A recent study by the Norah-Kinderstudie was carried out to find out how the noise caused by the take off and landing of aeroplanes at the Frankfurt airport affected the children in schools located close to the airport.
The study showed that the German children tested were considerably affected by the noise. The children took a month longer to learn how to read compared to children in a school further from the airport. However, for migrant children, there was absolutely no difference. Their learning was unaffected by the noise.
The study was carried out in early 2012 and involved 29 schools, 85 classes, 1243 class twos, 1185 parents and 85 teachers from the Rhein-Main Region. The schools that took part are at different locations and experience between 39 and 59 Decibels of sound from the airport.
The Frankfurt Airport has been in a constant back and forth with the communities living close to the airport. There have been complaints of the planes being too noisy. There have been suggestions to ban night flights, planes flying at a higher altitude than they currently do, installation of sound insulators to reduce the noise and for the extreme side, closing of the airport. The airport has been acquiring some of the homes near the airport in a bid to allow those most irritated to move.