Germany’s postal service stops domestic mail flights

The last planes carrying letters for delivery within Germany took off on Thursday, as German postal service Deutsche Post stops its domestic mail flights after more than 62 years.

The cessation of air transport, designed to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions, comes after Germany’s coalition government took steps to relax rules governing delivery times, meaning customers will now have to wait longer for letters.

Last flight destination Stuttgart

The last aircraft carrying domestic mail took off from Berlin and flew to the southwestern city of Stuttgart on Thursday morning, German news agency DPA reported.

Other planes previously departed from Hannover, Munich and Stuttgart, with the total of six aircraft carrying around 1.5 million letters weighing 53 metric tons (58.5 US tons), according to dpa.

German Postal Law had long required that at least 80% of letters posted be delivered on the next working day and 95% on the second working day, making air transport of letters essential.

Deutsche Post claims that transporting letters by land instead of by air will reduce CO2 emissions per letter by around 80%.

Night flights to transport letters began in September 1961.

The volume of letters requiring transportation has fallen dramatically as people move services and communications online.

Deutsche Post will, however, continue to rely on air transport for letters destined abroad. This mail will be transported in the hold on scheduled passenger flights.

DPA material contributed to this report.

Edited by: Kieran Burke

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