Construction Measures for the A380 Superjumbo Require Separate Zoning Procedure

Frankfurt (OTS) - Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
will file a separate zoning request (project approval procedure or
Planfeststellungsverfahren) for the construction of maintenance
facilities and runway adaptations required for operating and
maintaining the new Airbus A380 widebody jets at Frankfurt Airport
(FRA). Deutsche Lufthansa AG has made it quite clear in recent weeks
that it was indispensable for Fraport AG immediately to create the
necessary legal conditions in terms of the planning required for
zoning.

"We must meet this legitimate request for planning security of our
main customer," said Fraport AG's executive board chairman, Dr.
Wilhelm Bender. Fraport AG plans to file a zoning request for this
project already in October of this year, separate from the zoning
request for construction of the new runway.

The upgrading has nothing to do with expansion of the runway
system. The A380 will be used in air transportation independent of
FRA's expansion.

Being able to accommodate this type of aircraft and offering
Lufthansa the basic conditions for stationing its A380 fleet at FRA
is a sine qua non for Frankfurt Airport to ensure its future.

"By separating the approval procedure for this project from the
partly disputed issue of expanding FRA's runway system, Fraport AG
hopes to reach a consensus with all parties involved and thus
immediately create the planning security which Lufthansa legitimately
claims", said Prof. Manfred Schölch, Fraport's executive board vice
chairman. "Ultimately, this project represents a vital step toward
securing Frankfurt's future position in air transportation."

The required measures include, above all, construction of a
maintenance hangar for Lufthansa's new superjumbo - including
associated buildings and other facilities such as taxiways and
parking areas - on an approximately 20 hectare site at the southern
part of the airport.

Fraport points out that Frankfurt Airport is not only the central
European hub for Lufthansa and its Star Alliance international
partners but also its maintenance center.

"To maintain Frankfurt Airport's central function," Bender said,
"Lufthansa must be able to operate the ordered A380 aircraft via FRA
and to overhaul them here."

A particularly positive feature of the A380 is that despite being
larger than the Boeing 747-400, currently the largest passenger
aircraft, it will be quieter and less polluting. Lufthansa plans to
take its first A380 into service in 2007. Some other airlines in the
Star Alliance will operate this Airbus type starting 2006.

When the Markwald and Gundwald forest area between Rüsselsheim and
Walldorf (near FRA) were recently declared a nature preserve, Fraport
AG revised its planning so that construction of maintenance
facilities would not touch this bird sanctuary. Thus, the planning
area for maintenance facilities, considered in the Regional Planning
Procedure (ROV or Raumordnungsverfahren), has been partly moved to
the southeast by the airport operator.

Rückfragehinweis:

Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
Attn: Robert A. Payne - Manager International Press
60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel.: +49 69 690 -78547
Fax: +49 69 690 -60548
mailto:r.payne@fraport.de
http://www.fraport.com

OTE001 2002-06-13/12:06

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