Düsseldorf Airport

Düsseldorf Airport Flughafen Düsseldorf
IATA: DUS ICAO: EDDL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH
Serves	Düsseldorf, Germany
Hub for	Air Berlin Eurowings
Focus city for	Condor Flybe[1] Germania Lufthansa Niki SunExpress Deutschland TUI fly Deutschland
Elevation AMSL	44.8 m / 147 ft
Coordinates	51°17′22″N 006°46′00″E / 51.28944°N 6.76667°E / 51.28944; 6.76667Coordinates: 51°17′22″N 006°46′00″E / 51.28944°N 6.76667°E / 51.28944; 6.76667
Website	dus.com
Map
DUS Location in North Rhine-Westphalia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05R/23L 3,000 9,843 Concrete 05L/23R 2,700 8,859 Concrete
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 23,521,919 Passenger change 15–16 4.7% Aircraft movements 217,575 Movements change 15–16 3.5%
Sources: Flughafenverband ADV[2] German AIP at EUROCONTROL[3]

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^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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,^[4] 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.^[4]

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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[5]

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.^[9] A few months later, Lufthansa announced the cancellation of the Düsseldorf-Chicago route.^[10] The same route has been served by American Airlines during the summer seasons from 2013^[11] to 2016, when it was discontinued.^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[8]

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^[14] 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:^[15]

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens, Kalamata, Thessaloniki Seasonal: Heraklion, Rhodes
Aer Lingus	Dublin Seasonal: Cork
Aeroflot	Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Aeroflot operated by Rossiya Airlines	St Petersburg
Air Berlin	Barcelona, Berlin–Tegel, Bologna, Boston, Cancún, Chicago–O'Hare (begins 2 May 2018)[16], Copenhagen, Curaçao, Florence, Fort Myers, Geneva, Hamburg, Havana, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan–Linate, Munich, New York–JFK, Nice, Nuremberg, Orlando, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Reykjavik–Keflavik, Rome–Fiumicino, Salzburg, San Francisco, Stuttgart, Sylt, Toronto–Pearson (begins 1 May 2018)[17], Varadero, Venice, Vienna, Zürich Seasonal: Catania, Naples, Olbia
Air Cairo	Seasonal: Hurghada
Air China	Beijing–Capital
Air France	Bordeaux (begins 30 October 2017)[18]
Air France operated by HOP!	Bordeaux (begins 1 November 2017),[18] Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Malta	Malta
Air Serbia	Belgrade
Air Seychelles	Mahé (ends 10 September 2017)[19]
Air VIA	Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna
airBaltic	Riga
Alitalia	Milan–Linate, Rome–Fiumicino
All Nippon Airways	Tokyo–Narita
Astra Airlines	Seasonal charter: Thessaloniki[20]
AtlasGlobal	Istanbul–Atatürk Seasonal charter: Antalya
Austrian Airlines	Graz, Linz, Vienna
Azur Air (Germany)	Charter: Antalya, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Palma de Mallorca, Punta Cana, Rhodes
BMI Regional	Bristol
British Airways	London–Heathrow
British Airways operated by BA CityFlyer	London–City
British Airways operated by SUN-AIR	Billund
Bulgarian Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong
Condor	Djerba, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Jerez de la Frontera, Lanzarote, Marrakesh (begins 10 November 2017), Tenerife–South Seasonal: Agadir, Antalya, Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Enfidha, Heraklion, Kalamata, Kavala, Kos, La Palma, Mykonos, Palma de Mallorca, Preveza, Porto Santo, Rhodes, Samos (begins 1 May 2018),[21] Santorini, Skiathos Seasonal charter: Dubai-Al Maktoum
Corendon Airlines	Antalya
Croatia Airlines	Seasonal: Dubrovnik, Split
Czech Airlines	Prague
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta
Emirates	Dubai–International
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi
Eurowings	Alicante, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Bastia, Berlin–Tegel, Bilbao, Birmingham, Bucharest, Budapest, Dresden, Dublin, Edinburgh, Fuerteventura, Geneva, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Kavala, Kraków, La Palma (begins 4 November 2017),[22] Lanzarote, Leipzig/Halle, Lisbon, London–Heathrow, Lyon, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nice, Nuremberg, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Pristina, Pula,[23] Rome–Fiumicino, Salzburg, Split, Stockholm–Arlanda, Tenerife–South, Thessaloniki, Valencia, Warsaw–Chopin, Wrocław, Venice, Vienna, Zagreb (begins 31 October 2017),[22] Zakynthos,[22] Zürich Seasonal: Athens, Bari, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Dubrovnik, Ibiza, Izmir, Jersey, Kütahya, Lamezia Terme, Málaga, Menorca, Montpellier, Newquay, Olbia, Porto, Rijeka, Rhodes, Reykjavik-Keflavik, Tivat, Varna, Zadar
Eurowings operated by Air Berlin	Birmingham, Budapest, Edinburgh, Funchal (begins 29 October 2017),[24] Glasgow, Innsbruck (begins 3 December 2017),[22] Marrakesh (begins 4 November 2017),[22] Seasonal: Dublin, Heringsdorf
Eurowings operated by Germanwings	Agadir (begins 29 October 2017),[22] Basel/Mulhouse, Berlin-Tegel, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Fès (begins 4 November 2017),[22] Bucharest, Budapest, Dresden, Glasgow, Leipzig/Halle Seasonal: Dublin
Eurowings operated by SunExpress Deutschland	Barcelona, Budapest, Dresden Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
Finnair	Helsinki
Flybe	Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford (begins 29 October 2017),[25] London–City, Manchester, Southampton Seasonal: Cardiff, Guernsey, Jersey
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya, Ercan, Istanbul–Atatürk, Izmir
Germania	Beirut, Erbil, Paphos, Pristina, Sulaymaniyah, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion Seasonal: Almería, Gazipaşa, Hurghada, Kittilä, Marrakech, Sharm El Sheikh (begins 13 November 2017),[26] Zonguldak Seasonal charter: Marsa Alam, Porto Santo
Hahn Air	Luxembourg
Iberia	Madrid
Iraqi Airways	Erbil
Jet2.com	Leeds/Bradford (ends 27 October 2017)
KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper	Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich, Newark
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine	Frankfurt
Mahan Air	Teheran-Imam Khomeini
Montenegro Airlines	Seasonal: Podgorica
Nesma Airlines	Charter: Hurghada
Niki	Agadir (begins 7 November 2017), Alicante, Faro, Corfu, Fuerteventura, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kos, Lanzarote, Funchal, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Ponta Delgada, Rhodes, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Innsbruck (begins 8 December 2017)[27]
Norwegian Air Shuttle operated by Norwegian Air International	Gran Canaria, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Alicante, Barcelona, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca
Nouvelair	Enfidha
Onur Air	Istanbul–Atatürk Seasonal: Antalya
Pegasus Airlines	Ankara, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir, Kayseri Seasonal: Antalya
Royal Air Maroc	Seasonal: Nador
S7 Airlines operated by Globus Airlines	Moscow–Domodedovo Seasonal: Novosibirsk[28]
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Scandinavian Airlines operated by CityJet	Copenhagen
Singapore Airlines	Singapore
SunExpress	Izmir Seasonal: Antalya, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Ordu-Giresun
SunExpress Deutschland	Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Fuerteventura, Hurghada, Gaziantep, Gazipaşa, Gran Canaria, Kayseri, Lanzarote, Marrakech, Trabzon Seasonal: Bodrum, Burgas, Dalaman, Marsa Alam, Heraklion, Nador, Rhodes, Salalah, Samsun, Varna
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich
Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss Global Air Lines	Zürich
Tailwind Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya
TAP Portugal operated by TAP Express	Lisbon
TUI fly Deutschland	Antalya, Boa Vista, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Lanzarote, Marsa Alam, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Heraklion, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Patras, Rhodes, Sal
Tunisair	Tunis Seasonal charter: Djerba, Enfidha
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul–Atatürk, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Seasonal: Adana, Ankara, Kayseri, Samsun, Trabzon
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev–Boryspil
Vueling	Barcelona
WOW air	Seasonal: Reykjavik-Keflavík

Statistics

Passenger and freight

	Passengers	Movements	Freight (in t)
2000	16.03 million	194,016	59,361
2001	15.40 million	193,514	51,441
2002	14.75 million	190,300	46,085
2003	14.30 million	186,159	48,419
2004	15.26 million	200,584	86,267
2005	15.51 million	200,619	88,058
2006	16.59 million	215,481	97,000
2007	17.83 million	227,899	89,281
2008	18.15 million	228,531	90,100
2009	17.79 million	214,024	76,916
2010	18.98 million	215,540	87,995
2011	20.39 million	221,668	81,521
2012	20.80 million	210,298	86,820
2013	21.23 million	210,828	110,814
2014	21.85 million	210,732	114,180
2015	22.48 million	210,208	90,862
2016	23.52 million	217,575	93,689
Source: ADV[29], Düsseldorf Airport[30]

Busiest routes

Busiest domestic and international routes
to and from Düsseldorf Airport (2014)

Rank	Destination	Passengers handled
1	Munich	1,526,964
2	Palma de Mallorca	1,161,993
3	Berlin	1,113,415
4	London	923,346
5	Antalya	908,497
6	Vienna	791,867
7	Istanbul	777,310
8	Zürich	740,036
9	Hamburg	602,987
10	Moscow	498,877
11	Paris	478,889
12	Dubai	434,439
13	Frankfurt	385,343
14	Copenhagen	378,848
15	Madrid	376,146
16	Barcelona	359,032
17	Milan	315,752
18	Gran Canaria	311,909
19	Abu Dhabi	297,904
20	Fuerteventura	294,522
Source: Destatis[31]

Largest airlines

Largest airlines by passengers handled
at Düsseldorf Airport (2016)

Rank	Airline	Passengers handled
1	Air Berlin	7,5m
2	Germanwings/Eurowings	4,9m
3	Lufthansa	1,3m
4	Condor	925,000
5	SunExpress	785,000
Source: Düsseldorf Airport[32]

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.^[33]

Other facilities

• Düsseldorf Airport has the headquarters of Air Berlin's technical training facilities and also serves as one of their maintenance bases.^[34]
• When LTU International existed, its head office was in Halle 8 at Düsseldorf Airport.^[35]
• The corporate head office of Blue Wings was also located in Terminal A at the airport.^[36][37]

See also

• Transport in Germany
• Weeze Airport, an airport 80 km (50 mi) north-west from Düsseldorf, that is sometimes advertised by low-cost airlines as "Düsseldorf-Weeze" or "Weeze (Düsseldorf)". A German court ruled the naming the airport after Düsseldorf would be misleading to passengers, however some airlines still use that name in advertisements outside of Germany.

References

External links

Media related to Düsseldorf Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for EDDL at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for DUS at Aviation Safety Network