Rotterdam Airport

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Rotterdam Airport

IATA: RTM - ICAO: EHRD
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Schiphol Group
Serves		Rotterdam
Elevation AMSL		-15 ft (-4.6 m)
Coordinates		51° 57´25" N 4° 26´ 14" E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
06/24	7,414	2,260	Asphalt

Rotterdam Airport (formerly (Dutch): Vliegveld Zestienhoven (translated: Airport Sixteencourts) (IATA: RTM, ICAO: EHRD) located in Rotterdam, is The Netherlands' largest regional airport. From the airport, there are daily services to London, Hamburg, and Berlin and charter flights. The airport handled over a million passengers in 2004.

1 History
- 1.1 Metroliner accident
2 Airlines
- 2.1 Scheduled
- 2.2 Charter/Other
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

After World War II it was decided by the Dutch government that a second national airport next to Schiphol was needed. The city of Rotterdam had an airport before the war, Waalhaven airport, however, this was destroyed to prevent it from being used by the Germans. Reconstruction of this airport wasn't realistic, so a new location had to be found.

A new location was found, the Zestienhoven polder. Construction of the airport started in August 1955 and the airport was officially opened in October 1956. Not long after the opening several large international airlines such as Swissair, Lufthansa and Air France started operating to and from Rotterdam. However, in the 1970's plans were made to either close or move to airport to make room for houses and the uncertain future caused a stagnation in the airport's growth and the large international airlines left. For almost thirty years the airport faced closure, but the economic growth in the 1990's caused an increase in passengers again and in 2001 it was decided that the airport's current location would be maintained for at least 100 years.

[edit] Metroliner accident

In September 2005, a Fairchild Metroliner of Dynamic Airlines ran off the runway during take-off causing the landing gear to collapse, leaving the airplane badly damaged and obstructing the runway for a large part of the day. There were no casualties.

[edit] Airlines

Several smaller aircraft in the snow on Rotterdam Airport

The following airlines frequently visit or operate from/to Rotterdam Airport:

[edit] Scheduled

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operated by KLM Cityhopper (London-Heathrow)
transavia.com (Alicante, Faro, Geneva, Girona, Innsbruck, London-Stansted, Málaga, Nice, Rome-Fiumicino, Toulon)
VLM Airlines (Guernsey, Hamburg, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liverpool, London-City, Manchester)

[edit] Charter/Other

Dynamic Airlines
Inter Airlines (Antalya)
Martinair (Antalya)
Onur Air (Antalya, Izmir)
Skyline Aviation (Corporate charter, Airwork)
Transavia.com (Antalya, Bodrum, Corfu, Dalaman, Heraklion, Kos, Las Palmas, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodos, Tenerife)
Welcome Air