A plane with FC Bayern players lands in Oberpfaffenhofen (archive image from 2020). © sampics
It was rather quiet for a few years, but now operations at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport in the Starnberg district are picking up again. This is mainly due to private jets, with which well-heeled passengers start their luxury vacation, says a citizens' initiative. FC Bayern also likes to start games from here.
Oberpfaffenhofen – FC Bayern travels a lot – preferably by plane. On Friday last week, it was that time again. At 17:30 p.m. and 17:40 p.m., two Dornier D328-110 aircraft from Private Wings took off for Cologne with the Bayern entourage on board. The last league game of the season was coming up – as is well known, it ended well for Bayern.
Helmut Mattes from the Fluglärm e.V. association in Gilching begrudges the Bavarians the championship. What he doesn't like so much are the flights with small, not at all quiet propeller planes. FC Bayern is no exception – it's more the rule, Mattes thinks. He researches the relevant aircraft movement portals such as flightradar24.com and keeps meticulous records.
Eldorado for private jets
It's not easy. "Some companies block their machines," says Mattes. Then only the destination is listed, but not the company that operates the flight. But the goals alone suggest that Oberpfaffenhofen is developing into a secret Eldorado for private jets. Mattes has identified Ibiza, St. Tropez, Lausanne, Palma de Mallorca and other holiday destinations. Actually, Oberpfaffenhofen is defined as a special airport primarily for factory and special air traffic. A number of companies have settled at the airport, such as Lilium, which want to bring air taxis to the start. "We are in favour of preserving Oberpfaffenhofen Airport as a factory and research airport, although we are always accused of being opponents of the airfield," says club boss Michael Rappenglück.
However, so-called qualified business aviation is also permitted without single seat booking or scheduled charter – and the association is critical of this because of noise pollution and additional air pollutants. According to a ruling by the Bavarian Administrative Court in 2012, there may be 9725 flights per year. The quantum has not yet been exhausted, explains the government of Upper Bavaria at the request of our newspaper. In 2022, a total of 5605 business flights took off or landed from Oberpfaffenhofen. This year, there were exactly 31 aircraft movements by 2251 May.
The numbers are on the rise
Overall, the number of flights from/to Oberpfaffenhofen is slowly increasing. While there were 2020 flight movements in 9128, the number rose to 2021 10 flights in 865. In 2022, there were 11,688. For 2023, "a similar figure to 2022 is emerging," the government explains. Such figures are not published, which is a problem for the citizens' initiative. There is a lack of transparency. It is true that German air traffic control (DFS) prepares monthly reports on the number of take-offs and landings at German airports. However, Oberpfaffenhofen is not controlled by DFS, but by the Austrian company Austrocontrol. Their statistics include only Austrian airports.
It began in 2017 with the takeover of the airport by Trier Triwo AG, says club chairman Rappenglück. Triwo is owned by the President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Peter Adrian, who recently took over the insolvent Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and now has five airports. Adrian is an enthusiastic hobby pilot himself and attracts companies to his locations. The OAS (Oberpfaffenhofen Aviation Service) provides logistical support to the private aviation companies. For example, the flightradar.24 portal can be used to find out that a Pilatus PC-12, designed for a maximum of ten passengers, regularly flies from Oberpfaffenhofen – sometimes to St. Tropez or Venice, but sometimes also to Stuttgart, Bremen or Frankfurt.
There are even flights from Munich to Oberpfaffenhofen
According to a study published by Greenpeace in March, there were as many as 2022 flights between Augsburg and Oberpfaffenhofen and 21 between Munich Airport and Oberpfaffenhofen in 133. According to Greenpeace, the number of private jet flights in Europe rose sharply from 2021 to 2022 – by 64 percent, and in Germany by as much as 76 percent. The most frequently flown route was Berlin-Cologne, the Munich-London connection landed in 3rd place.
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It is such excesses that the association denounces. The government needs to take a closer look at business flights. But it is not possible for the companies to simply switch to Munich, says airport critic Mattes. The residents there also have a right to rest.
It was only in April that the company Travelcoup ("Travelcoup redefines luxury flights", is its slogan) was prohibited from offering exclusive flights with single seat bookings, for example to Ibiza, from Oberpfaffenhofen. Now the company advertises with alleged flight connections from Munich.