Shortly before 10 p.m. on Wednesday evening, a loud bang startled Hamburgers in several northern parts of the city. If you looked at the sky, you could see two fighter jets there. For many – such as Tagesschau spokesman Jan Riewa – it was clear: It only gets that loud when the jets have taken off from Hamburg Airport. He posted a post on Facebook, asking, “What’s going on here?”
But the airport was just as surprised by the late-evening flight movement on Thursday as it was in the rest of the Hanseatic city. It was not informed that fighter jets would fly over the airport for an exercise, said spokeswoman Katja Bromm. This is not necessary according to the provisions of the Air Traffic Act – Paragraph 30 regulates exceptions for military aircraft in use. “Nevertheless, overflights at such a late hour are a burden for the airport neighborhood, so that Hamburg Airport would like to see more consideration for the residents,” said Bromm.
The late-evening incident came at a particularly bad time for the airport. On Thursday morning, an alliance against aircraft noise made demands on the Senate to drastically reduce noise pollution for residents living near the airport. The airport critics are primarily concerned with flights in the late evening.
The Bundeswehr was responsible for flying the jets, former Canadian A4 Skyhawk combat aircraft. The planes took off from the civilian part of the Nordholz/Cuxhaven airfield to take part in a Bundeswehr exercise in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The two aircraft belong to the Canadian company Top Aces. At the beginning of 2021, the company was awarded the contract in a Bundeswehr tender for so-called fast flight target display. Put simply, the company now lets its former fighter jets fly when the Bundeswehr wants to practice that its systems and soldiers recognize and combat enemy aircraft.
Ultimately, the exercise in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had to be canceled at short notice, as a spokesman for the Bundeswehr Aviation Office told WELT Online. “Planning and execution of the return flight was then the responsibility of the company Top Aces.”