Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
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| Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn |
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| IATA: HHN – ICAO: EDFH | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn GmbH, Germany | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 1649 ft / 503 m | ||
| Coordinates | 49°56′54″N 7°15′51″E / 49.94833°N 7.26417°ECoordinates: 49°56′54″N 7°15′51″E / 49.94833°N 7.26417°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 03/21 | 12,467 | 3,800 | Asphalt |
- For the NATO Military use of this facility, see Hahn Air Base
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (German: Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn) (IATA: HHN, ICAO: EDFH) is a commercial airport located 10 km (6.2 mi) from the town of Kirchberg and 20 km (12 mi) from the town of Simmern in the Rhein-Hunsrück district of Rhineland-Palatinate to the west of central Germany. Despite its name, the airport is situated over 120 km (75 mi) to the west of the city of Frankfurt (by road).
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[edit] History
During the Cold War Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was a frontline NATO facility known as Hahn Air Base. Hahn Air Base was the home of the United States Air Force 50th Fighter Wing (in various designations) for most of those years as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany (Zweibrücken, Ramstein, Sembach, Bitburg, Spangdahlem, and Rhein-Main) all within 100 km (62.5 miles) of each other. Beyond their location in the heart of US troop concentrations, these air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean region.
On 30 September 1993, most of Hahn Air Base was turned over to civil German authorities, the USAF retaining a small portion as a communications site. It is also frequently used for military charters, these flights being operated by, amongst others, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines.
The German government decided to turn the former airfield into a civil airport. One of the main investors in the development of the new Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was Fraport AG, which primarily runs Frankfurt International Airport, the aim being to reduce the amount of traffic using that airport. Fraport AG sold its 65% Frankfurt-Hahn shares for €1 including debt of €120 million to the federal state Rheinland-Pfalz.
Hahn charges its airline operators less due to its remote location. This has made the airport popular with low-cost carriers, especially Ryanair which uses the airport as a major base.
Although its scheduled traffic is almost exclusively international flights, Hahn Airport does not carry the word "International" as part of its name.
[edit] Surface transport
[edit] Bus
Hahn is served by a number of (mostly) private bus operators that run regular services to Frankfurt am Main (1h 45min, via Frankfurt International Airport), Cologne (2h 15min), Luxembourg (1h 45min) and a number of other cities in western Germany and the region.
[edit] Rail
The airport has no railway station (it has a freight-railway connection only). The nearest local railway stations are Bullay (15km to the NW, on the Koblenz-Trier-Saarbrücken line), and Idar-Oberstein (26km south), Kirn (22km SE) and Bad Sobernheim (30km SE), all on the Mainz-Bad Kreuznach-Saarbrücken line. Frequent buses also run to the main railway station of nearby cities, the closest being Mainz (1h 10min, 60 km/38 mi to the east) and Koblenz (1h 5min, 50km NE).
[edit] Car
Hahn is fairly well reachable by road, the nearest Autobahn (Highway) connections are approximately 40km (25mi) to the west (A 1) or east (A 61). Parking and car rental are available at the airport.
[edit] Technical information
Frankfurt-Hahn has a long runway of 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) in the direction of 03/21. This combined with a large apron allows it to handle larger aircraft such as the Antonov An-124 or Boeing 747. It has an Instrument Landing System available to both sides, with runway 21 being category 3 approved; low visibility conditions being a frequent problem at the airport, especially during autumn and winter.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Bulgarian Air Charter | Burgas [seasonal], Varna [seasonal] |
| Iceland Express | Reykjavik |
| Ryanair | Alghero, Alicante, Bari, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bologna, Bratislava, Cagliari, Carcassonne, Dublin, Edinburgh, Faro, Féz, Gdańsk, Girona, Gothenburg-City, Jerez de la Frontera, Kaunas, Kerry, Klagenfurt, Lanzarote, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lleida [begins 2 April], London-Stansted, Lübeck, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakech, Milan-Orio al Serio, Montpellier, Osijek, Oslo-Torp, Palma de Mallorca, Pescara, Pisa, Porto, Prague, Reus, Riga, Rimini, Rome-Ciampino, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Stockholm-Skavsta, Tampere, Tenerife-South, Trapani, Valencia, Venice-Treviso, Wrocław, Zadar |
| Sky Airlines | Antalya |
| Wizz Air | Katowice, Sofia [begins 22 May] |
[edit] Cargo airlines
- Aeroflot-Cargo
- Air Armenia
- Air Cargo Germany
- Atlas Air
- EgyptAir Cargo
- Etihad Crystal Cargo
- Evergreen International Airlines
- FedEx Express
- MNG Airlines
- National Airlines
- Polar Air Cargo
- Qantas Freight
- TAP Cargo
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1989
- Endicott, Judy G., USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Office of Air Force History
- Fletcher, Harry R., Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
[edit] External links
- Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (official site)
