Cologne Bonn Airport

Cologne Bonn Airport
Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Cologne Bonn Airport
IATA	CGN
ICAO	EDDK
Owner	Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH
City-served	Cologne and Bonn
Location	Cologne/Wahnheide
Elevation-m	92
Coordinates	50, 51, 57, N...
Website	https://www.koeln-bonn-airport.de/
R1-number	06/24
R1-length-m	2,459
R1-surface	Asphalt
R2-number	14L/32R
R2-length-m	3,815
R2-surface	Asphalt
R3-number	14R/32L
R3-length-m	1,863
R3-surface	Asphalt

Cologne Bonn Airport. It is an international airport located in the Wahnheide district of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, and serves as a major hub for the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region. The facility is a significant base for several low-cost carriers and handles substantial cargo operations, being a primary European hub for UPS Airlines. Its strategic location and modern infrastructure support both passenger services and a leading logistics center.

History

The airfield's origins trace back to 1938 when it was constructed as a base for the Luftwaffe, later becoming a key site for Focke-Wulf aircraft production during World War II. After the war, it was used by the Royal Air Force and subsequently developed into a civilian airport, with the first scheduled passenger flight operated by Lufthansa to Hamburg in 1951. Major expansion occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the construction of a new terminal, coinciding with Bonn serving as the capital of West Germany. The airport was renamed in 1994 to reflect its joint service to both Cologne and Bonn, and it underwent significant modernization in the 2000s, including the opening of a dedicated cargo center for UPS.

Facilities

The airport features two main passenger terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, which are connected by a central plaza housing check-in areas, shops, and restaurants. Its three runways, including the 3,815-meter main runway 14L/32R, are capable of handling wide-body aircraft like the Boeing 747 and the Antonov An-124. A major feature is the Cologne Bonn Airport Cargo Center, which serves as the European air hub for UPS and also hosts freight operations for other carriers like DHL Aviation and FedEx Express. Additional infrastructure includes extensive maintenance facilities used by companies such as Lufthansa Technik and a dedicated general aviation area.

Airlines and destinations

The airport is a primary operating base for several low-cost carriers, most notably Eurowings, which maintains a large route network to destinations across Europe and the Mediterranean. Other significant airlines based here include the leisure carrier Condor and the cargo giant UPS Airlines. Passenger services connect to major cities like London, Berlin, Vienna, and Istanbul, while cargo flights reach global hubs such as Louisville, Shenzhen, and Chicago.

Statistics

In 2023, the airport handled approximately 11.5 million passengers, making it the seventh-busiest in Germany by passenger volume. It is, however, the third-busiest in the country for cargo traffic, moving over 870,000 metric tons of freight annually, a volume dominated by the operations of UPS. The top international passenger destinations typically include Antalya, Palma de Mallorca, and Istanbul. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger numbers had consistently exceeded 12 million annually.

Ground transportation

The airport is directly connected to the Cologne Stadtbahn network via the Köln/Bonn Flughafen station, with lines S13 and S19 providing frequent services to Cologne Central Station and Bonn Hauptbahnhof. Several regional DB Regio train services also stop at the airport's railway station. An extensive network of Autobahn roads, including the A59 and A555, provides direct road access to Cologne, Bonn, and the wider Rhine-Ruhr region. Numerous bus lines, including the SB60 express service to Bonn, and taxis are readily available outside both terminals.

Accidents and incidents

A notable accident occurred on 17 December 1960 when a Convair CV-440 Metropolitan operated by Lufthansa crashed shortly after takeoff due to icing, resulting in fatalities. On 6 August 1978, a Piper PA-31 Navajo charter flight crashed near the airport, killing the pilot. The airport was also the destination of Turkish Airlines Flight 278, a Boeing 737-400 that crashed during a go-around in poor weather on 29 December 1994. More recently, in 2008, a Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet overran the runway during landing, causing substantial damage but no serious injuries.

Category:Airports in Germany Category:Transport in Cologne Category:Buildings and structures in North Rhine-Westphalia