Munich Airport

Munich Airport
Flughafen München
(Franz Josef Strauß)

Vorfeld Terminal 1 I.JPG
IATA: MUC – ICAO: EDDM
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Flughafen München GmbH
Serves Munich, Germany
Location near Freising
Website http://www.munich-airport.de/EN
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08R/26L 13,123 4,000 Concrete
08L/26R 13,123 4,000 Concrete
09/271 13,123 4,000 Concrete (planned)
Helipads
Number Length Surface
ft m
H 98 30 Concrete
1 working title; subject to final designation to be received from Deutsche Flugsicherung.[1]

Munich Airport (IATA: MUC, ICAO: EDDM), also known as Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport (German: Flughafen München-Franz Josef Strauß), is located 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Munich, Germany, and is a hub for Lufthansa and Star Alliance partner airlines. It lies in direct proximity to the old city of Freising and is named in memory of politician Franz Josef Strauss. The airport is located on the territory of three different municipalities: Oberding (location of the terminals; district of Freising), Hallbergmoos and Marzling (district of Erding).

Munich Airport is the second busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic (33.96 million in 2007), behind Frankfurt International Airport, and the 28th busiest airport in the world. In 2007, it was named the "Best Airport in Europe" and fourth-best in the world by Skytrax, the air transport research company.[2]

Contents

History

airport map

The airport commenced operation on 1992-05-17, when operations moved from the former site at Munich-Riem, which had just been closed down shortly before midnight on the day before. When its construction was started in 1980 a village named Franzheim had to be demolished, its 500 inhabitants having been resettled in other places in the area.

As Lufthansa's home base at Frankfurt Airport is heavily saturated with traffic and has capacity limits, cities with large frequencies are served through Munich Franz Josef Strauss airport as well as Frankfurt International. The airport was named after Franz Josef Strauß, who played an important role in German politics. Among other Strauß had been a long-time prime minister in Bavaria (the state where the airport is located). Under his government, the airport had been planned. Strauß, having been a private pilot himself, was said to have a particular interest in the aviation industry and infrastructure.

Naming the airport by its full name is quite uncommon, even the airport authority is only named "Flughafen München Gesellschaft". In the Munich area, most people prefer the term "Flughafen München" (Munich Airport), sometimes "Flughafen München II" or simply MUC. The company operating the airport brands it as "M - Flughafen München".

In June 2003, Terminal 2 was finished, housing Star Alliance partners exclusively.

Due to the rapid increase in traffic, a third runway is now being planned. As always when there is such a project, there is considerable opposition from the neighbouring people and lawsuits against the runway have already been announced.

Munich Airport

Visitor Viewing Facilities

The airport authorities have set out to cater for visitors and sight-seers by creating a 'Visitors Park' which includes a 'Visitors Hill' from which a good view can be obtained of the westerly aircraft apron and Terminal 1. This is served by a railway station named 'Besucherpark'. The view from the hill is shown in the above image. There are three historic aircraft on display in the park, a Super Constellation, a Douglas DC-3 and a Junkers Ju 52/3m. There is also a visitors viewing terrace on the roof of Terminal 2 that gives a view of the easterly aircraft apron.

Ground transportation

Munich Airport

Train, Bus and Taxi

Munich city centre can be reached by the Munich suburban railway lines S1 and S8 which takes approximately 45 minutes and costs up to €8.80 each way, depending on distance. A magnetic levitation train (called Transrapid) which was to have run at speeds of up to 400 km/h (249 mph) from the central station to the airport in a travel time of 10 minutes had been approved,[3] but was cancelled in March 2008 because of cost escalation.[4] Supporters of the transrapid project founded the organization Bayern pro Rapid in 2007.

Alternatively, Lufthansa City Airport Bus connects Munich airport with Munich central station. This bus also stops at the Munich Underground station Nordfriedhof (U6) in northern Munich. A single ticket costs €10 and a return ticket is €16. The journey time is about 40 minutes from the central station to the airport, but depends on traffic.

Taxi rides to Munich city centre cost about €70.

The nearby towns of Freising and Erding can be reached by taxi (15 minutes, €30) or by bus. There are also regular bus services to Ingolstadt, Augsburg and Salzburg, amongst others.

Car

Munich Airport is connected to the city centre via the A 92 and A 9 motorways. The Munich ring motorway A 99 can also be reached via the A92.

Terminals

There are two terminals at the airport and it is roughly divided into three parts, Terminal 1, common area and Terminal 2, which is the newest part. Terminal 1 and 2's airsides are much more sparse in shops and eateries than the common area. The latter contains the airport's own brewpub, Airbräu. In addition there is a separate General Aviation Terminal serving private and corporate aircraft.

Munich Airport at night

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 houses most non-Star Alliance airlines, it has 60 stands, 19 aerobridges and 14 boarding stations. The halls or areas are numbered A-F (F being nearer teminal 2, and a secure area for Israel bound flights). It was opened on 17 May 1992 and is capable of handling 20 million passengers per year. Currently, the terminal is being renovated, giving increased space for shops and other improvements. The first halls have already been finished. 68 airlines use Terminal 1.

Hall A

Hall B

Hall C

Munich Airport Control tower

Hall D

Hall E

Hall E handles arrivals only.

Hall F

Hall F is a secure terminal used by airlines for services to Israel, it is a holding facility where passengers are transported by bus to secure remote gates, under the guard of the Bundespolizei.

Central area (Zentralbereich)

Interior view of Terminal 2

Terminal 2

Exterior view of Terminal 2
Terminal 2 Departure area
Terminal 2 Flight information display system

Terminal 2 is where all Star Alliance activity takes place, as well as Lufthansa's handling partners. It has two halls G and H (for flights to Schengen treaty member states and non-members respectively). It has 75 parking stands, 24 with airbridges, 4 for regional planes eg CRJ-700 and BAe 146, and 47 boarding stations. It was opened on 2003-06-29 and is capable of handling 20-25 million passengers per year. The airport and Lufthansa claim that the time needed for a connection inside the terminal is only 30 minutes. With the new terminal completed, Munich's importance as a hub substantially increased. Twenty six airlines use Terminal 2.

Ebene/Level 3

Ebene/Level 4

Central area

MUC Airport Central Area

The Munich Airport Center (MAC) is a shopping, business and recreation area that connects the two terminals; the older part which belongs to Terminal 1 is an indoor area. The newer part, which was built as the same time as the second terminal, is a large outdoor area with a tent-like, partly transparent roof. It also contains a hotel managed by Kempinski.

Cargo area

As well as a passenger terminal, the airport has a cargo centre. There are several airlines which use it:

References

  1. ↑ DC Airports (2007-08-20). "Erläuterungsbericht Technische Planung Luftseite" (in German). Planfeststellungsverfahren 3. Start- und Landebahn pp. 16, 42. Retrieved on 2008-11-24.
  2. ↑ "Air travellers vote Hong Kong the worlds best airport with Seoul Incheon and Singapore Changi joint second place". World Airport Awards. Skytrax (2007-08-08). Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  3. ↑ "Germany to build maglev railway", BBC News, BBC (2007-09-25). Retrieved on 2008-04-07. 
  4. ↑ "Germany Scraps Transrapid Rail Plans", Deutsche Welle (2008-03-27). Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 

External links