Niederrhein Airport
Niederrhein Airport |
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|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | EDLV |
| IATA code | NRN |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 32 m (105 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 6 km from Weeze, 89 km from Düsseldorf |
| Street | approx. 11 km to the
|
| Local transport | Dial-a-bus from Weeze, Kevelaer, Goch |
| Basic data | |
| opening | May 1, 2003 |
| operator | Airport Niederrhein GmbH |
| surface | 620 ha |
| Terminals | 1 |
| Passengers | 1,854,108 (2016) |
| Flight movements |
15,540 (2017) |
| Capacity ( PAX per year) |
approx. 3.5 million |
| Start-and runway | |
| 09/27 | 2440 m × 45 m asphalt |
| website | |
| airport-weeze.com | |
The airfield Lower Rhine (proper name Weeze ; IATA : NRN , ICAO : EDLV ) is a commercial airport in North Rhine-Westphalia Weeze on the border of the Netherlands . It is used for around 90 percent of all flight movements, primarily by the Irish airline Ryanair , which calls it Düsseldorf Airport (Weeze) . Since 2007, the three continents Africa, Asia and Europe have been served.
Until 2016, the operating company Flughafen Niederrhein GmbH (through several intermediate companies) belonged to the Dutch entrepreneur Herman Buurman to 99.93%, the Kleve district to 0.04% and the municipality of Weeze to 0.03%. In December 2016, the old debts of the airport in the Kleve district in the amount of EUR 26.8 million were converted into a silent participation of the district and the municipality of Weeze in the airport company. The municipal stakeholders thus acquired around 11% of the airport shares, while the remaining 89% remain with the previous majority owner. The airport immediately repaid 3.5 million euros of 7.5 million euros in "old interest", four million were taken over as loans with repayment. The municipality of Weeze contributed EUR 2.8 million to the financing. According to information from 2019, the Kleve district and the Weeze community hold 11 percent. According to the FDP Weeze, this municipal participation breaks down with 10.4 percent for the municipality of Weeze and 89.6 percent for the district of Kleve. This means that 89 percent of the airport company belongs to Dutch investors as of December 2019, a good 10 percent to the Kleve district and just under 1 percent to the municipality of Weeze.
Today's civil airport emerged as a conversion project from the British RAF Laarbruch airfield . RAF Laarbruch was next to RAF Wildenrath , RAF Brüggen , RAF Geilenkirchen and RAF Nörvenich the third of a total of five so-called clutch stations , RAF bases built after 1949 near the border with the Netherlands and thus as far away as possible from the inner-German border at the time .
After the end of its military use in 1999, it changed name several times and was initially called Niederrhein Airport , but has been marketed by Ryanair since 2003 under the name Düsseldorf Airport (Weeze) . After other name variants, which were intended to emphasize the proximity to Düsseldorf , which is around 70 kilometers away , were banned by the court, the airport has been called Airport Weeze since 2005 . At the same time, Ryanair was allowed to continue to market the airport under Düsseldorf (Weeze), but must always include the explanation “approx. 70 kilometers from Düsseldorf ”as a footnote.
Niederrhein Airport has been a customs airport since July 1, 2010 .
history
Beginnings
In 1933 a glider airfield was set up under the direction of the German Air Force, which was under construction . During the Second World War , the area was converted into a "dummy airport" in order to induce allied bombers to make false drops. In March 1945, in connection with Operation Plunder , the Royal Air Force set up the B.100 Goch field airfield here for a few weeks . After 1945, glider operations were temporarily resumed.
RAF Laarbruch
With the beginning of the Cold War it became clear that the British Air Force of Occupation , which had been stationed in north-west Germany as an occupying power since 1945 , had to remain present in the Federal Republic for a longer period in order to support the military security of West Germany as part of NATO's defense strategy. The RAF was based in the first years after the war in several mostly former airbases of the former Air Force , some of which are only a few minutes flying time from the " Iron Curtain " were removed. NATO increased its presence in Western Europe significantly at the beginning of the 1950s. In this context, the British occupation authorities ordered the construction of a new military airfield in Weeze in 1953. The financing came from reparations funds under the direction of the Federal Finance Directorate . Construction began in October of that year and RAF Laarbruch was opened in 1954.
The Royal Air Force initially stationed a squadron of Meteor NF11 night fighters here , which was replaced by a squadron of Javelin FAW1 day fighters . The first Canberra PR3 reconnaissance aircraft arrived in October 1954, and Laarbruch was to remain the home of reconnaissance squadrons until the early 1990s. At the beginning there was also a squadron of RF-84F Thunderflash reconnaissance aircraft, the 306th, the KLu .
For almost a decade and a half, Laarbruch was the stationing site of two squadrons of the Canberra PR3 / PR7 / B (I) 8 . With the B (I) 8 version it was possible to carry out air raids from RAF Laarbruch. During this time, nuclear-armed Canberras stood near the runway, ready for action in the event of a sudden attack by the Warsaw Pact .
In the 1970s Buccaneer (two squadrons ) and Jaguar (one squadron) aircraft were stationed here and in 1983 the airfield was expanded to accommodate three squadrons of tornado fighter-bombers and one squadron of reconnaissance aircraft (a total of approx. 60 jets).
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After the Gulf War and reunification, RAF Germany was greatly reduced in size in 1991/1992; with RAF Wildenrath and RAF Gütersloh , two of four military airfields were closed, while RAF Brüggen and RAF Laarbuch continued to operate for the time being. With the immediate threat of the Warsaw Pact removed in 1991, the tornadoes and nuclear weapons were withdrawn from Weeze. Instead, in November 1992, Harrier -High takeoffs (two squadrons) and helicopters (a mixed squadron of Puma and Chinook ) were relocated to Weeze, as their previous base, RAF Gütersloh , closed or closed in 1993 as one of the first two RAF stations on German soil . was handed over to the Royal Army . The stationing of the two squadrons of high-maintenance Harrier meant that the workforce of the RAF Laarbruch reached a final peak; even in Duisburg, 45 kilometers away, staff had to be accommodated. In the course of the political détente, however, the British government decided in 1994 to gradually evacuate the penultimate RAF site in Weeze by 1999. Two years later, with the closure of RAF Brüggen in 2001, the RAF Germany chapter was finally closed. Before the RAF Laarbruch airfield was abandoned, the Laarbruch Harrier took part in various missions in the former Yugoslavia, in Iraq, in exercises on aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy and in secondments to Belize and Chile.
Weeze Airport
Flughafen Niederrhein GmbH was founded in 1993 . The company developed usage concepts for the airfield area with the aim of creating business settlements and new jobs that can compensate for the feared departure of 2,200 military personnel and around 3,000 members of the RAF Germany. In 1994 the British government officially announced that it would close RAF Laarbruch by 1999. Bearing in mind the good experience with the British, a high level of acceptance for flight operations and the economic importance of the Royal Air Force for Weeze, the local government tried to keep the British; a petition from the Weeze city council to close the RAF Brüggen airfield instead of Weeze was rejected by the British House of Commons. Only RAF Brüggen was to remain; In 1996, however, the order to close Brüggen, the last location of RAF Germany, followed.
The usage concept for the Euregional Center for Air Transport, Logistics and Commerce was decided in 1997 and the approval procedure was opened. In 1997 the helicopter squadron left Laarbruch, and in May 1999 the last Harrier followed. On June 1, 1999, the runway was closed. Contrary to the plans, flight operations came to a standstill for almost four years. The planned seamless transition to civil follow-up use was delayed. On November 30, 1999, the Royal Air Force handed over its Weeze-Laarbruch base to the German authorities after 45 years. The new landlord was now the federal government, which immediately left the area to the Kleve district. The last 400 civilian jobs were lost.
In 2001 a Dutch investor group around the logistics entrepreneur Hans van de Lande bought the 620 hectare airfield area for 22 million DM (around 11.3 million euros) from the Kleve district. On June 20, Transport Minister Ernst Schwanhold granted the aviation law approval for civil flight operations. Construction of the new passenger terminal and a new apron began in 2002. The flight operations facilities were completely renovated and partially renewed. The TTC ( The Tower Company ) set up a tower.
On May 1, 2003, the new Niederrhein Airport started regular services. The Irish airline Ryanair flew to London three times a day . The passengers were handled in a temporary hangar until August 1st, when the new 15,000 m² terminal was opened. In October the airport got its first “own” airline: the newly founded Dutch V Bird stationed four Airbus A320s and offered flights to German and European airports. The Dutch operator Sudtours also flew for a short time with its holiday plane Dutchbird; the marketing of package tours to Gran Canaria was unsuccessful. A successful lawsuit by the neighboring municipality of Bergen temporarily restricted flight operations at the weekend.
On the first weekend in May 2004, 80,000 visitors celebrated the civil airport's first birthday at an airport festival. The airport expanded the parking area to 3000 parking spaces. V Bird ceased operations on October 8th. Negotiations with new investors had failed. Shortly thereafter, the company filed for bankruptcy. Around 100 employees lost their jobs with the airline. Meanwhile, Ryanair expanded its flight offer.
After a court ruling, the operating company changed the airport's own name to Airport Weeze in 2005 . In 2007 Ryanair set up a new base at Niederrhein Airport. Four aircraft were stationed on the Lower Rhine. Weeze became Ryanair's third German base and the 19th in Europe. By 2010 the number grew to 9 stationed jets. After the abolition of the eco-tax in the Netherlands in 2011, the number of users from the neighboring country steadily decreased, so that Ryanair also reduced the number of stationed aircraft. After the Ryanair entry in Düsseldorf in the course of airberlin's insolvency in 2018, 3 jets remained on the Lower Rhine (as of December 2019).
In addition to Ryanair, Weeze was temporarily served by a changing number of other airlines, including Tailwind, Hamburg International, Wizzair, airberlin, Eurowings and others. NATO rarely, but continuously, uses the airport for high-ranking visitors to the nearby center of air operations in Uedem. In 2019, the new airline Exxaero started operating small jet aircraft for business customers and intends to expand operations to 4 stationed jets in the medium term. For the 2020 summer flight schedule, the Corendon airline has added destinations in the Mediterranean and Egypt to its program from Weeze
Legal framework
Litigation
Litigation over the name
In October 2004, the Niederrhein Airport was renamed Airport Düsseldorf - Prefecture Weeze by the operators in order to emphasize the proximity to the internationally known Düsseldorf Airport , at that time still Düsseldorf International Airport. However, this renaming was prohibited by the Cologne Regional Court by means of an injunction . As a result, the airport was named Airport Düsseldorf Regional (Weeze) in November 2004 . This name was also banned by the Cologne Regional Court. However, the ruling was ignored by the operators. The Cologne Regional Court therefore issued a fine of 500,000 euros, which was later reduced to 150,000 euros. As a result, in March 2005, the operator changed the name to Airport Weeze. This name is still used today. The operating company, however, has been called Flughafen Niederrhein GmbH since it was founded .
A lawsuit against the airline Ryanair, which refers to the airport as Düsseldorf Airport (Weeze) in its advertisements , has failed before the Cologne Regional Court. The judges saw the added information in the advertisements that the airport is about 70 kilometers from Düsseldorf as sufficient information for consumers. This regulation is valid.
It should be noted, however, that these legal disputes only concern the name of the airport as a self-designation and brand name . The official designation used internationally by the aviation authorities (for example in the aviation manual ) is Verkehrsflughafen Niederrhein .
Legal disputes over approval
On January 3, 2006, the Münster Higher Administrative Court revoked the permit for civil use of the airport, as the permit issued by the Düsseldorf District Government showed such significant deficiencies that it was not possible to rectify it. It allows tourist air traffic up to the capacity limit without taking sufficient account of the benefits for the area's development. This could have been rated as a kind of compensation for the aircraft noise annoyance. Since the court could not see such a benefit to the advantage of the region, it ruled in favor of the plaintiff. It also affirmed a legal error because the permit was granted without a separate formal environmental impact assessment . A revision was not allowed.
The Düsseldorf district government then lodged a complaint against the non-admission of the revision. This was rejected by the OVG Münster and thus handed over to the Federal Administrative Court . On February 2, 2007, the Federal Administrative Court approved the appeal against the withdrawal of the airport operating license and on October 16, 2008, referred the legal dispute back to the OVG Münster. The Higher Administrative Court was asked to “examine” whether the deficiencies in the disputed permit could be compensated for by an addition to the permit.
On May 1, 2009, the district government submitted a supplement to the aviation permit that was strictly based on the requirements of the Federal Administrative Court from the judgment of October 16, 2008. Air traffic in the off-peak times (5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.) was restricted and has since been allowed from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. only for airlines that have a home base in Weeze ( Homebase) . Afterwards, a general night's sleep extended by one hour from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. (exceptions: rescue flights, etc.).
The missing environmental impact assessment was also submitted later. Negotiations then began with the plaintiffs who, due to a lack of prospects of success, were finally prepared to withdraw their claims for compensation. 120 members of the airport opponents' association each received € 5,000 in compensation, for a total of € 600,000. According to unconfirmed information, the owner of the airport, H. Buurman, even paid € 4.4 million in severance payments to the airport opponents. The German plaintiffs' proceedings were discontinued.
The last dispute with the Dutch municipality of Bergen was also settled out of court in May 2010. This secured the airport's operating license after years of dispute.
Subsidies
In the first years of the civil airport, there were considerable discussions about state subsidies , although the airport was conceived as an independent, privately-run company from the start. The airport only received a limited grant from the state at the start of the project, while municipalities and the federal government did not grant any grants at all. Instead, during the development phase up to 2006, the airport gradually received a repayable loan from the Kleve district totaling around EUR 26.5 million, which had added up to a debt burden of EUR 34.4 million by 2010 due to the addition of interest; this loan was converted into a silent participation of the district in December 2016. The municipal share in the originally 99.93 percent private operating company was only 0.07 percent until 2010; However, this share was sufficient to ensure that the municipality of Weeze and the district of Kleve had a say. Since 2011, the airport has been paying the interest on the old debts to the Kleve district by transferring airport shares in accordance with the contract. According to the Rheinische Post, the interest burden was EUR 1.4 million annually. By the end of 2015, the municipal share had risen to 8.25%, and by 2016 to around 10%. In order to finally solve the problem of old debts, the claims were finally settled by resolutions of the district and the municipality of Weeze at the turn of the year 2016/17 through conversion into a silent partnership; According to the mayor of Weeze, this district share amounts to 11 percent for the Kleve district in 2019 and still 0.03 percent for the Weeze community. According to the FDP Weeze, the silent participation is broken down in such a way that the airport community holds 10.4 percent and the Kleve district 89.6 percent of the shares. This means that since 2017, Weeze Airport has been debt-free to the municipal stakeholders except for a newly agreed loan of 4 million euros. The former district loans therefore do not have the character of a subsidy, but of an investment guaranteeing influence, as is customary in similar projects. Critics nevertheless see hidden subsidization in this construct, although the district receives an equivalent value for the funds made available in the form of a participation in the airport company, and thus also in the profits.
At first it was controversial what kind of public support there was at all; Airport opponents and competitors speculated publicly about sums far removed from reality, and Lufthansa even assumed subsidies of over 50 million euros in the area (see below). In order to counter this escalating speculation, the state government presented concrete figures in 2009; This shows that the state of North Rhine-Westphalia supported the airport with non-repayable grants of € 3.76 million at the start of the project, but with the condition that at least 350 full-time jobs be created by 2007. This condition was met in 2006. According to the state government, 1030 jobs had already been created at the end of 2008. The statement of the state government from 2009 also shows that the one-time funding amount of € 3.76 million is in the lower range of what other airports receive in terms of funding. Since Weeze Airport does not receive any federal funding, and the municipal participation is limited (initially 0.07 percent, since 2016 around 11 percent), the airport, unlike many competitors, received no further subsidies from municipal or federal funds until 2019 . State funds also stopped flowing after the start-up phase.
In addition to the direct subsidies from the state, the airport from the Kleve district received a dedicated loan of around € 26.5 million in the early phase of the project, according to the contracting parties at "market conditions", because private banks were not ready at the time to finance the project. The district loans were secured by a land charge entry. In order to ensure that the loans granted by the district flow exclusively into the improvement (upgrading) of the infrastructure, the development and development company Laarbruch GmbH (EEL) was founded by the district of Kleve and the municipality of Weeze . This managed the district's loans, paid any bills and thus ensured that the district funds were only invested in the expansion of the airport. Critics nevertheless saw the district loans as a hidden subsidy. The district's loans should be paid back from 2010 or, alternatively, be paid off by transferring shares in the operating company to the district; since 2011 the airport has made use of the second option. In 2009 the airport received a loan from a private bank for the first time; this was seen as a sign of further consolidation of the project and was expressly welcomed by the taxpayers' association.
The German Lufthansa estimated the total public subsidies without having this assertion ever occupied or differentiated, yet to "at least € 50 million" The information Lufthansa, however, are totally at odds with the numbers that the government of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2009 in a statement on a "major question" by the Bündnis 90 / Greens parliamentary group. Deutsche Lufthansa is a competitor of the airline Ryanair, which has successfully established itself in Weeze and other locations in Germany and has become the fiercest rival for market share. The unsubstantiated claims made by Lufthansa must therefore be assessed in connection with the competition between the two airlines for market share.
In 2006, Weeze's most important airline, Ryanair, received € 450,000 for an advertising campaign on the Lower Rhine , the greater part of which came from EU Euregio funding, and smaller parts from the district of Kleve and the municipality of Weeze .; Critics saw it as a covert subsidy for the airline, while supporters see it as a successful investment, which explains the sharp increase in the number of overnight stays in the region; Since the establishment of the civil airport Weeze, the tourism sector in the Kleve district has grown well above average compared to the country, according to a study by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2015, and the number of other overnight stays in the region has also increased significantly more than the national average.
Against the background of ongoing deficits in the operative business, the owner H. Buurman threatened at the end of 2006 with a possible exit from the project; the monthly losses in the early years were around € 400,000 (5 million / year). The bankruptcy of VBird in 2004 and the cancellation of all flights by this airline, which was the most important for Weeze at the time, could not be compensated for by the end of 2006. From January 2006, the dispute over the aviation permit, which deterred potential interested parties, made matters worse. Flight operations between 2004 and 2007 were too low to cover the running costs. In order to save the project from possible failure and to secure the company's liquidity, the Kleve district considered taking over a 49 percent stake in Flughafen-GmbH at the beginning of 2007. A purchase price of € 17 million should go to the previous 99 percent owner Herman Buurman. At the same time, the Kleve district used its influence to enforce a new managing director who had already worked as a successful renovator for other municipal projects in the Kleve district. At the beginning of 2007, the airport seemed to have made a breakthrough to save it. After the Federal Administrative Court had approved the revision of the Münster judgment, Ryanair immediately announced the establishment of a home base in Weeze. The number of passengers has risen drastically since then, as has the turnover, so that Niederrhein Airport has been generating an operating profit since 2008. The partial takeover by the district, which was considered in the meantime, no longer appeared necessary and was therefore not pursued any further until airport investor Buurman had to ask again in June 2010 for a delay in payment for the due district loans; a conversion of debts into airport shares in favor of the district began in 2011.
Critics of the airport project in the early years were competing companies such as Lufthansa and Düsseldorf Airport as well as political organizations such as Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen ; In view of the successful consolidation of the project, however, these voices have largely fallen silent. In the early years, the taxpayers' association was also one of the critics. After the airport had increasingly got its start-up difficulties under control and was making a profit, the same organization later rated it as a positive example of successful privatization. Proponents of the concept include: a. the municipality of Weeze, the district of Kleve and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the Lower Rhine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The project is also welcomed almost unanimously on the part of the neighboring Dutch provinces. Despite initial criticism, the taxpayers' association is one of the supporters of the project after having been able to inspect the airport's business documents. In January 2009, the WDR also reported on this remarkable change for the better. The proponents defend the start-up aid from the public sector for Weeze Airport mainly with the argument that all other airports are subsidized much more heavily and, moreover, on a permanent basis, while Weeze Airport received only limited start-up financing and a loan in the start-up phase of the project operated without any state subsidies until 2019.
In June 2010, airport owner Buurman had to admit that he would not be able to repay the district loan in 2010 as planned. He asked the district for a postponement until 2016 and agreed to pay the interest due until then. Critics of the conversion project saw themselves confirmed in their prediction that the airport could not be operated independently without subsidies from the district, even if it was indirectly through the credit granted at normal market conditions. The airport advocates, however, saw no problem in the deferred payment, as the corresponding airport shares were finally transferred to the district in the amount of the accruing interest and the district loan remained secured by the land charge entries. The airport supporters therefore continued to see the loans granted in the initial phase as useful and necessary help for an overall successful structural project that has developed into the largest employer in the Kleve district.
In July 2010, the Kleve district council decided to extend the loans (€ 26.5 million plus € 7.5 million interest until the end of 2010) on more stringent terms. Starting in 2011, the investor would have had to pay the newly accruing interest every quarter, so that the total debt accumulated so far (with interest at the end of 2010 totaling € 34 million) does not increase any further. The repayment should take place from 2016, but was then finally replaced by a silent partnership (see below). The district loans remain secured by a first-rate land charge entry, and the investor is also liable with his private assets.
The airport was unable to repay the first installment of around € 1.3 million due in 2011, with reference to the additional burdens caused by the passenger fee introduced in 2011. As intended for this case, the district council accepted an equivalent transfer of airport shares with the votes of the CDU, SPD and FDP and against those of the Greens. How high the interest on the district loan was at the time was never officially communicated; however, an interest rate of around 4 percent is calculated from the transferred shares.
In March 2016, airport manager van Bebber told the “Handelsblatt” that the airport had “not received a cent in subsidies in the past ten years”. The district of Kleve and the municipality of Weeze [in the early phase of the project] "only gave a loan - at normal market conditions". For the exemplary work done by the airport, they recently received “Praise from the Taxpayers' Association”. Furthermore, van Bebber reported a profit of over 2 million euros for the 2015 financial year.
In December 2016, the old debt problem was finally resolved. The old debts in the amount of EUR 26.8 million were converted into a silent participation by the district of Kleve and the municipality of Weeze. With the payment of part of the interest debts by the airport company, the remaining liabilities of Airport Weeze to the municipal creditors were reduced to 4 million euros, which were granted in the form of a new loan.
In autumn 2019, after Ryanair reduced the flight schedule, the airport reported a crisis that threatened its existence and asked the district and municipality of Weeze for financial help. In December 2019, with the votes of the CDU and SPD, they granted a non-repayable bridging aid in the amount of 1.9 million euros, which will be used to maintain ongoing operations. For the first time since its foundation in 2001, the Weeze airport company received a direct subsidy from its silent partners, which does not come from conversion funds, is covered by land charges or shares in the airport company. The municipality of Weeze took over 912,000 euros and the district of Kleve 988,000 euros. For comparison: Dortmund Airport received around 22 million euros from Stadtwerke Dortmund in 2019 to compensate for its deficit, Münster / Osnabrück around 11 million euros and Paderborn / Lippstadt around 5 million euros. The donors are the municipalities and districts in the vicinity of the airports mentioned.
capacity
The airport has a runway with a length of 2,440 meters (plus 275 meters of stopway at each end). The check-in hall is designed for 2.5 million passengers per year. In 2010 - the airport's most successful year to date - 2,896,999 passengers were carried. In terms of the number of passengers handled, Weeze was the third largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia. After the introduction of the aviation tax, Ryanair reduced its offer and many Dutch people who had previously flown from Weeze switched to airports in their own country - a similar tax was abolished there in 2009. As a result, only just over 2.4 million passengers traveled to and from Weeze in 2011, 16.4 percent fewer than in the previous year.
Passenger volume
Weeze Airport had a steadily growing number of passengers from 2006 to 2010. In the first half of 2012, passenger numbers fell by 21.5% compared to the same period of the previous year, and in the 2014 financial year again by 27.4%.
| year | Passengers |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 207.992 |
| 2004 | 796.745 |
| 2005 | 591,744 |
| 2006 | 585,403 |
| 2007 | 848.852 |
| 2008 | 1,525,063 |
| 2009 | 2,403,119 |
| 2010 | 2,896,999 |
| 2011 | 2,421,720 |
| 2012 | 2,209,007 |
| 2013 | 2,488,956 |
| 2014 | 1,806,964 |
| 2015 | 1,910,288 |
| 2016 | 1,854,108 |
| 2017 | 1,885,118 |
| 2018 | 1,669,457 |
location
- Coordinates: 51 ° 36 'north latitude, 6 ° 10' east longitude
- Height above sea level : 29 m
Niederrhein Airport is about 55 kilometers northwest of Düsseldorf Airport and 45 km south of Arnhem .
Traffic figures
| rank | target | Passengers 2018 |
change | Passengers 2017 |
Starts 2018 |
change | Starts 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Palma de Mallorca
|
63,441 | -15.61% | 75,177 | 399 | -11.73% | 452 |
| 2 |
Malaga
|
56,120 | -11.78% | 63,617 | 341 | -8.82% | 374 |
| 3 |
Alicante
|
44,422 | -14.33% | 51,853 | 268 | -11.84% | 304 |
| 4th |
Girona
|
34,493 | -20.94% | 43,627 | 206 | -19.84% | 257 |
| 5 |
 Thessaloniki
|
30,612 | 14.01% | 26,850 | 189 | 18.87% | 159 |
| 6th |
 Palermo
|
26,199 | -18% | 31,950 | 153 | -18.18% | 187 |
| 7th |
Bergamo
|
25,934 | -30.45% | 37,290 | 164 | -31.95% | 241 |
| 8th |
 Faro
|
23,371 | -21.74% | 29,864 | 146 | -18.44% | 179 |
| 9 |
 Fez
|
22,068 | -13.85% | 25,616 | 135 | -11.76% | 153 |
| 10 |
 London Stansted
|
21,517 | 32.58% | 16,230 | 144 | 26.32% | 114 |
| 11 |
Tenerife South
|
21.002 | -5.58% | 22,243 | 126 | -3.82% | 131 |
| 12 |
Ibiza
|
20,138 | -5.46% | 21,300 | 123 | -2.38% | 126 |
| 13 |
postage
|
19,935 | 19.87% | 16,631 | 118 | 25.53% | 94 |
| 14th |
Valencia
|
18,754 | -19.58% | 23,320 | 113 | -19.86% | 141 |
| 15th |
Edinburgh
|
18,432 | -28.94% | 25,938 | 110 | -29.94% | 157 |
| 16 |
Arrecife
|
18,411 | -9.35% | 20,310 | 118 | -9.23% | 130 |
| 17th |
Marrakech
|
18,170 | -4.33% | 18,992 | 108 | 0% | 108 |
| 18th |
Bari
|
17,708 | -3.18% | 18,289 | 105 | -1.87% | 107 |
| 19th |
Nador
|
17,380 | 28.8% | 13,494 | 103 | 28.75% | 80 |
| 20th |
 Stockholm Skavsta
|
17,331 | -0.51% | 17,420 | 104 | -0.95% | 105 |
| 21st |
Rabat
|
17,159 | Route new | 0 | 101 | Route new | 0 |
| 22nd |
 Tallinn
|
16,877 | -6.21% | 17,995 | 101 | -4.72% | 106 |
| 23 |
Rome Ciampino
|
15,790 | -26.86% | 21,588 | 94 | -24.19% | 124 |
| 24 |
 Zadar
|
15,609 | -4.52% | 16,348 | 92 | -4.17% | 96 |
| 25th |
Fuerteventura
|
15,607 | -17.25% | 18,861 | 97 | -12.61% | 111 |
| This statistic only includes starts. (No landings) | |||||||
| rank | target | Passengers 2018 |
change | Passengers 2017 |
Starts 2018 |
change | Starts 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Spain
|
311,616 | -14.16% | 363.039 | 1.910 | -11.94% | 2,169 |
| 2 |
Italy
|
145,577 | -23.04% | 189,151 | 892 | -21.75% | 1,140 |
| 3 |
Morocco
|
108.286 | 35.73% | 79,783 | 656 | 39.28% | 471 |
| 4th |
Greece
|
51.171 | 4.8% | 48,829 | 319 | 10% | 290 |
| 5 |
Portugal
|
43,306 | -6.86% | 46,495 | 264 | -3.3% | 273 |
| 6th |
Great Britain
|
40,016 | -23.08% | 52.021 | 270 | -22.86% | 350 |
| 7th |
Sweden
|
20,422 | -25.77% | 27,512 | 124 | -26.19% | 168 |
| 8th |
Estonia
|
16,877 | -6.21% | 17,995 | 101 | -4.72% | 106 |
| 9 |
Croatia
|
15,609 | -4.52% | 16,348 | 92 | -4.17% | 96 |
| 10 |
 Serbia
|
15,088 | 1.3% | 14,894 | 96 | -12.73% | 110 |
| 11 |
 Poland
|
11,443 | 9.13% | 10,486 | 72 | 9.09% | 66 |
| 12 |
 Romania
|
10,908 | -38.35% | 17,693 | 89 | -33.58% | 134 |
| 13 |
 Bulgaria
|
9,340 | 5,330.23% | 172 | 61 | 6,000% | 1 |
| 14th |
 Germany
|
7,499 | -70.39% | 25,324 | 671 | -16.12% | 800 |
| 15th |
 France
|
6,727 | -49.99% | 13,450 | 69 | -35.51% | 107 |
| This statistic only includes starts. (No landings) | |||||||
Transport links
- Kevelaer and Weeze are the closest train stations on the Düsseldorf / Cologne – Kleve railway line , on which the NordWestBahn (RE 10) runs every half hour . The following public transport connections exist with the airport (VRR timetable 2019):
- The airport is about 11 kilometers from the A 57 and 36 kilometers from the A 61 .
- There are also shuttle bus services to Amsterdam, Arnhem, Brühl, Bocholt, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne, Moers, Nijmegen, Utrecht and Venray.
Others
In the years 2000 to 2002, the bizarre festival was held on the event site of the former RAF base in the north-west, which is not required for regular flight operations . It was here that it became the largest German festival for alternative (mainly rock and hip-hop) music. In 2003 the organizer chose the event name Terremoto due to a legal dispute . In its successor, the hardstyle festival Q-Base has taken place annually on the airport's event site since 2004-2019 . With the new name IMPAQT, it will be continued from September 2019 by the same organizer Q-Dance .
In April 2008, March 2009 and April 2010 the Fisherman's Friend Strongman Run, a cross-country race with many special obstacles, was held on part of the airport premises.
The airport was used for the television series Alarm für Cobra 11 (episode False Signals) as a filming location for a chase on the runway, a shooting and the explosion of a helicopter. In addition, some helicopter scenes for the film The Storm Surge were shot there.
From July 17 to 19, 2015, the new Parookaville music festival with 25,000 visitors took place for the first time on the event site in the northwest of the airport area . The follow-up event from July 15 to 17, 2016 already attracted 50,000 participants. The Parookaville Festival 2017 (July 21-23, 2017) has already attracted 80,000 EDM fans to Weeze. The event took place again in 2018 and 2019 with 80,000 visitors.
See also
Web links
- Airport Weeze website
- Airport tour Airport Weeze
- Royal Air Force Museum Laarbruch-Weeze
- pro: Niederrhein Action group to promote Weeze / Niederrhein Airport
- Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, 20 D 118 / 03.AK Revocation of the permit for civil use (2006, no legal force)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Verkehrsbilanz 2016. Airport-Weeze.com, January 16, 2017, accessed on January 17, 2017 .
- ↑ ADV monthly statistics 12/2017. ADV.aero , February 5, 2018, accessed February 8, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c RP ONLINE: Weeze: Airport: Financing reorganized . Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ↑ Municipality of Weeze wants "silent participation" at the airport . January 14, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ^ Westdeutsche Zeitung: NRW: Financial aid for Weeze Airport? Mayor is for it. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
- ^ Rheinische Post: FDP criticizes subsidy for Weeze airport. Rheinische Post, December 12, 2019, accessed on December 14, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Ryanair makes Weeze its 19th base , recording of the Ryanair press conference, February 6, 2007
- ↑ New airline founded: Exxaero takes off at Weeze Airport. Accessed December 8, 2019 (German).
- ↑ NRZ: Weeze Airport: Turkish airline offers new destinations in the Mediterranean region. NRZ, January 5, 2020, accessed on July 27, 2020 .
- ^ Conversion of the Weeze-Laarbruch military airfield into a civil commercial airport canceled ( Memento of October 27, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), press release of the OVG Münster, January 3, 2006
- ↑ Weeze continues to fly Rheinische Post , February 2, 2007
- ↑ Goch - "Stop Laarbruch" gives up. RP Online, August 14, 2009, accessed September 4, 2016 .
- ↑ The future of Niederrhein Airport is secure. Retrieved December 12, 2010 .
- ^ Westdeutsche Zeitung: NRW: Financial aid for Weeze Airport? Mayor is for it. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
- ^ FDP Weeze: No subsidy for the airport. In: https://www.facebook.com/notes/fdp-weeze/kein-zuschuss-für-den-flughafen/2400089026764267/ . FDP Weeze, December 9, 2019, accessed December 11, 2019 .
- ↑ FDP against increasing the district shares at the airport. Rheinische Post, accessed on September 4, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Answer of the state government to the major question 28 of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen parliamentary group - printed matter 14/8594 (PDF; 602 kB) of May 13, 2009.
- ↑ a b c http://www.rp-online.de/niederrheinnord/kleve/nachrichten/kleve/Wieder-neue-Strecken-ab-Weeze_aid_660563.html ( Memento from February 20, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Kleve: Again new routes from Weeze, RP online.
- ↑ Local time Duisburg - Weeze Airport. Retrieved September 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Small airports: Unbroken growth ( memento of September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Lufthansa Political Letter, March 2007 Weeze Small Airport: Endless Financial Problems ( memento of November 28, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), Lufthansa Political Letter, July 2006
- ↑ Concealed or open subsidies for Ryanair at Niederrhein Airport , Minor inquiry from the Greens in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament, September 11, 2006
- ↑ Stop small states when expanding the airport in NRW ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Statement by the IHKs NRW, March 2007, p. 10
- ↑ Tourism on the Lower Rhine - Analysis of the added value of tourism and perspectives for tourism on the Lower Rhine. 2015, accessed December 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Latest News - RP ONLINE . Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ↑ Media library . May 29, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ↑ About subsidies and money well invested ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 274 kB), topic economics of the IHK Niederrhein, March 2007
- ↑ Latest News - RP ONLINE . Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ↑ District credit is deferred . Rheinische Post print edition of July 10, 2010
- ↑ Just "Landratspisten" without perspective? Handelsblatt dated March 29, 2016
- ↑ RP ONLINE: 912,000 euros for the airport: FDP Weeze against a grant for the airport. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Joachim Uthmann: Bielefeld has to pay 300,000 euros to Paderborn Airport, which is in deficit. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Jens Reddeker: Paderborn / Lippstadt Airport needs more money. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Latest News - RP ONLINE . Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ↑ Weeze 2011 with significantly fewer passengers , accessed on January 14, 2012
- ^ Münstersche Zeitung : Drastic decline: FMO suffers nationwide heaviest passenger slump , Münster, Katharina Engelhardt, August 8, 2012
- ↑ Balance 2014: Almost 30 percent fewer passengers at Weeze Airport. In: Airliners.de. January 9, 2015, accessed January 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Publication - Transport & Verkehr - Air traffic at major airports - Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Retrieved on March 28, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Publication - Transport & Verkehr - Air traffic at major airports - Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Retrieved on March 28, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Line plan for the Kleve district (PDF). Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
