Frankfurt Airport Expansion Delayed

Extensions to Germany's biggest international airport could be delayed for at least two years because of dangers posed by a nearby chemical plant, an official said Tuesday. A new runway that was scheduled to be operational by 2007 is not expected to be useable until 2009 or 2010. Fraport, the company running the Frankfurt airport, and the German state of Hesse are said to have agreed on the postponement so that the Ticono chemical plant, which is located about 400 meters from the new runway, can be moved. The factory, which employs around 1,000 people, produces chemical products for the automobile and telecommunications industries.