Friedrichshafen Airport

Summary

Friedrichshafen Airport (German: Flughafen Friedrichshafen, IATA: FDH, ICAO: EDNY; also known as Bodensee Airport Friedrichshafen) is a minor international airport 1.9 miles (3 km) north of Friedrichshafen, Germany, on the banks of Lake Constance (German: Bodensee). It is the third biggest airport in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and served 559,985 passengers in 2015. Friedrichshafen features flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations. Due to its proximity to the Austrian Alps it is also heavily used during the winter by skiing tourists.

Friedrichshafen Airport

Flughafen Friedrichshafen
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorFlughafen Friedrichshafen GmbH
ServesFriedrichshafen, Germany
Lake Constance
Liechtenstein
Elevation AMSL1,358 ft / 414 m
Coordinates47°40′17″N 009°30′41″E / 47.67139°N 9.51139°E / 47.67139; 9.51139
Websitebodensee-airport.eu
Map
FDH is located in Baden-Württemberg
FDH
FDH
Location of airport in Baden-Württemberg
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 2,356 7,729 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers339,556 Increase+169,8%
Aircraft movements029,105 Increase0+32,3%
Cargo (metric tons)000.000 Steady000+/-0%
Sources: Statistics at ADV.,[1]
AIP at German air traffic control.[2][3]

The Messe Friedrichshafen convention center is just north of the airport's runway. The center hosts an annual European general aviation conference AERO Friedrichshafen and other conferences.[4]

History edit

Early years edit

This airport was established at Löwental [de], north-east of Friedrichshafen in 1915 when the first hangars were constructed.[5] The first scheduled passenger flights with Zeppelin airships started from here, long before they were relocated to Frankfurt/Zeppelinheim.

Friedrichshafen saw its first scheduled passenger flights in 1929 with Deutsche Luft Hansa services to Stuttgart-Böblingen Airport. By 1935 the flights were being made in Junkers Ju 52 passenger aircraft.[6] Important engineering firms such as Maybach and Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen (ZF), subsidiaries of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, were also founded in Friedrichshafen. During World War 2, their engines and gearboxes for tanks were flown directly from the airport to e.g. Kharkov, to replenish much-needed supplies during the Battle of Kursk.[7]

Delta Air established the first successful post-war regional flights in 1978, flying to Stuttgart and Zürich.[5] A new terminal building and runway were built between 1988 and 1994. Another new terminal was opened in 2010.[5]

Develoment since the 2000s edit

InterSky, based at the airport, shut down its key route to Cologne Bonn Airport, which it had operated for seven years, in October 2010 due to tough competition from Germanwings which started flying the same route in spring 2010.[8] Germanwings closed the route on 14 June 2015.[9]

On 5 November 2015, InterSky ceased all operations due to financial difficulties, leading to the termination of domestic connections to Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Düsseldorf.[10] In December 2015, it was announced that the airport might need financial support from its majority owners—the city of Friedrichshafen and the surrounding county—as the shutdown of InterSky—one of the airport's largest customers—led to financial difficulties.[11]

Also in December 2015, VLM Airlines announced it would base three aircraft in Friedrichshafen to take over the domestic routes to Berlin, Düsseldorf and Hamburg previously provided by InterSky.[12] However, VLM went bankrupt in June 2016, leaving these routes abandoned again.[13] In 2019, Sun-Air of Scandinavia, a franchisee of British Airways announced routes from Friedrichshafen to Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Toulouse with only the Düsseldorf service remaining in 2021, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] In March 2024, Lufthansa terminated its flights to Frankfurt, leaving Friedrichshafen without domestic connections.[15]

Facilities edit

The airport consists of one passenger terminal building with seven departure gates (A-G) as well as some shops and restaurants. The apron consists of seven aircraft stands; there are no jet bridges. The terminal building also features office space and an observation deck called the ON TOP terrace. The airport also features an airship hangar as well as general aviation facilities.

The airport was previously the base of InterSky, an Austrian regional airline which is now defunct. A museum dedicated to Dornier Flugzeugwerke, a German aircraft manufacturer, is located next to the terminal.

Airlines and destinations edit

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Friedrichshafen Airport:[16]

AirlinesDestinations
AlbaStar Seasonal charter: Palma de Mallorca (begins 28 April 2024)[17]
Avanti Air Seasonal charter: Calvi (begins 28 April 2024),[18] Preveza/Lefkada (begins 11 May 2024)[18]
Aegean Airlines Seasonal charter: Heraklion,[19] Rhodes[20]
Condor[21] Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya,[22] Hurghada
easyJet Seasonal: London–Gatwick
Freebird Airlines Seasonal: Antalya (begins 18 May 2024)[23]
Marabu Seasonal: Heraklion (begins 3 May 2024)[24]
Rhein-Neckar Air Seasonal charter: Elba (begins 17 May 2024)[25]
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Gran Canaria,[17] Tenerife–South (begins 27 September 2024)[23]
Wizz Air Skopje

Statistics edit

 
Aerial view of Friedrichshafen Airport with Lake Constance in the background
 
Airship hangar at the airport
Annual passenger traffic at FDH airport. See Wikidata query.
Year Passengers
2008 649,646
2009   578,484
2010   590,640
2011   571,709
2012   545,121
2013   536,029
2014   596,000
2015   559,985
2016[26]   520,000
2017[27]   517,299
2018[28]   539,698
2019   489,921
2020[29]   119,040
2021[30]   125,841
2022[1]   339,556
Source: ADV[31][32]

Ground transportation edit

Car edit

Friedrichshafen can be reached from all directions via federal highways B30 and B31 which are connected to several motorways such as the A96 from Munich or the A13/A14 from Austria and Switzerland. The airport is signposted throughout the city. Taxis and rental car agencies are available at the terminal building.[33]

Train edit

Friedrichshafen Airport has its own small railway station named Friedrichshafen Flughafen directly across from the terminal building. It is regularly served by local Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn trains, which continue to the city center and the port of Friedrichshafen or the near town, Aulendorf.[33]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "ADV Monthly Traffic Report" (PDF; 919 KB). adv.aero (in German). Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. ^ "AIP VFR online". dfs.de. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  3. ^ Airport information for FDH at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  4. ^ Sport Aviation, issue June 2012, page 14
  5. ^ a b c GmbH, Flughafen Friedrichshafen. "Bodensee-Airport Friedrichshafen (FDH-Airport)" (PDF). www.Fly-Away.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Friedrichshafen: Löwental Airfield". Military Airfield Directory. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. ^ Friedl, Lukas (31 August 2010). Repairing the Panzers, Volume 1. Panzerwrecks. pp. 158–9. ISBN 9780955594083.
  8. ^ "Intersky: Düsseldorf statt Köln". Aero.de. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Friedrichshafen: Germanwings streicht Flüge nach Köln-Bonn schon ab Juni - Intersky macht Ersatz-Angebot - SÜDKURIER Online". Südkurier. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  10. ^ austrianaviation.net - "InterSky is grounded" Archived 8 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine (German) 6 November 2015
  11. ^ airliners.de - Gesellschafter planen Finanzspritze für Flughafen Friedrichshafen (German) 8 December 2015
  12. ^ austrianaviation.net - FDH: VLM tritt InterSky-Erbe an 18 December 2015
  13. ^ flightglobal.com - VLM files for bankruptcy 22 June 2016
  14. ^ aerotelegraph.com (German) 11 November 2020
  15. ^ tagesschau.de - "Lufthansa cancels flights between Friedrichshafen and Frankfurt" 17 January 2024
  16. ^ bodensee-airport.eu - Schedules retrieved 21 May 2022
  17. ^ a b "Flugplan Vorschau Sommer 2024" (PDF). 15 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b https://www.bodensee-airport.eu/content/uploads/2023/10/231024CRMVorschauSommerflugplan2024Stand241023.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  19. ^ "Aegean, Edelweiss and Eurowings celebrate first flights". 6 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Summer schedule 2023 preview - Friedrichshafen Airport" (PDF).
  21. ^ "Friedrichshafen is pleased with the Condor announcement". aviation.direct. 18 November 2021.
  22. ^ "CORENDON AIRLINES NW22 SCHEDULED SERVICE ADJUSTMENT – 20OCT22". aeroroutes.com. 20 October 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Vorschau Sommerflugplan" (PDF). 29 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Neue Airline im Anflug auf den Bodensee-Airport Friedrichshafen". 15 December 2023.
  25. ^ "In nur 80 Minuten zu Italiens drittgrößter Insel" (PDF). 15 December 2023.
  26. ^ Medienhaus, Südkurier (24 January 2017). "Friedrichshafen: Bodensee-Airport: Rund 30 000 Passagiere weniger hoben 2016 ab - SÜDKURIER Online". Suedkurier.de. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  27. ^ "Flughafen meldet ein Prozent weniger Passagiere".
  28. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. ^ "ADV-Monatsstatistik - ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2020" (PDF; 298 kb). www.adv.aero/. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  30. ^ "ADV-Monatsstatistik - ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2021" (PDF; 823 kb). www.adv.aero/. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  31. ^ "Unsere Flughäfen – Regionale Stärke, Globaler Anschluss".
  32. ^ "Friedrichshafen: Bodensee Airport legt bei Passagierzahlen zweistellig zu - traveLink". www.TraveLink.de. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  33. ^ a b "fly-away.de – Ground transportation". Archived from the original on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.

External links edit

  Media related to Friedrichshafen Airport at Wikimedia Commons