Lübeck Airport
Lübeck Airport Flughafen Lübeck | |||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | PuRen Germany GmbH | ||||||||||
| Serves | Lübeck, Germany | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 53 ft / 16 m | ||||||||||
| Website | flughafen-luebeck.de | ||||||||||
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  EDHL Location of Lübeck Airport | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2013) | |||||||||||
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Lübeck Airport (IATA: LBC, ICAO: EDHL) is a minor German international airport located 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Lübeck, the second-largest city in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, and 54 km (34 mi) northeast of Hamburg.
It is the secondary airport for the Hamburg Metropolitan Region after the much bigger Hamburg Airport[4] and is used for low-cost and some occasional charter traffic. Wizz Air, currently the only scheduled user, calls the airport "Hamburg Lübeck" for marketing purposes.
History
Early years
The construction of the airport began in 1916 and was completed in 1917 when it started its operations as an airbase. At the end of World War I the airbase was shut down. In 1933, it was re-opened and extended by the Luftwaffe. During the Berlin Blockade after World War II, the Royal Air Force flew coal to Berlin and refugees to West Germany using Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft.
Development into a low-cost airport
After the re-unification of Germany, the airport started to grow slightly when several airlines started flying to Lübeck. In 1997, the arrival terminal was re-constructed and extended.
Ryanair started to operate from the airport in 2000 with the first flights to London-Stansted. Ryanair's route system extended over the years until 2009. Wizz Air started operations in 2006 with flights to Gdańsk and later other eastern European destinations. Discussions about Ryanair opening a base at the airport have been held since 2009 without results.
Infratil, an infrastructure investment company from New Zealand held a 90% shareholding from November 2005 until the end of October 2009 when it sold its shares back to the City of Lübeck.[5] The new principal operator Flughafen Lübeck GmbH had been searching for an investor since then when in 2013 the airport had been sold to a private investor.[6]
In 2010, both the financial crisis and the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull led to a general decrease in passenger numbers and destinations.
A new ILS CAT II system went operational in February 2014 allowing planes to operate at the airport in more difficult weather conditions.[7] As of March 2014 there are four lawsuits active against a further expansion of the airport.[6]
Bankruptcy
On 23 April 2014 Lübeck Airport filed for bankruptcy.[8] A few days earlier it was reported that the owner, which bought the airport in 2013, pulled out again.[9] The airport continued to operate while the liquidator reviewed possible strategies.[10] In July 2014, the bankrupt airport has been sold to Chinese investor PuRen Germany GmbH, a subsidiary of PuRen Group.[11]
In June 2014 Ryanair announced to leave Lübeck Airport as of October 2014 due to the airport's uncertain future.[12] Later this date was revised to July 2014 when the year-round route to Bergamo as well as the seasonal services to Palma de Mallorca and Pisa ceased. Meanwhile, Ryanair announced to start new routes from Hamburg Airport instead.[13]
In September 2015, the airport's new owner, the German subsidiary of Chinese PuRen Group, also declared bankruptcy. The state of Schleswig-Holstein already announced to not invest in the airport. The search for a new investor has already started while the operations will be maintained under further notice.[14]
Facilities
Lübeck Airport features one small terminal building containing check-in facilities, a shop as well as some restaurants.[15] The apron features three stands for mid-sized aircraft such as the Airbus A320 which are used with walk-boarding as well as some stands for smaller general aviation aircraft.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Lübeck Airport:[16]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Wizz Air | Bucharest (begins 20 May 2016),[17] Gdańsk, Kiev-Zhulyany, Riga, Skopje, Sofia (begins 27 March 2016)[18] |
There are some additional holiday charter flights on behalf of local tour operators which are operated only a few times a season.[19] The nearest major international airport is Hamburg Airport approx. 60 km (37 mi) to the southwest.
Statistics
| Passengers | ||||
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| 2000 | 184,622 | |||
| 2001 |  231,094
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| 2002 | 270,188
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| 2003 | 539,580
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| 2004 | 598,777
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| 2005 | 715,731
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| 2006 |  677,638
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| 2007 | 612,858
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| 2008 | 534,509
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| 2009 | 688,302
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| 2010 | 537,835
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| 2011 | 344,068
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| 2012 | 359,974
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| 2013 | 367,252
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| 2014 | 168,593
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| Source: ADV,[20] Lübeck Airport[3] | ||||
Ground transportation
Car
Lübeck Airport can be reached via motorways A1 which leads towards Hamburg and A20 which runs to the east through Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (exit Lübeck-Süd).
Bus
The local bus line 6 runs every 20 minutes and connects the airport with Lübeck's main bus station/ZOB. A regional shuttle bus, line A20, runs from the airport to Hamburg's central train station, stopping at the central coach station "ZOB" nearby. The schedule of the A20 depends on the aircraft arriving in and departing from Lübeck.
Train
Regional trains run every hour between Kiel and Lüneburg, stopping at the airport's own station Lübeck-Flughafen as well as Lübeck main station. Connecting trains are available at Lübeck Hauptbahnhof or in Büchen to Hamburg and other destinations.
See also
References
- ^ EAD Basic. Ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen (ADV) – monthly statistics 12/2010. (PDF) . Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ a b http://www.flughafen-luebeck.de/images/02-unternehmen/06-zahlen_fakten_daten/02-monatsstatistik/ab2000.pdf
- ^ Hamburg Lubeck Airport Guide – Hamburg. Travel-library.com. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ Sale of Lübeck Airport[dead link]
- ^ a b Klage gegen Flughafenausbau in Lübeck beschäftigt bald Gericht. airliners.de. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ ILS CAT II am Flughafen Lübeck erfolgreich in Betrieb gegangen. airliners.de. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ Template:De icon Blankensee ist pleite: Nach Führungs-Chaos: Flughafen Lübeck insolvent – Wirtschafts-News – FOCUS Online – Nachrichten. Focus.de (23 April 2014). Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ Template:De icon Bruchlandung für Lübeck. shz.de. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ Luftfahrt-Nachrichten und -Community. aero.de (25 April 2014). Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
- ^ http://www.aero.de/news-19952/Neuer-Chef-des-Luebecker-Flughafens-peilt-eine-Million-Passagiere-an.html
- ^ http://www.hl-live.de/aktuell/textstart.php?id=92088
- ^ http://www.airliners.de/ryanair-wechselt-von-luebeck-nach-hamburg/33056
- ^ airliners.de - Betrieb am Flughafen Lübeck geht vorerst weiter (German) 2 October 2015
- ^ http://www.flughafen-luebeck.de/shops-gastronomie.html
- ^ http://www.flughafen-luebeck.de/fluginformation/flugplan.html
- ^ "WIZZ AIR LAUNCHES 2016 SUMMER SCHEDULE FOR ROMANIA". Wizz Air News. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ^ http://money.bg/news/id_187357449/Wizz_Air_%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0_4_%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8_%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%BE%D1%82_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%8F
- ^ http://www.flughafen-luebeck.de/fluginformation/flugplan.html
- ^ adv.aero
External links
Media related to Lübeck Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Current weather for EDHL at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for LBC at Aviation Safety Network
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