Noise-plagued residents

Annoyed by heavy air traffic over the city area

Low approaches over the densely populated urban area are not uncommon at the moment.(Bild: Michael Jäger, Düsseldorf 2016 - mitifoto)

Landing approaches over the orange rooftops of Graz's old town have recently become more frequent. In Vienna, too, a particularly large number of aircraft are currently flying directly over the city. The reason for this can be found many kilometers further south.

What used to be an exception is now the rule: instead of approaching Graz via the sparsely populated south, as is actually intended, passenger and cargo planes have been landing over the center of the Styrian capital for some time now.

"Not so much air traffic for 40 years"
Much to the annoyance of some local residents: "We have lived in the north of Graz for 40 years, but we have never had so many planes here as in the last few weeks," a family from the district of Gösting wrote to the "Krone" seeking help. Other readers have also recently complained about the increase in aircraft noise and are asking why.

Markus Pohanka from the state air traffic control authority Austro Control emphasizes that there is a strong reason for the change in practices: "There are a few basic rules when flying; one of them is that you must always take off and land against the wind. As we have often had to deal with southerly foehn winds in recent weeks, Graz must therefore be approached from the north - and therefore over the urban area."

How the wind is perceived on the ground has no bearing whatsoever on the conditions at altitude.

Markus Pohanka, Austro Control

Straight approach is mandatory
In principle, we would always try to act in the interests of noise protection. Emitting as few pollutants as possible into the air, i.e. choosing short routes, would also be the top priority: "But of course there are strict rules," says the expert. For example, the last part of the landing can only be carried out on a straight approach. The leeway in Alpine Austria is therefore limited.

Media spokesman Markus Pohanka from Austro Control.(Bild: Franz HELMREICH)

Vienna, with Austria's largest airport, is also affected by the changed conditions. "The easterly winds have clearly increased, which is why the federal capital is also being approached more frequently over the urban area," reports Pohanka.

Large fluctuations "normal"
However, it would be wrong to jump to conclusions about a general trend from this, says Nikolaus Zimmermann from Ubimet: "The direction from which the wind is coming depends primarily on the prevailing general weather conditions. So far this year, we've had an above-average number of southerly winds, which is why the Föhn often comes from the south."

In general, there are large fluctuations from year to year, with typical peaks being recorded in spring and fall. The current southerly foehn weather conditions are expected to continue until at least Thursday: "From then on, however, landing approaches should take place from the usual direction again, at least in Graz," says Zimmermann.