Kassel Airport

Kassel Airport
Flughafen Kassel
IATA: KSF – ICAO: EDVK
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Flughafen Kassel GmbH
Serves Kassel, Germany
Elevation AMSL 820 ft / 250 m
Coordinates 51°25′15″N 009°23′32″E / 51.42083°N 9.39222°ECoordinates: 51°25′15″N 009°23′32″E / 51.42083°N 9.39222°E
Website flughafenkassel.de
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 1,500 4,921 Asphalt
04L/22R 700 2,297 Grass
09/27 2,500 8,200 Asphalt
Source: German AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]

Kassel Airport (formerly Kassel-Calden Airport,[2] German Flughafen Kassel) (IATA: KSF, ICAO: EDVK) is a minor international airport serving the German city of Kassel in the state of Hesse. It is located 1.9 km (1.2 mi) west[1] of Calden, 16.7 km (10.4 mi) northwest of Kassel and is mainly used for business and general aviation. There is also a flight school,[3] an ultralight flying school, and a parachuting school based on site.

History

First airfield

Built on farmland, 908 ft (277 m) ASL lying NNE of the Hoher Dörnberg, the airport was opened on 11 July 1970. It has been operated as a public–private partnership since 1991.

New regional airport

A completely new regional airport has been built next to the old airport to accommodate commercial chartered and scheduled carriers as well as the business and general aviation from the old airport. The new airport has officially opened on 4 April 2013 with the arrival of a Germania flight from Frankfurt Airport.

The new airport faced several struggles when opened. The most important customer at first was the travel agency branch of REWE Group, with charter flights to the Mediterranean region. Originally, these were planned to be operated by XL Airways Germany. Following the bankruptcy of that airline, Enter Air was contracted instead, but also pulled out on 20 March 2013.[4] The flights to Teneriffe operated by Germania where scheduled to end in October 2013 but already terminated on 22 August 2013 due to low demand. Additionally, the flights to Antalya offered by Tailwind Airlines were reduced in frequency and served less than once a week.[5]

Germania as the airports main user announced that their service to Palma de Mallorca will resume in the 2014 summer season. They also took over the flights to Antalya which were offered by Tailwind Airlines during the 2013 summer season. While no airline or tour operator offered flights out of Kassel Airport during the 2013/14 winter season, Germania operated two flights per week to Palma de Mallorca and also two flights per week to Antalya in the following 2014 summer season. In the winter season 2014/2015 Germania operated flights to Antalya and Fuerteventura once a week.[6] The airline also announced flights to Palma de Mallorca, Antalya, Heraklion and Hurghada for summer season 2015 and therefore increasing their presence at Kassel Airport.[7]

On 15 March 2014 it has been announced that the contract with the airports' chief executive has been dissolved without notice.[8] In January 2015, the airport has been renamed from Kassel-Calden Airport to just Kassel Airport.[2]

Facilities

Main hall

Terminal

Kassel features one single small passenger terminal building with basic facilities such as car rental desks and some shops. As there are no jet bridges, buses and walk-boarding are in use.

Runway

The old airport used to have a single asphalt runway, 04/22 (040°/220°), which is 1,500 by 30 m (4,921 by 98 ft). There was a parallel grass strip north of the main runway, which is 700 by 30 m (2,297 by 98 ft).[1] The new runway 09/27 has a length of 8,200 ft (2,500 m) and width of 147 ft (45 m).[9]

The airport features two aprons, one in front of the passenger terminal for two mid-sized aircraft such as the Airbus A320 family and a separate one for general aviation aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Kassel Airport:[10]

Airlines Destinations
GermaniaAntalya
Seasonal: Fuerteventura, Heraklion (begins 4 May 2015),[11] Hurghada, Palma de Mallorca

Statistics

Apron overview
Passengers
2013 49,557
2014 Decrease 45,587
Source: Kassel Airport[12]

Ground transportation

Kassel Airport can be reached via the federal highway B7 which is itself connected to motorway A7. The express-bus route 100 connects the airport with Kassel city center (journey time approx. 25 minutes) as well as Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe station (40 minutes), which is an important long-distance railway hub.[13] The nearest regional train station is Fürstenwald which is connected to the airport by bus as well.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 EAD Basic
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/regionalflughafen-kassel-calden-nennt-sich-kuenftig-kassel-airport-13377331.html
  3. ↑ Flugschule Kassel
  4. ↑ Touristik Aktuell: Airport Kassel: Rewe sucht Ersatz für Enter Air. Published on 20 March 2013 (in German)
  5. ↑ http://www.aero.de/news-18025/Keine-Teneriffa-Fluege-mehr-von-Kassel-Calden.html
  6. ↑ http://www.flygermania.de/download/file/Flugplaene/Winterflugplan%202014_15.pdf
  7. ↑ http://www.flygermania.de/download/file/Flugplaene/Sommerflugplan%202015.pdf
  8. ↑ http://www.hna.de/nachrichten/hessen/flughafen/flughafen-muller-muss-sofort-gehen-3418130.html
  9. ↑ http://www.flughafenkassel.de/business-aviation/der-flughafen/zahlen-daten-fakten/
  10. ↑ http://www.flughafenkassel.de/fluggaeste-besucher/flugplan/
  11. ↑ "Germania Planned New S15 Routes as of 19NOV14". Airline Route. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  12. ↑ http://www.flughafenkassel.de/unternehmen/die-flughafen-gmbh/zahlen-daten-fakten/
  13. ↑ flughafenkassel.de – An- und Abreise

External links