Leipzig/Halle Airport

Leipzig/Halle Airport

Flughafen Leipzig/Halle
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerMitteldeutsche Airport Holding AG
OperatorFlughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH
ServesLeipzig and Halle
LocationSchkeuditz, Germany
Hub for
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL470 ft / 143 m
Coordinates51°25′26″N 012°14′11″E / 51.42389°N 12.23639°E / 51.42389; 12.23639
Websitemdf-ag.com
Map
LEJ is located in Saxony
LEJ
LEJ
Location of airport in Saxony
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08L/26R 3,600 11,811 Concrete
08R/26L 3,600 11,811 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers1,558,602 Increase+133,4%
Aircraft movements0,080,902 Increase00+6,3%
Cargo (metric tons)1,510,575 Decrease00-5,1%
Sources: Statistics at ADV.,
AIP at German air traffic control.

Leipzig/Halle Airport (IATA: LEJ, ICAO: EDDP) (German: Flughafen Leipzig/Halle) is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany, and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.

It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and handled more than 2.61 million passengers in 2019 mainly with flights to European leisure destinations. In terms of cargo traffic, the airport is the fifth-busiest in Europe and the second-busiest in Germany after Frankfurt Airport, having handled 1,238,343 metric tonnes of cargo in 2019. The airport serves as the main European hub for DHL Aviation and the main hub for AeroLogic. Military installations have also been built at the airport for NATO and EU military aircraft.

History

The airport was built new from the ground up at a location between Halle and Leipzig from 1926 and opened in 1927.[citation needed]

On 18 March 1986, Air France flew a Concorde to the airport, to coincide with the world-renowned Leipzig trade fair. Two days later British Airways also flew a Concorde to Leipzig/Halle.[citation needed] In the following years, both airlines operated Concorde flights from Paris and London when the trade fair was held in Leipzig.

Despite its name, the airport is located in the town of Schkeuditz, Nordsachsen. A deal between the city of Leipzig and the Landkreis Delitzsch led to a land exchange. In 2007, Leipzig received land outside the airport while ownership of the airport land was transferred to Delitzsch. The District of Delitzsch, which by now has merged to become part of Landkreis Nordsachsen, owns and claims taxes from the grounds and commercial interest from the airport.[citation needed]

DHL Aviation moved its European hub from Brussels Airport to Leipzig/Halle in early 2008, leading to a significant increase in cargo traffic at the airport. Leipzig bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and the airport was modernised as a result, even though London was eventually awarded the games.[citation needed]

In spring 2013, Ryanair announced the start of operations to Leipzig/Halle on six routes. However, one year later all of them except the flights to London–Stansted were terminated. In February 2015, Etihad Regional announced the immediate termination of all their Leipzig/Halle operations which had started only two years earlier, due to changes to their operational concept. All three routes were shut down while two newly announced ones did not start.

In September 2016, Pakistan International Airlines announced plans to replace Manchester on their Islamabad - Manchester - New York City route with Leipzig/Halle in 2017 due to lower operational costs and time-saving measures. As the airline holds Fifth Freedom rights, this would be Leipzig/Halle's first passenger service to the United States. In October 2017 the airline announced it would end of all routes to the United States, so plans to use Leipzig as a layover to New York-JFK never came to be.

In October 2016, DHL inaugurated a major expansion to its freight facilities at the airport. Two new cargo terminals increased handling capacity by 50 percent.

As of April 2018, the largest passenger airline at Leipzig/Halle Airport (measured by weekly departures) is Condor with 55 outgoing flights per week. For this purpose, three Airbus A321 aircraft are stationed at the airport. The second-largest airline was Small Planet Airlines (Germany) with 18 outgoing flights per week. The airline stationed an Airbus A320 aircraft to serve several leisure destinations for TUI Group. It was followed by SunExpress Deutschland which operated 15 weekly departures and stationed for this a Boeing 737 aircraft at the airport.

In August 2018, DHL announced further expansion of its facilities at the airport. Beside an enlargement of the apron, a new pilot training center was also planned. The number of employees was to increase from 5700 to 6000. At the same time, EAT Leipzig announced that they would add five used Airbus A330 freighters to their fleet, for a total of 36 aircraft. Also in August 2018, the Russian Volga-Dnepr Group announced plans to launch a new German freight subsidiary based at the airport.

Facilities

General plan of the airport

Terminal

The modern airport terminal structure extends over the adjacent motorway and railway. It integrates the main car park as well as the check-in-facilities and is connected to a pier equipped with six jet bridges as well as several apron stands. Due to its compact design, it provides short walking distances. The airport terminal has immigration facilities for international flights but no international transfer area.

Runways

The airport has two runways. Terminal access is south of the railway. Runway 08L/26R runs parallel to the road north of the railway, requiring aircraft to taxi on a bridge over the tracks and roads.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Leipzig/Halle Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Air Cairo Hurghada
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Condor Agadir (resumes 20 May 2024), Fuerteventura, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–South
Seasonal: Antalya, Chania, Corfu, Faro, Heraklion, Jerez de la Frontera (begins 17 May 2024), Kos, Lanzarote, Rhodes
Corendon Airlines Antalya
Seasonal: Hurghada
European Air Charter Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna
Eurowings Palma de Mallorca
Freebird Airlines Seasonal: Antalya
Seasonal charter: Burgas, Corfu, Fuerteventura
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Marabu Seasonal: Heraklion
Nouvelair Seasonal: Djerba, Monastir
Pegasus Airlines Antalya
Ryanair London–Stansted
Seasonal: Dublin
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Dubai-Al Maktoum, Hurghada, Marsa Alam
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Abu Dhabi
Southwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
Sundair Seasonal: Antalya
SunExpress Antalya
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Wizz Air Bucharest–Otopeni (begins 4 June 2024), Tirana (begins 1 October 2024)

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
AeroLogic Bahrain, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Bengaluru, Brussels, Chennai, Chicago–O'Hare, Cincinnati, Cologne/Bonn, Dallas, Delhi, Dubai–International, East Midlands, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, New York–JFK, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul–Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Shenzhen, Singapore, Stavanger, Tashkent, Tokyo–Narita, Toronto–Pearson
AirBridgeCargo Brussels, Cincinnati, Dubai–International, East Midlands, Krasnoyarsk, Milan–Malpensa, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Oslo (all suspended)
Amazon Air Cologne/Bonn, East Midlands, Katowice, Madrid, Milan–Malpensa, London–Southend
Cargojet East Midlands
DHL Aviation Almaty, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Belgrade, Bengaluru, Bergamo, Bologna, Bratislava, Brno, Brussels, Budapest, Cincinnati, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dubai–International, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Gdańsk, Geneva, Helsinki, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Katowice, Kyiv–Boryspil, Lagos, Lahore, Linz, Ljubljana, London–Heathrow, London–Luton, Los Angeles, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Milan–Malpensa, Miami, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Mumbai, Munich, Nantes, New York–JFK, Oslo, Ostrava, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Pisa, Riga, Rome–Ciampino, Seoul–Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Shannon, Sharjah, Singapore, Skopje, Sofia, Stockholm–Arlanda, Stuttgart, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, Treviso, Turku, Vilnius, Vitoria, Warsaw–Chopin
MNG Airlines Cologne/Bonn, Istanbul

Military

Some US airlines have flown to Leipzig/Halle on behalf of the US Department of Defense, to bring US Army troops and US Marines to Afghanistan and Iraq. Leipzig/Halle is used as a technical stop for refueling on these flights. They do not appear at any official timetable. Marines and soldiers flown via Leipzig/Halle are listed as transit passengers in its traffic statistics. Military charter flights are also operated via Leipzig/Halle.[citation needed]

Statistics

The airport in 1929
The airport's restaurant in 1931
Concourse connecting the check-in and airside areas
Cargo facilities
Control tower
Taxiway crossing the Autobahn
Annual passenger traffic at LEJ airport. See Wikidata query.
Passengers Movements Freight (in t)
1990 274,878 9,549 366
1991 Increase 634,424 Increase 26,089 Increase 4,372
1992 Increase 1,073,378 Increase 42,960 Increase 8,611
1993 Increase 1,521,436 Increase 48,510 Increase 17,482
1994 Increase 1,901,797 Increase 52,590 Increase 23,189
1995 Increase 2,104,822 Increase 53,807 Increase 25,225
1996 Increase 2,186,649 Decrease 50,298 Decrease 22,410
1997 Increase 2,248,852 Decrease 47,284 Decrease 17,220
1998 Decrease 2,108,779 Decrease 43,778 Decrease 12,866
1999 Increase 2,162,769 Increase 47,944 Increase 15,220
2000 Increase 2,288,931 Decrease 47,030 Increase 17,086
2001 Decrease 2,185,130 Decrease 42,408 Decrease 15,799
2002 Decrease 1,988,854 Decrease 41,209 Increase 16,882
2003 Decrease 1,955,070 Decrease 40,303 Increase 17.559
2004 Increase 2,041,046 Decrease 39,316 Decrease 12,575
2005 Increase 2,127,895 Decrease 37,905 Increase 15,641
2006 Increase 2,348,011 Increase 42,417 Increase 29,330
2007 Increase 2,723,000 Increase 50,972 Increase 101,364
2008 Decrease 2,462,256 Increase 59,924 Increase 442,453
2009 Decrease 2,421,382 Increase 60,150 Increase 524,082
2010 Decrease 2,348,597 Increase 62,247 Increase 663,024
2011 Decrease 2,266,743 Increase 64,097 Increase 760,344
2012 Increase 2,286,151 Decrease 62,688 Increase 863,665
2013 Decrease 2,240,860 Decrease 61,668 Increase 887,101
2014 Increase 2,331,399 Increase 63,569 Increase 910,708
2015 Decrease 2,321,975 Increase 65,061 Increase 988,240
2016 Decrease 2,192,145 Decrease 64,492 Increase 1,052,372
2017 Increase 2,365,141 Increase 69,815 Increase 1,138,477
2018 Increase 2,571,119 Increase 79,218 Increase 1,221,429
2019 Increase 2,618,772 Decrease 78,980 Increase 1,238,343
2020 Decrease 530,221 Decrease 64,483 Increase 1,383,485
2021 Increase 667,784 Increase 76,104 Increase 1,591,618
2022 Increase 1,558,602 Increase 80,902 Decrease 1,510,575
Source: Leipzig/Halle Airport Traffic statistics

Ground transportation

Train

Leipzig/Halle Airport railway station

Leipzig/Halle Airport railway station is located directly beneath the passenger terminal and has Intercity connections on the Dresden-Magdeburg-Hanover-Cologne route. Two lines of the suburban S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland connect directly to Leipzig and Halle, furthermore to Altenburg and Zwickau. Transit connection of the network reach most of parts of Central Germany.

Car

The airport is connected to two motorways: the A14 connecting to Dresden (130 km), Halle (Saale, 20 km) and Magdeburg (130 km), and the A9 connecting to Munich (430 km), Nuremberg (280 km), and Berlin (180 km).

Coach

Flixbus connects in both ways twice per day to Dresden, Göttingen, and Kassel and once per day to Dortmund and Cologne.

In popular culture

The airport's facilities have been featured in major films and TV shows during recent years:

  • In December 2004, Leipzig/Halle Airport was a filming location for Flightplan starring Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard. According to the film, Jodie Foster's flight departs from Berlin but all shots showing Berlin's supposed airport were actually taken at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
  • In 2010, the check-in area of Leipzig/Halle was a filming location for Unknown starring Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger.
  • The airport's terminal and apron were featured heavily in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's live-action film Captain America: Civil War (2016). Branded equipment featuring the airport's logo was shown several times during the scenes.
  • The airport's hallway between the check-in area and the public departure/arrival area was featured in the Netflix series Inventing Anna, which tells the story of Anna Sorokin. In the series, an American journalist flies to Berlin to conduct research on Anna's upbringing for her next article but all airport scenes were shot at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

Accidents and incidents

  • On September 1, 1975, Interflug Flight 1107 crashed on approach to the airport when the Tupolev TU-134 descended too quickly, not following the proper approach path, while the crew failed to monitor their altitude, leading to a CFIT. 27 of the 34 people on board perished.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-11-20 12:59 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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