Düsseldorf Airport (German: Flughafen Düsseldorf; until March 2013 Düsseldorf International Airport; IATA: DUS, ICAO: EDDL) is the international airport of Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of downtown Düsseldorf, and some 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of Essen in the Rhine-Ruhr area, Germany's largest metropolitan area.
Düsseldorf is the third largest airport in Germany after Frankfurt and Munich handling 23.5 million passengers in 2016. It is a hub for Air Berlin and Eurowings and has Lufthansa's only long-haul route (to Newark) outside of its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The airport features three passenger terminals and two runways and is able to handle wide-body aircraft up to the Airbus A380.
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Overview
Usage
Düsseldorf Airport is the largest and primary airport for the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region - the largest metropolitan region in Germany and among the largest metropolitan areas of the world. The airport is located in Düsseldorf-Lohausen. The largest nearby business centres are Düsseldorf and Essen; other cities within a 20-kilometre (12 mi) radius are Duisburg, Krefeld, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Neuss, and Wuppertal. The airport extends over a compact 6.13 square kilometres (2.37 sq mi) of land - small in comparison to airports of a similar capacity - but also reason for Düsseldorf being known as an airport of short distances. The airport is the workplace for more than 18,200 employees.
With 18.99 million passengers passing through in 2010, the airport was the third busiest in Germany, after Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, and was the 23rd busiest airport in Europe. Transfer passengers and those travelling on long-haul flights from the airport accounted for around 13% of all passengers in 2010.
Ownership
Düsseldorf Airport is a public-private partnership with the following owners:
- 50% city of Düsseldorf
- 50% Airport Partners GmbH (Ownership of Airport Partners GmbH: 40% AviAlliance GmbH, 40% Aer Rianta International cpt, 20% AviC GmbH & Co. KGaA)
History
Early years
The first aviation event in the area was the landing of Zeppelin LZ3 on 19 September 1909 about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the present airport. The present airport was opened on 19 April 1927, after two years of construction. Deutsche Luft Hansa opened routes to Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Geneva. With the beginning of World War II civil use of the airport ceased in September 1939 with the airfield being used by the military.
After the end of the war the airport reopened for civil use in 1948. With the area being under British administration the first flights were operated by British European Airways to the RAF Northolt.
In 1950, the main runway was extended to 2475 meters. In 1964 planning began for the construction of a new terminal, with capacity for 1.4 million passengers, and in 1969 the main runway was further lengthened to 3000 metres.
In 1973 the new central building and Terminal B were opened and in 1975 the railroad connection between Düsseldorf central station and the airport started its operations. The additional new Terminal A was opened in 1977. In 1986 Terminal C was opened and 8.22 million passengers used the airport - making it number two in Germany.
By 1992, when the second runway was built, 12.3 million passengers were using the airport.
Düsseldorf Airport fire
On 11 April 1996, the Düsseldorf Airport fire, which is the worst structural airport fire worldwide to date, broke out. It was caused by welding work on an elevated road in front of Terminal A above its arrivals area. Insufficient structural fire protection allowed the fire and especially the smoke to spread fast, so these destroyed large parts of the passenger areas of the airport.
Seventeen people died, mostly due to smoke inhalation, with many more hospitalised. At the time, the fire was the biggest public disaster in the history of North Rhine-Westphalia. Damage to the airport was estimated to be in the hundreds of millions, Terminals A and B had to be completely reconstructed. While repairs were ongoing, passengers were housed in big tents.
In November 1997, Terminal C was completely redeveloped, with three lightweight construction halls serving as departure areas. Also in 1997 construction began on the new inter-city railway station at the eastern edge of the airport. In 1998 the rebuilt Terminal A was reopened and the airport changed its name from "Rhine Ruhr Airport" to "Düsseldorf International". Reconstruction of the central building and Terminal B began in the same year.
Development since the 2000s
The first stage in the "Airport 2000+" programme commenced in 1999 with the laying of a foundation stone for an underground parking garage under the new terminal.
The new Düsseldorf Airport station was opened in May 2000, with the capacity of 300 train departures daily. Sixteen million passengers used the airport that year; Düsseldorf is now the third-biggest airport in Germany. The new departures hall and Terminal B were opened in July 2001 after 2½ years of construction time; the rebuilt Gebäude Ost (East Building) was reopened.
In 2002 the inter-terminal shuttle bus service was replaced by the suspended monorail called the SkyTrain connecting the terminal building with the InterCity train station. The monorail travels the 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) between the terminal and station at a maximum speed of 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph). The system was developed by Siemens and is based on the similar H-Bahn operating with two lines on Dortmund university campus.
On 12 November 2006, the first Airbus A380 landed in Düsseldorf as part of a Lufthansa promotional flight.
In March 2013 the Airport received a new corporate design and dropped the phrase International from its official name.
In January 2015, Emirates announced it will schedule the Airbus A380 on one of their two daily flights from Dubai to Düsseldorf starting in July 2015. In May 2015, the airport finished construction of the new facilities needed to handle the A380, including a parking position with three jet-bridges, widened taxiways and new ground handling equipment.
In June 2015, Lufthansa announced the closure its long-haul base at Düsseldorf Airport for economic reasons by October 2015. The base consisted of two Airbus A340-300s which served Newark and Chicago. Newark remained a year-round service which is operated in a W-pattern from Munich Airport (Munich - Newark - Düsseldorf - Newark - Munich) while the Chicago service was suspended for the winter 2015/2016 season. A few months later, Lufthansa announced the cancellation of the Düsseldorf-Chicago route. The same route has been served by American Airlines during the summer seasons from 2013 to 2016, when it was discontinued.
In January 2017, the airport's largest hub operator Air Berlin announced a massive downsizing of its operations due to restructuring measures. While some leisure routes are handed to Niki more than a dozen destinations will be cancelled entirely.
Facilities
Terminals
Düsseldorf Airport has three terminals connected by a central spine, even though the terminals are essentially concourses within a single terminal building. The current terminal buildings are capable of handling up to 22 million passengers per year. However, due to an agreement with residents in nearby Ratingen (the so-called Angerlandvergleich), this capacity may not be reached within the next few years, as aircraft movements are restricted.
Terminal A
Terminal A was opened in 1977 and has 16 gates (A01-A16) used by Lufthansa and Germanwings, its airline partners and Star Alliance members, All Nippon Airways, Air China, Austrian Airlines, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, TAP Portugal, and Swiss International Air Lines. Terminal A houses two Lufthansa lounges. It was refurbished fundamentally for two years after the 1996 fire. Oneworld carrier Cathay Pacific also uses Terminal A. From 21 July 2016, Singapore Airlines begins to use Terminal A.
Terminal B
Terminal B was originally inaugurated in 1973 and has 11 gates (B01-B11) used for domestic and EU-flights by a few Star Alliance members such as Aegean Airlines, but mainly by SkyTeam and Oneworld members like Air Berlin, Alitalia, British Airways, KLM, Finnair, Iberia, and Air France. Also located within this terminal are leisure carriers such as TUIfly and Condor. Terminal B houses an observation deck and airline lounges by Air France and British Airways. After the fire in 1996 the whole terminal building was torn down and reconstructed. It was reopened in 2001.
Terminal C
Terminal C was opened in 1986 and has 8 gates (C01-C08) used exclusively for non-Schengen-flights by non-Star Alliance airlines (except Turkish Airlines). These are long-haul flights - among others - by Air Berlin, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Mahan Air, and Turkish Airlines. Terminal C has a direct access to Airport City's Maritim Hotel, part of a German hotel chain, and houses lounges from Air Berlin and Emirates. Terminal C was the least affected Terminal after the fire in 1996. It was still reopened in 1996 after intensive maintenance works. Thus it was the only usable Terminal at Düsseldorf Airport for a couple of years. Terminal C features the airport's only parking position equipped with three jet-bridges to handle the Airbus A380.
Executive Terminal
Jet Aviation operates a small terminal solely for private and corporate customers.
Runways and apron
Düsseldorf has two runways, which are 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) and 2,700 metres (8,858 ft) long. There are plans to extend the 3,000-metre (9,843 ft) runway to 3,600 metres (11,811 ft), but the town of Ratingen has been blocking the expansion, as it lies within the approach path of the runway. 107 aircraft parking positions are available on the aprons.
Airport City
Since 2003, an area of 23 hectares (57 acres) south-west of the airport terminal has been under redevelopment as Düsseldorf Airport City with an anticipated gross floor area of 250,000 square metres (2,700,000 sq ft) to be completed by 2016. Already based at Düsseldorf Airport City are corporate offices of Siemens and VDI, a large Porsche centre and showroom, a Maritim Hotel and Congress Centre, a Sheraton Hotel and a cinema. Messe Düsseldorf is situated in close proximity to Düsseldorf Airport City (some 500 m or 1,600 ft).
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Düsseldorf Airport:
Statistics
Passenger and freight
Busiest routes
Largest airlines
Ground transportation
Train
Düsseldorf Airport is served by two railway stations - one for the suburban railway and one for regional and long-distance trains. The airport's railway station is located 2.5 kilometres from the terminal and is served by all categories of German rail types, including ICE high-speed trains. The airport also has its own S-Bahn station, Düsseldorf Airport Terminal station located below the terminal. It is served by the S11, which has its northern terminus there.
A fully automatic, suspended monorail called SkyTrain connects the long distance station to the parking areas and the passenger terminals and also serves as an inter-terminal connection.
Road
The airport can be reached via its own motorway-section which is part of the motorway A44 (Belgium - Kassel, Exit Düsseldorf-Flughafen) which connects to motorways A52, A57 and A3 as well. Additionally, there are several local bus lines connecting the airport with nearby areas and Düsseldorf city center.
Other facilities
- Düsseldorf Airport has the headquarters of Air Berlin's technical training facilities and also serves as one of their maintenance bases.
- When LTU International existed, its head office was in Halle 8 at Düsseldorf Airport.
- The corporate head office of Blue Wings was also located in Terminal A at the airport.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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