Düsseldorf Airport Explained

Düsseldorf Airport
Nativename:German: Flughafen Düsseldorf
Image2-Width:250
Iata:DUS
Icao:EDDL
Type:Public
Owner-Oper:Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH
City-Served:Rhine-Ruhr
Location:Lohausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Elevation-F:147
Elevation-M:44.8
Metric-Elev:yes
Coordinates:51.2894°N 6.7667°W
Pushpin Map:Germany North Rhine-Westphalia#Germany#Europe
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in North Rhine-Westphalia
Pushpin Label:DUS/EDDL
R1-Number:05R/23L
R1-Length-F:9,843
R1-Length-M:3,000
R1-Surface:Concrete
R2-Number:05L/23R
R2-Length-F:8,859
R2-Length-M:2,700
R2-Surface:Concrete
Metric-Rwy:yes
Stat1-Header:Passengers
Stat1-Data: 16,071,936
Stat2-Header:Aircraft movements
Stat2-Data: 140,598
Stat3-Header:Cargo (metric tons)
Stat3-Data: 23,707
Stat-Year:2022
Footnotes:Sources: Flughafenverband ADV,[1]
AIP at German air traffic control.[2]

Düsseldorf Airport (German: Flughafen Düsseldorf, pronounced as /de/), known as Düsseldorf International Airport until March 2013, is an international airport serving Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is about 7km (04miles) north of downtown Düsseldorf and some 20km (10miles) southwest of Essen in the Rhine-Ruhr area, Germany's largest metropolitan area.

Düsseldorf is the fourth-busiest airport in Germany and handled 16 million passengers in 2022.[3] It is a hub for Eurowings and a focus city for several more airlines. The airport has three passenger terminals and two runways and can handle wide-body aircraft up to the Airbus A380.

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 in the world.[4] The airport is located in Düsseldorf-Lohausen. The largest nearby business centres are Düsseldorf and Essen; other cities within a 200NaN0 radius are Duisburg, Krefeld, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Neuss, and Wuppertal. The airport extends over a compact of land – small in comparison to airports of a similar capacity, but also a reason for Düsseldorf being known as an airport of short distances. The airport has more than 18,200 employees.

With around 16million passengers passing through in 2022,[5] the airport was the fourth busiest in Germany, after Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport and Berlin Brandenburg Airport. It was the 31st-busiest airport in Europe in 2022.

Ownership

The city of Düsseldorf owns half the airport, with the other half owned by various commercial entities. Düsseldorf Airport is a public–private partnership with the following owners:

History

Early years

The current airport was opened on 19 April 1927, after two years of construction. The first international route was inaugurated by SABENA in 1929 between Brussels, Antwerp, Düsseldorf and Hamburg.[6]

At the beginning of World War II, civil use of the airport ceased in September 1939 and the airfield was used by the military.[6] After the end of the war, the airport reopened for civil use in 1948. With the area under British administration, the first international flights were operated by British European Airways to London.[6]

Since 1950, the airport is owned by a state-owned operations company.[6]

On 1 April 1955, Lufthansa started services between Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, and Munich,[6] which still exist today. In 1959, the first scheduled jet aircraft landed in Düsseldorf on Scandinavian Airlines' Copenhagen-Khartoum route.[6] In 1961, LTU relocated its home base from Cologne Bonn Airport and in the same year, Düsseldorf Airport handled more than onemillion passengers for the first time.[6]

In 1969, the main runway was lengthened to 3000 metres while a new second terminal was under construction.[6] The new Terminal 2, which is today's Terminal B, opened in April 1973.[6] Another addition, today's Terminal A, was opened in 1977[6] while the last annex, Terminal C, opened in 1986.[6]

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, destroying 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.[7]

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.[8]

Development since the 2000s

The first construction stage in the "Airport 2000+" programme commenced in 1998 with the laying of a foundation stone for an underground parking garage under the new terminal.[9]

The new Düsseldorf Airport station was opened in May 2000, with a capacity of 300 train departures daily. 16million 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 2.5km (01.6miles) between the terminal and station at a maximum speed of . The system was developed by Siemens and is based on the similar H-Bahn operating with two lines on the 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.[10]

In January 2015, Emirates announced it would schedule the Airbus A380 on one of their two daily flights from Dubai to Düsseldorf starting in July 2015. 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.[11]

In June 2015, Lufthansa announced the closure of 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-O'Hare. 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.[12] A few months later, Lufthansa announced the cancellation of the Düsseldorf-Chicago route.[13] The same route was served by American Airlines during the summer seasons from 2013[14] to 2016, when it was discontinued.[15]

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 were handed to Niki more than a dozen destinations were cancelled entirely.[16] In August 2017, Air Berlin also announced the termination of all long-haul routes from Düsseldorf to destinations in the Caribbean on short notice due to ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.[17] However, both Condor and Eurowings announced it would step in and start some of the terminated Caribbean destinations by themselves.[18] [19] Shortly after, Air Berlin also announced the termination of all remaining long-haul operations leading to the loss of several connections to the United States at Düsseldorf Airport.[20] On 9 October 2017, Air Berlin announced the termination of all of its own operations, excluding wetleases, by the end of the month[21] [22] leading to the loss of one of the airport's largest customers.

In February 2018, Eurowings announced the relocation of all long-haul routes currently served from Cologne Bonn Airport to Düsseldorf by late October 2018 to strengthen its presence there.[23]

In March 2018, Lufthansa announced it would close its base at Düsseldorf Airport after the 2018/2019 winter schedule which ended in March 2019. When the single remaining long-haul route to Newark was taken over by Eurowings, 400 staff members were offered a relocation to either Frankfurt Airport or Munich Airport.[24] [25] In November 2018, Ryanair also announced they would close their base in Düsseldorf after only a year. Its routes were taken over by Lauda.[26]

In August 2020, Delta Air Lines removed the Atlanta route from their schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] It started resuming its three-times-weekly service to and from Atlanta on May 9, 2023, albeit making the route to Düsseldorf summer seasonal only, therefore leaving the airport without any transatlantic connection in the winter season.[28]

Shortly after Delta Air Lines suspended its Atlanta route, Ryanair announced the closure of its base in Düsseldorf — which was operated on a wetlease basis by Lauda — by 24 October 2020.[29] In September 2020, Singapore Airlines permanently removed the route to Singapore from their schedule.[30]

In the autumn of 2022, German airline Sundair drastically reduced its operations from Düsseldorf, leaving a single route to Beirut. The two previously based aircraft were relocated. In January 2023 it became public that Sundair would not return to Düsseldorf in the summer season of 2023 with any flight, eradicating its former base from the network.[31] [32]

Just five months after resuming the previously long-standing route to Atlanta, Delta Air Lines announced in September 2023 that it would not return to Düsseldorf in the 2024 summer season. The route had been announced at only three weekly flights and was downgraded to summer seasonal before it even started.[33] This leaves Düsseldorf without a single scheduled transatlantic flight.

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.

Terminal A

Terminal A was opened in 1977 and has 16 gates (A01–A16) used by Lufthansa and Eurowings, its airline partners and Star Alliance members, Austrian Airlines, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, and Swiss International Air Lines. Terminal A houses two Lufthansa lounges. It was refurbished fundamentally for two years after the 1996 fire.

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 France, British Airways, KLM, Finnair, Iberia and ITA Airways. Also located within this terminal are leisure carriers such as TUIfly and Condor. Terminal B houses an observation deck, which got shut down after the COVID-19 outbreak due to economic reasons,[34] and one contract lounge [35] 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 Emirates and Etihad Airways. Terminal C has a direct access to Airport City's Maritim Hotel, part of a German hotel chain, and houses lounges operated by the airport and Emirates. Terminal C was the least affected terminal after the fire in 1996, reopening the same year after intensive maintenance work. 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.[36]

Executive Terminal

Jet Aviation operates a small terminal solely for private and corporate customers.

Runways and apron

Düsseldorf has two runways, which are 3000m (10,000feet) and 2700m (8,900feet) long. There are plans to extend the 30000NaN0 runway to 3600m (11,800feet), 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 southwest of the airport terminal has been under redevelopment as Düsseldorf Airport City with an anticipated gross floor area of 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,[37] and a Sheraton Hotel. Messe Düsseldorf is situated in close proximity to Düsseldorf Airport City (some 500abbr=onNaNabbr=on).

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Düsseldorf Airport:

Cargo

Statistics

Passengers and freight

Passengers Movements
200016.03 million194,01659,361
2001 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
2017 24.62 million 221,635 102,107
2018 24.28 million 218,820 75,030
2019 25.51 million 225,935
2020 6.6 million 78,805
2021 7.95 million 82,189
2022 16.07 million 140,598Source: ADV German Airports Association[38]
2023 19.12 million 146,626Source: ADV German Airports Association[39]

Busiest routes

Busiest domestic and international routes
to and from Düsseldorf Airport (2018)
RankDestinationPassengers
handled
1Palma de Mallorca1,495,562
2Munich1,419,069
3Berlin1,197,615
4Istanbul1,068,462
5London895,346
6Antalya848,617
7Vienna735,520
8Zürich732,520
9Dubai532,407
10Hamburg525,614
Source: Düsseldorf Airport[40]

Largest airlines

Largest airlines by passengers handled (2018)[41]
RankAirlinePassengers handled
1Eurowings/Germanwings8.3m
2Lufthansa1.7m
3Condor1.6m
4TUI fly Deutschland992,000
5SunExpress728,000

Ground transportation

Train

See main article: Düsseldorf Airport Terminal station and Düsseldorf Airport station. Düsseldorf Airport has two railway stations:

Road

The airport can be reached via its own motorway section which is part of the motorway A44 (BelgiumKassel, Exit Düsseldorf-Flughafen) which also connects to motorways A52, A57 and A3. There are also several local bus lines connecting the airport with nearby areas and Düsseldorf city center.[42]

Other facilities

Flight restrictions

The authorities do not allow flights to or from this airport between 23:00 and 6:00.

Incidents and accidents

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2022 . adv.org . Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. . 2023-02-13 . 2023-02-21.
  2. Web site: AIP VFR online. dfs.de. 2023-02-21. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH. en.
  3. Web site: Die verkehrsreichsten Flughäfen Nordrhein-Westfalens: DAS sind die passagierstärksten Flughäfen Nordrhein-Westfalens. 11 February 2022. 11 February 2022. 11 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220211170318/https://nachrichtend.com/die-verkehrsreichsten-flughaefen-nordrhein-westfalens-das-sind-die-passagierstaerksten-flughaefen-nordrhein-westfalens/. dead.
  4. Web site: Geo. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001061119/http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&dat=32&geo=-4&srt=npan&col=aohdq&pt=a&va=&srt=pnan. dead. 1 October 2007. World Gazetteer. 21 June 2013.
  5. Web site: Bis zu 23 Millionen Fluggäste: Flughafen Düsseldorf erwartet 2023 steigende Passagierzahlen . 25 November 2022 .
  6. https://www.dus.com/de-de/konzern/unternehmen/flughafengeschichte dus.com - "Airport history"
  7. Web site: Der Flughafenbrand von Düsseldorf. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/KdrNeqg6xhU. 2021-12-12 . live. Westdeutscher Rundfunk. 22 May 2013. Frank Bürgin. youtube.com.
  8. Web site: Terminalerweiterung am Flughafen Düsseldorf in Betrieb genommen. baunetz.de. 21 May 2013. 2 July 2001.
  9. https://www.gbm-essen.de/de/airport_2000_plus gbm-essen.de
  10. Web site: Willkommen bei der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf. Duesseldorf. 21 June 2013.
  11. Web site: Flughafen Düsseldorf schließt Bauarbeiten für A380 ab. 11 December 2016.
  12. http://www.aero.de/news-21968/Lufthansa-loest-Langstreckenbasis-Duesseldorf-auf.html aero.de - "Lufthansa dissolves Düsseldorf long-haul base"
  13. http://airlineroute.net/2015/11/02/lh-dusord-s16cxld/ airlineroute.net - Lufthansa Cancels Dusseldorf – Chicago Flights in S16
  14. Web site: American Airlines fliegt ab April täglich von Düsseldorf nach Chicago. 24 October 2012. 11 December 2016. 13 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313215908/http://www.derwesten.de/nrz/staedte/duesseldorf/ab-april-taeglich-nach-chicago-id7225207.html. dead.
  15. Web site: American adds new International routes in S17. 11 December 2016.
  16. Web site: Das Streckennetz der new airberlin | airberlin.com . 22 January 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170211201131/https://flights.airberlin.com/de-DE/die-neue-airberlin#streckennetz . 11 February 2017 . dead . dmy-all .
  17. http://www.airberlingroup.com/en/press/pressreleases/2017/09/11_airberlin-ends-Caribbean-flight-schedule airberlingroup.com - airberlin ends Caribbean flight schedule
  18. Web site: Eurowings adds Dusseldorf - Caribbean routes in W17. Routesonline. 25 December 2018.
  19. Web site: Even more Caribbean: Condor starts long-haul flights from Düsseldorf. condor-newsroom.condor.com. 19 September 2017 . 25 December 2018.
  20. http://www.aero.de/news-27556/Air-Berlin-Aufsichtsrat-fuer-Verkauf-an-Lufthansa-und-Easyjet.html aero.de - "Air Berlin board in favor of sale to Lufthansa and easyJet"
  21. http://www.aero.de/news-27642/Air-Berlin-leitet-den-Sinkflug-ein.html aero.de - "Air Berlin starts descent"
  22. News: Air Berlin to End Flights Oct 28. Bloomberg.com . 9 October 2017 . Bloomberg. 9 October 2017.
  23. http://www.aero.de/news-28497/Eurowings-verlegt-Langstrecken-nach-Duesseldorf.html aero.de - "Eurowings moves A330 from Cologne to Düsseldorf"
  24. http://www.rp-online.de/wirtschaft/lufthansa-schliesst-basis-in-duesseldorf-aid-1.7449767 rp-online.de - "Lufthansa closes base in Düsseldorf"
  25. https://www.nrz.de/staedte/duesseldorf/lufthansa-verlaesst-duesseldorf-endgueltig-id215141419.html nrz.de - "Lufthansa leaves Düsseldorf on 31 March 2019"
  26. https://www.wz.de/nrw/duesseldorf/ryanair-verlaesst-den-duesseldorfer-flughafen_aid-34367229 wz.de - "Ryanair leaves Düsseldorf Airport"
  27. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/293288/delta-ns21-long-haul-operation-changes-as-of-23aug20/ routesonline.com
  28. https://news.delta.com/delta-leans-summer-expanded-service-popular-european-destinations Delta Air Lines
  29. https://www.aero.de/news-36859/OLeary-rechnet-mit-hartem-Winter.html aero.de - Ryanair closes base in Düsseldorf
  30. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/293741/singapore-airlines-nw20ns21-network-adjustment-as-of-14sep20/ routesonline.com - Singapore Airlines NW20/NS21 Network adjustment as of 14SEP20
  31. Web site: Sundair opens new routes in summer 2023. 31 January 2023 . German.
  32. Web site: Sundair.com. www.sundair.com.
  33. Web site: DELTA CLOSES ATLANTA – DUSSELDORF BOOKINGS FOR NS24. AeroRoutes.
  34. Web site: DUS Airport announces the closure of the observation deck. 19 April 2024. de.
  35. Web site: Dusseldorf International (DUS) Airport lounges .
  36. Web site: Emirates fliegt Düsseldorf bald mit einem Airbus A380 an. airliners.de. 2 June 2015.
  37. Web site: Hotel Düsseldorf . Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf . Maritim Hotels Website . 9 July 2015.
  38. Web site: Downloadbibliothek . 2023-02-21 . Flughafenverband ADV . de.
  39. Web site: Downloadbibliothek . 2024-05-08 . Flughafenverband ADV . de.
  40. Web site: Zahlen, Daten, Fakten 2008-2018..
  41. Web site: Facts and Figures Düsseldorf Airport..
  42. Web site: Passengers. dus-com1. 2 June 2015. 6 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141106134808/http://www.dus.com/dus_en/bus. dead.
  43. Web site: airberlin technik – airberlin technical training in Dusseldorf . https://archive.today/20140128230648/http://www.airberlin-technik.com/tech_en/training/service/duesseldorf . dead . 2014-01-28 . Airberlin-technik.com .
  44. "Kontakt." LTU International. Retrieved 21 June 2009. "LTU International Airways Flughafen Düsseldorf, Halle 8 D40474 Düsseldorf"
  45. "Contact." Blue Wings. 12 June 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2012. "Blue Wings AG Duesseldorf Airport Terminal A 5. OG 40474 Duesseldorf, Germany"
  46. "Welcome to Blue Wings." Blue Wings. 27 March 2009. Retrieved on 30 December 2012. "Blue Wings AG . Düsseldorf Airport . Terminal A . D-40474 Düsseldorf . Germany"