Hanover/Langenhagen International Airport

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Hanover International Airport Flughafen Hannover

IATA: HAJ - ICAO: EDDV
Summary
Airport type		Commercial
Operator		Flughafen Hannover-Langenhagen GmbH
Serves		Hanover, Germany
Elevation AMSL		183 ft (56 m)
Coordinates		52°27′39.80″N, 09°41′06.28″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
09L/27R	12,467	3,800	Concrete
09R/27L	7,677	2,340	Concrete
09C/27C	2,559	780	Asphalt

Hanover International Airport (IATA: HAJ, ICAO: EDDV), also called Langenhagen Airport with reference to the nearby town Langenhagen, is situated 11km north of the centre of Hanover, the capital of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the eighth largest airport in Germany.

[edit] History

Hanover Airport was opened in 1952 replacing an old airfield within the city limits of Hanover. In 1973 two modern terminals were opened, which became famous because of their compact design. They became the archetype for the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow. These terminals A and B, with stands for twelve aircraft in total, are still in service today. In 1998 the larger terminal C was opened to handle more passengers, adding 8 more gates. Up to 33 aircraft can be served simultaneously, of which 20 can receive aircraft stands equipped with a Jetway. All three terminals are capable of taking a Boeing 747. Terminal D is a rebuilt hangar which is exclusively used by the Royal Air Force to supply British troops in the north of Germany.

In 2000 an S-Bahn connection was established between the airport and Hamelin via Hanover Central Station. Trains leave every 30 minutes for a 17 minute journey. This replaced the airport's shuttle bus service which ran every twenty minutes, more frequently than the S-Bahn, but took longer to reach the airport and railway station. The service was extended to run into Paderborn in 2003. In 2005 it was decided to establish a second S-Bahn connection. It will run from the airport to Hildesheim via Hannover Central Station from 2008. With this second connection, trains will run every 15 minutes between the airport and the central station.

From 1957 to 1990 the airport hosted the Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung, Germany's largest airshow. After a fatal accident in 1988, when a Chinook Helicopter hit a Jetway with its rotor, and the German Reunification two years later, the Airshow moved to Berlin in 1992.

[edit] Destinations

While in the early years most of the airport's traffic was running through Frankfurt International Airport, today most destinations are served directly. There are services to most European capitals and major cities as well as to major holiday destinations such as Mallorca or Egypt. In the 1990s trials to establish intercontinental services to the United States and Canada were stopped because of low passenger numbers. The only remaining transatlantic routes are to Moncton and Toronto in Canada. Since the end of Cold War Hanover International has become Germany's major airport for services to countries of the former Eastern bloc next to Frankfurt International. There are also a number of no-frills airlines offering service to the airport, the most notable one being HLX.com, which has its base of operations at Hanover Airport.

Hanover International is one of very few German airports which are open 24 hours a day, but in practice there are very few flights between 11pm and 4am.