Cologne Bonn Airport is the international airport of Germany's
fourth largest city, Cologne and also serves the former German capital, Bonn.
With close to 9.3 million passengers passing through it in 2012, it is the
seventh largest passenger airport in Germany and also the second largest in
terms of cargo operations. As of March 2015, Cologne Bonn Airport features 115
passenger destinations in 35 countries. It is christened after Konrad Adenauer,
the first post-war Chancellor of Germany.
The airport is located in the district of Porz and is surrounded by the Wahner
Heide nature reserve. The airport is centrally located in the Cologne/Bonn
Region 14.8 km southeast of Cologne city centre and 16 km northeast of Bonn.
Cologne Bonn Airport is one of the country's few 24-hour airports and
serves as a hub for Germanwings, FedEx Express and UPS Airlines. It also is a
host of the German and European space agencies DLR and EAC, part of ESA, which
train astronauts there for space explorations.
History = Early years =
In 1913 the first plane took off from the Wahner Heide military training area
on an artillery reconnaissance flight. In 1939 an airfield was built for the
German Luftwaffe. After World War II the British military
took over and expanded the airport. A 1,866 m runway was built in this period.
In 1951 the airport was opened for civilian air traffic, superseding the
former Cologne Butzweilerhof Airport. During the 1950s and 1960s two
additional runways and a new passenger terminal were constructed. On 1 November
1970 a Boeing 747 took off for New York City from the airport for the first
time. In 1986, Cologne Bonn Airport was chosen
by United Parcel Service as the location for their European hub.
In the late 1990s the Airport started an expansion program. Several new parking
lots and a second terminal were built, and in 2004 a new long-distance railway
station was opened. The airport is jointly owned by the City of Cologne,
the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the
City of Bonn and two counties. = Development in the 2000s =
Coinciding with the start of several low-cost airlines in Germany,
Cologne/Bonn opened new capacities. This enabled the airport to make competitive
offers to the airlines. Consequently, Germanwings and TUIfly started
operations from Cologne/Bonn as their hub in the fall of 2002. As a result,
the number of passengers in 2003 rose by 43% compared to 2002. These airlines
were joined by easyJet in late 2003 and Wizz Air in June 2006.
Also, the Canadian Forces began to use the airport as a staging area to move
troops and supplies in support of humanitarian missions and possible
anti-terrorism roles. In 2006 the Brazilian airline BRA
provided a twice a week connection to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, which was
discontinued in April 2007 due to problems with the airline. Also in 2006
a daily transatlantic flight to New Jersey's Newark Liberty International
Airport by Continental Airlines was established, operating with a Boeing
757-200. This route was discontinued on 4 September 2008 due to a reduction in
passenger numbers. Low-cost carriers Ryanair and Norwegian
Air Shuttle began service to Cologne/Bonn in May 2012. In April 2014
Ryanair announced the opening of their fifth German base at Cologne/Bonn
Airport for October 2014. In December 2014, Lufthansa announced to
base Eurowings' new long-haul operations at Cologne Bonn Airport with flights to
Florida, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean to start by the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, Condor cancelled their service to Varadero after only one
season due to the expected competition. On June 26, 2015 the airport received
the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Award in the category of 5 to 10 million passengers.
The judges were particularly impressed by the airport’s innovation in customer
experience, high degree of environmental action as well as its strong
relationship with the local community. Facilities
Cologne Bonn Airport has two passenger terminals which are located directly
beside each other: = Terminal 1 =
The older Terminal 1 is a building from the 1970s which spots large surfaces of
bare concrete in its design. It features a u-shaped main building with shops,
restaurants, check-in and service facilities and a visitors deck on its
roof as well as the star-shaped piers B and C with five aircraft stands each
plus a central airside hall between them added in 2004 with joint security-check
facilities, more shops and restaurants as well as three additional stands. All
ten stands at both piers feature jet bridges while the other three use
walk-boarding. Also several bus-boarding stands are available at the apron.
Terminal 1 is used by Germanwings which occupies most of the landside check-in
facilities, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. Terminal 1 features its own
direct connection to the railway station.
= Terminal 2 = Terminal 2 is the newer one and located
to the north of Terminal 1. Both feature separate check-in facilities but are
connected through a landside walkway. Additionally its airside area, which is
signposted as pier D, is connected with the airside areas of Terminal 1.
Terminal 2 is a modern-style rectangular building made out of glass and steel
which is equipped with eight stands with jet bridges as well as several stands
for bus-boarding. It is used by several airlines such as Air Berlin, Ryanair,
KLM and Iran Air. Terminal 2 is also directly connected to the airports'
railway station via the basement level. Airlines and destinations
= Passenger = The following airlines offer regular
scheduled and charter flights at Cologne Bonn Airport:
= Cargo = Cologne Bonn Airport is a major cargo
hub in the world mainly due to its function as a hub for FedEx and UPS.
Statistics = Passengers and freight =
= Route statistics = Ground transportation
= Train = Cologne/Bonn Airport station is a
4-track railway station on a loop off the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed line
that connects Cologne Bonn Airport to long-distance trains at least once an
hour per direction, most of them ICE services. The station lies directly
across both terminals under a large glass roof and features direct
connections to the basement of Terminal 2 as well as the check-in area at
Terminal 1-C. The S-Bahn line S13 as well as regional train line RE8 also
stop here and continue to Cologne and Bonn.
= Car = The airport has its own exit on motorway
A59 which links it to the city centres of Cologne and Bonn as well as the
Ruhrgebiet. = Bus =
Local bus lines also connect the airport with Cologne and Bonn.
See also Transport in Germany
List of airports in Germany References
External links Media related to Cologne Bonn Airport at
Wikimedia Commons Official website
Current weather for EDDK at NOAA/NWS Accident history for CGN at Aviation
Safety Network