| Image2-Width: | 250 |
| Iata: | BSL, MLH, EAP[1] |
| Icao: | LFSB |
| Type: | International |
| Owner: | France and Swiss canton of Basel-City |
| Operator: | L'administration de l'Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse |
| City-Served: | Basel, Mulhouse and Freiburg im Breisgau |
| Location: | Saint-Louis, France |
| Elevation-F: | 885 |
| Elevation-M: | 270 |
| Coordinates: | 47.59°N 7.5292°W |
| Pushpin Map: | France Alsace#France#Switzerland#Germany#Europe |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 180 |
| Pushpin Label: | BSL, MLH, EAP/LFSB |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Alsace region##Location of airport in France##Location of airport near Switzerland##Location of airport near Germany |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 15/33 |
| R1-Length-F: | 12,795 |
| R1-Length-M: | 3,900 |
| R1-Surface: | Concrete |
| R2-Number: | 07/25 |
| R2-Length-F: | 5,971 |
| R2-Length-M: | 1,820 |
| R2-Surface: | Concrete |
| Stat-Year: | 2021[2] |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 3,613,074 |
| Stat2-Header: | Freight (tons) |
| Stat2-Data: | 73,345 |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat3-Data: | 56,156 |
| Footnotes: | Sources: French AIP, airport's annual report[3] and French AIP at EUROCONTROL[4] |
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg [5] [1] is an international airport in the administrative commune of Saint-Louis, in the French Alsace part of the Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel. It is 4.7km (02.9miles) west of the tripoint of France, Germany, and Switzerland, 3.5km (02.2miles) northwest of the city of Basel in Switzerland, 20km (10miles) southeast of Mulhouse in France, and 46km (29miles) south-southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. The airport is jointly administered by France and Switzerland, governed by a 1949 international convention. The airport serves as a base for easyJet Switzerland and mainly features flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations.
Plans for the construction of a joint Swiss–French airport started in the 1930s but were halted by the Second World War. Swiss planners identified Basel as one of the four cities for which a main urban airport would be developed and recognized that the existing airfield at Sternenfeld in Birsfelden was too small and, due to the development of the adjacent river port facilities, unsuitable for expansion. The suburb of Allschwil was proposed for a new airport, and this would require being constructed across the Franco-Swiss border, leading to talks with French authorities centered on developing a single airport that would serve both countries, enhancing its international airport status.[6]
In 1946 talks resumed and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4km (02miles) north of Blotzheim, France. France would provide the land and the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt would cover the construction costs. Basel-Stadt's Grand Council agreed to pay the costs for a provisional airport even before an international treaty was signed (which was not until 1949). Construction began on 8 March 1946 and a provisional airport with a 1200sp=usNaNsp=us runway was officially opened on 8 May.
Between autumn 1951 and spring 1953, the east–west runway was extended to 1600abbr=onNaNabbr=on and the "Zollfreistrasse" (customs-free road) was constructed, allowing access from Basel to the departure terminal without passing through French border controls.
The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the terminals and runways were continually extended. The north–south runway was extended further to 3900abbr=onNaNabbr=on in 1972. In 1984, an annual total of 1 million passengers was reached. In 1987, the trademark name EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg was introduced.[7]
In 1992 a total of 2 million passengers used the airport. By 1998, this number rose up to 3 million.
In December 1998, Swissair inaugurated service to Newark using Airbus A310s.[8] [9] The main reason it launched the route was that it had heard another carrier was planning to begin flights from Basel to Newark; Swissair wanted to start flying the route before the other airline did. The company also hoped to attract people working for the pharmaceutical companies in Basel.[10] Crossair, a subsidiary of Swissair, code-shared on the flight. The carrier operated a hub at the EuroAirport, from which it flew to 40 regional destinations.[11]
Swissair terminated the flight to Newark in March 2000, saying it suffered from low occupancy.[9] [12] The local newspaper bz Basel commented that the airline did not advertise it well.[10]
A decision was made to enlarge the terminals again with a new "Y-finger" dock. The first phase was completed in 2002 and the second phase in 2005.
Crossair was the largest airline at the Basel airport. Following the Swissair liquidation in 2001, the subsequent ending of services in early 2002, and the transformation of Crossair into Swiss International Air Lines, the number of flights from Basel fell and the new terminal was initially underused. In 2004 the low-cost carrier easyJet opened a base at Basel and the passenger totals rose again, reaching 4 million in 2006.
From 2007 until 2009, Ryanair also flew to the airport for the first time. However, as a result of a dispute over landing fees, the airline closed all eight routes.[13] More recently Ryanair announced it would return in April 2014, with the resumption of Basel–Dublin route as well as a short-lived revival of the Basel – London–Stansted route. Ryanair added a Basel-Zagreb route in December 2021.[14]
In May 2008, Air Transat commenced seasonal service to Montreal.[15] [16] The airline flew an Airbus A310 on the route.[17] In December 2014, Swiss International Air Lines announced it would cease all operations at Basel by 31 May 2015 due to heavy competition from low-cost carriers.[18] Swiss faced direct competition on five out of its six Basel routes, all of which were operated by Swiss Global Air Lines. The Lufthansa Group announced it would set up Eurowings' first base outside Germany at the EuroAirport as a replacement. However these plans were later cancelled in favour of Vienna Airport.[19]
In January 2017, the removal of Basel/Mulhouse from Air Berlin and its Swiss subsidiary Belair's route networks was announced.[20]
EuroAirport is one of the few airports in the world operated jointly by two countries,[21] in this case France and Switzerland. It is governed by a 1949 international convention. The headquarters of the airport's operations are located in Blotzheim, France.[22] The airport is located completely on French soil; it also has a Swiss customs border and is connected to the Swiss customs area by a 2.5adj=onNaNadj=on-long customs-free road to Basel, allowing air travellers access into Switzerland bypassing French customs clearance. The airport is operated via a state treaty established in 1946 wherein the two countries (Switzerland and France) are granted access to the airport without any customs or other border restrictions. The airport's board has eight members each from France and Switzerland and two advisers from Germany.[23]
The airport building is split into two separate sections: Swiss and French. Though the entire airport is on French soil and under French jurisdiction, the Swiss authorities have the authority to apply Swiss laws regarding customs, medical services and police work in the Swiss section, including the customs road connecting Basel with the airport. French police are allowed to execute random checks in the Swiss section as well.[23] With Switzerland joining the Schengen Treaty in March 2009, the air side was rearranged to include a Schengen and non-Schengen zone.[24] As border control is staffed by both Swiss and French border officers, passengers arriving from non-Schengen countries must approach the customs office of the country for which they have received the Schengen entry visa, which is either France or Switzerland. On the other hand, the Schengen area can be left from any Schengen area country.
Due to its international status, EuroAirport has three IATA airport codes: BSL (Basel) is the Swiss code, MLH (Mulhouse) is the French code and EAP (EuroAirport) is the neutral code.[1] Some booking systems show different ticket prices for flights to BSL and MLH, as one of them can be a domestic flight within France (with different rules on fuel taxation, etc.), and in some cases, tickets can be issued where a "flight" between BSL and MLH is shown on the itinerary. The airport's ICAO airport code is LFSB. LSZM, the old code, has been reassigned to the airport of Mollis.
In 2020, a French court decided that job contracts on the airport are governed by French labor laws, not Swiss ones. Basing on a 2012 agreement, the Swiss companies active on the airport have used Swiss labor regulations, which are more employer-friendly than the French ones. For example, the Swiss laws made it easier to dismiss workers, while the French rules prescribe a 35-hour week, earlier retirement, and much higher compensations in case of dismissals. In exchange, working under Swiss laws results in much higher wages.[25]
The EuroAirport consists of a single terminal building, a brick-style main area with four levels and the Y-shaped gate area attached to it. The basement (Level 1) contains the access to the car park, the ground level (Level 2) features the arrivals facilities. Level 3 is the check-in area divided into halls 1–4 while the departure gates are located at Level 4. The gate area features gates 1–2, 20–46, 60–61 and 78–87 of which gates 22–32 are used for non-Schengen flights.[26] Six of the boarding gates feature jet bridges, the others are used for walk- or bus-boarding. The entry and exit area is divided into French and Swiss parts.
The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at the EuroAirport:[27]
| Rank | City | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pristina | 284 309 | 253 805 | 201 715 | 103 806 | 158 867 | 138 668 | 115 066 | 105 338 |
| 2 |  Amsterdam | 178 776 | 137 704 | 50 288 | 56 954 | 222 480 | 219 746 | 210 215 | 206 986 |
| 3 |  Istanbul (Sabiha Gökçen) | 157 419 | 123 097 | 77 204 | 47 625 | 103 528 | 87 709 | 78 588 | 70 338 |
| 4 |  Barcelona | 134 424 | 126 305 | 55 043 | 33 727 | 177 693 | 179 538 | 173 414 | 170 492 |
| 5 | Palma de Mallorca | 134 345 | 121 081 | 74 794 | 26 692 | 153 240 | 172 534 | 182 496 | 155 949 |
| 6 | London (Heathrow) | 134 225 | 85 406 | 7 228 | 28 202 | 140 676 | 140 289 | 129 091 | 126 362 |
| 7 | Antalya (Antalya) | 116 426 | 102 593 | 41 213 | 28 639 | 75 789 | |||
| 8 |  Budapest | 112 128 | 102 377 | 37 241 | 32 234 | 124 652 | 89 290 | ||
| 9 |  Porto | 107 450 | 101 608 | 65 625 | 54 460 | 108 173 | 108 106 | 106 307 | 103 998 |
| 10 | London (Gatwick) | 102 422 | 110 952 | 14 213 | 33 326 | 143 672 | 141 380 | 138 051 | 135 895 |
| 11 |  Berlin (Schönefeld) | 99 532 | 88 389 | 53 958 | 16 764 | 80 956 | 192 847 | 222 665 | 217 504 |
| 12 |  Nice | 96 494 | 97 623 | 56 798 | 36 088 | 93 345 | 91 405 | 92 490 | 87 752 |
| 13 | Skopje (Skopje) | 89 016 | 67 002 | 50 952 | 24 710 | 61 660 | |||
| 14 | Frankfurt | 81 331 | 51 429 | 20 758 | 13 342 | 92 685 | 93 550 | 83 348 | 76 381 |
| 15 | Istanbul (Istanbul) | 75 988 | 65 995 | 40 537 | 31 575 | 60 690 | |||
| 16 |  Rome | 75 729 | |||||||
| 17 | Hamburg | 74 432 | 66 404 | 26 447 | 40 667 | 126 019 | 118 612 | 112 104 | 113 642 |
| 18 | Bordeaux | 61 417 | 49 391 | 34 880 | 22 715 | 68 836 | |||
| 19 | Malaga | 60 525 | 38 475 | 28 377 | 30 799 | 17 916 | |||
| 20 | Lisbon | 58 468 | 55 476 | 33 959 | 25 255 | 101 667 | |||
| 21 | Alicante | 57 427 | 54 122 | 30 799 | 17 916 | ||||
| Naples | 52 499 | 51 577 | |||||||
| Madrid | 48 655 | 43 267 | 22 593 | 15 084 | 87 218 | 91 386 | 80 318 | ||
| Paris (Charles de Gaulle) | 48 472 | 51 420 | 19 280 | 14 539 | 72 785 | 75 910 | 76 900 | 82 424 | |
 Vienna | 47 181 | 41 935 | 29 750 | 24 172 | 99 173 | ||||
| Munich | 22 919 | 42 193 | 13 773 | 85 508 | 87 754 | 80 186 | 76 625 | ||
| Berlin (Tegel) | 38 923 | 147 257 | |||||||
| Istanbul (Atatürk) | 21 553 | 82 821 | 73 527 | 72 896 | |||||
The airport is connected to motorway A3 which leads from Basel to the southeast of Switzerland passing Zürich.
There are several bus connections to and from the EuroAirport to all three countries around it:
As of 2021, the closest train station is the Saint-Louis-la-Chaussée station, some 900m (3,000feet) north of the terminal. There are plans to build a dedicated airport rail link opening some time in the 2020s.[42]
There are two town tramway systems in relatively close proximity to the airport - Basel tramway and Mulhouse tramway. As the former was extended across the border in the 2010s, there are plans to further extend it to serve the airport. Presently, the tramway serves St Louis SNCF Station, where one can change for the shuttle bus to the airport. Plans to extend the Mulhouse tramway to the airport do seem to be further from realization, however.
In 2024, There was a bomb scare at the airport. A prankster made a bomb scare and the whole airport had to be evacuated. [43]
