Luxembourg – Findel Airport
| Luxembourg-Findel International Airport Fluchhafe Lëtzebuerg-Findel Aéroport de Luxembourg-Findel Flughafen Luxemburg-Findel |
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IATA: LUX – ICAO: ELLX
 LUX
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Luxembourg Airport Authority | ||
| Serves | Luxembourg City | ||
| Location | Sandweiler, Luxembourg | ||
| Hub for | Cargolux Luxair |
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| Elevation AMSL | 1,234 ft / 376 m | ||
| Coordinates | 49°37′24″N 006°12′16″E / 49.62333°N 6.20444°ECoordinates: 49°37′24″N 006°12′16″E / 49.62333°N 6.20444°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 06/24 | 4,000 | 13,123 | Concrete/Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Aircraft movements | 57,537 | ||
| Passengers | 1,630,027 | ||
| Cargo (tonnes) | 705,079 | ||
| Source: Belgian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics from [1] |
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Findel Airport (IATA: LUX, ICAO: ELLX) is the main airport in Luxembourg.
It is Luxembourg's only international airport and is the only airport in the country with a paved runway. It is located 3.25 NM (6.02 km; 3.74 mi) away from Luxembourg City.
The airport is completely international as there are no other commercial airports in the country. In 2010, it handled over 1.6 million passengers, an increase of 5.1% over the previous year.[2]
Luxair, Luxembourg's international airline and Cargolux, a cargo-only airline, have their head offices on the airport property.[3][4]
By cargo tonnage, Findel ranked as Europe’s 5th and the world’s 28th busiest in 2010.
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[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Berlin | Charter: Palma de Mallorca |
| Air France operated by CityJet | London-City |
| British Airways | London-Heathrow |
| Darwin Airline | Geneva, Lugano |
| Hahn Air | Düsseldorf |
| KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper | Amsterdam |
| Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine | Munich |
| Luxair | Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Bilbao, Djerba, Florence, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Heraklion, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Larnaca, London-City, Madeira, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakech, Milan-Malpensa, Monastir, Munich, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Porto, Rome-Fiumicino, Saarbrucken, Tenerife-South, Turin, Vienna Seasonal: Agadir, Ajaccio, Almeria, Antalya, Bastia, Boa Vista, Bodrum, Burgas, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Constanta, Corfu, Faro, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Malta, Naples, Palermo, Paphos, Rhodes, Rimini, Sal, Varna, Venice |
| Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen |
| Scandinavian Airlines operated by Cimber Sterling | Copenhagen |
| SunExpress | Antalya, Izmir |
| Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss European Air Lines | Zürich |
| TAP Portugal | Lisbon, Porto |
| TAP Portugal operated by Portugalia | Lisbon, Porto |
| Tunisair | Enfidha |
[edit] Cargo airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Cargolux | Scheduled: Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Accra, Almaty, Amman, Amsterdam, Atlanta, Baku, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Beijing-Capital, Beirut, Bogotá, Brazzaville, Budapest, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Calgary, Campinas-Viracopos, Chennai, Chicago-O'Hare, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Damamm, Damascus, Doha, Dubai, Fortaleza, Glasgow-Prestwick, Guadalajara, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston-Intercontinental, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Istanbul-Sabiha Ĝokçen, Johannesburg, Karachi, Kinshasa, Komatsu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lagos, Latacunga, Libreville, Los Angeles, Lusaka, Maastricht, Manchester, Manston/Canterbury, Mexico City, Miami, Milan-Malpensa, N'Djamena, Nairobi, New York-JFK, Panama City, Petrolina, Quito, Recife, Santiago de Chile, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Sharjah, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei-Taoyuan, Tbilisi, Toronto-Pearson |
| China Airlines Cargo | Delhi, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Manchester, Taipei-Taoyuan |
| China Cargo Airlines | Shanghai |
| Jett8 Airlines Cargo | Singapore |
| Qatar Airways Cargo | Atlanta, Doha, Houston-Intercontinental, Toronto-Pearson |
| Silk Way Airlines | Baku |
[edit] History
The airport was originally known as "Sandweiler Airport", and was opened in the 1930s as a small grass airfield with a relatively short, 3400' (1000m) runway.
[edit] German use during World War II
Neutral Luxembourg was invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940, and on 21 May, the Luftwaffe assigned Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53), a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter unit to the airport. JG 53 was engaged in combat against the French and British Expeditionary Force in France during the Battle of France in May and June. In additive, Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) also operated Bf 109s from Sandweiler during the Blitzkrieg. JG 52 moved into France on 29 May, however JG 53 remained in Luxembourg until 18 August until moving closer to the English Channel to take part in the Battle of Britain.[5]
Sandweiler Airport remained unused by the Luftwaffe until September 1944, when a reconnaissance unit, Aufklärungsgruppe 123 (AKG 123) was assigned to the airport which flew the Henschel Hs 126, a two-seat reconnaissance and observation aircraft. AKG 123 moved east into Germany after only a few days when the United States Army moved through Luxembourg and cleared the country of the occupying German forces.[5]
[edit] Allied use
United States Army combat engineers arrived at Sandweiler in mid September 1944 and performed some minor reconstruction to prepare the airfield for Ninth Air Force combat aircraft. The airfield was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-97" Sandweiler and was opened on 18 September. The Ninth Air Force 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group operated a variety of photo-reconnaissance aircraft until 29 October 1944 when they also moved east into Germany.[6][7] Sandweiler Airport was used by the Americans for the rest of the war as a transport supply airfield and also to evacuate combat casualties to England. It was returned to Luxembourg control on 15 August 1945.[8]
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- On 22 December 1969, Vickers Viscount LX-LGC of Luxair was damaged beyond economic repair when it ran off the runway and the nose wheel collapsed.[9]
- On 6 November 2002, Luxair Flight 9642, Fokker 50 (registration LX-LGB) was flying from Berlin, Germany, and crashed in a field near the village of Niederanven during its final approach to Luxembourg airport. 20 passengers and crew lost their lives, including artist Michel Majerus.
- On 21 January 2010, Cargolux 7933, operated by Boeing 747-400 LX-OCV struck a vehicle on landing. The van suffered major damage and the aircraft sustained a damaged tyre. Three investigations have been launched into the incident.[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- ^ EAD Basic
- ^ "1,6 million de passagers au Findel en 2010", L'Essentiel, 18 February 2011. (French) Retrieved 18 February 2011.
- ^ "Legal." Luxair. Retrieved on 7 February 2011. "Luxair S.A. LuxairGroup Luxembourg Airport L-2987 Luxembourg."
- ^ "Network & Offices Luxembourg." Cargolux. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Cargolux Head Office Luxembourg Airport L 2990 Luxembourg"
- ^ a b The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
- ^ IX Engineer Command ETO Airfields, Airfield Layout
- ^ Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- ^ Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19691222-1. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ^ "Incident: Cargolux B744 at Luxemburg on January 21st 2010, touched van on runway during landing". Aviation Herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=42620150&opt=6144. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Luxembourg-Findel International Airport |
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