval; in December 2023, a petition against the expansion in the Saxon state parliament failed.

The Higher Administrative Court wants to decide in the coming weeks. However, the proceedings may then go to the next instance. The last major airport case involving Saxony ended almost exactly twenty years ago. In November 2006, the Federal Administrative Court decided that Leipzig/Halle could be expanded into a freight hub.

The example of the expansion of Frankfurt/Main Airport shows that patience can pay off for residents and protesters. After heated arguments, a mediation process was initiated here - with a compromise: It included expansion and the introduction of a ban on night flights.