Luxembourg Airport

Luxembourg Airport Fluchhafe Lëtzebuerg Aéroport de Luxembourg Flughafen Luxemburg
File:Aeroport Findel Luxembourg terminal A 01.jpg
IATA: LUX – ICAO: ELLX
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Société de l’aéroport de Luxembourg S.A. lux-Airport
Serves		Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Location		Sandweiler
Hub for		* Cargolux China Airlines Cargo Luxair Luxembourg Air Rescue Qatar Airways Cargo
Elevation AMSL		1,234 ft / 376 m
Coordinates		49°37′24″N 006°12′16″E
Website		lux-airport.lu
Map
<div style="position: absolute; top: %; left: -594.7%; height: 0; width: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"> ELLX Location in Luxembourg
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
06/24	4,002	13,130	Asphalt
Passengers			3,988,224
Cargo			821,000 tons
Sources: Belgian AIP at Belgocontrol Statistics from Eurostat

Luxembourg Airport (IATA: LUX, ICAO: ELLX) is the main airport in Luxembourg. Previously called Luxembourg Findel Airport due to its location at Findel, it is Luxembourg's only international airport and is the only airport in the country with a paved runway. It is located 3.25 NM (6.02 km; 3.74 mi) east of Luxembourg City. In 2018, it handled 4.04 million passengers. By cargo tonnage, LUX/ELLX ranked as Europe's fifth-busiest and the world's 28th-busiest in 2010. Luxair, Luxembourg's international airline, and cargo airline Cargolux have their head offices on the airport property.

History

Early years

The airport was originally known as "Sandweiler Airport", and was opened in the 1930s as a small grass airfield with a relatively short, 3,400 ft (1,000 m) runway.^{[citation needed]}

German use during World War II

Neutral Luxembourg was invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940, and on 21 May the Luftwaffe assigned Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53), a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter unit, to the airport. JG 53 was engaged in combat against the French and British Expeditionary Force in France during the Battle of France in May and June. In addition, Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) operated Bf 109s from Sandweiler during the Blitzkrieg. JG 52 moved into France on 29 May but JG 53 remained in Luxembourg until 18 August when it moved closer to the English Channel to take part in the Battle of Britain.

Sandweiler Airport then remained unused by the Luftwaffe until September 1944, when Aufklärungsgruppe 123 (AKG 123), a reconnaissance unit which flew the Henschel Hs 126, a two-seat reconnaissance and observation aircraft, was assigned to the airport. AKG 123 moved east into Germany after only a few days when the United States Army moved through Luxembourg and cleared the country of the occupying German forces.

Allied use

United States Army combat engineers arrived at Sandweiler in mid September 1944 and performed some minor reconstruction to prepare the airfield for Ninth Air Force combat aircraft. The airfield was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-97" Sandweiler and was opened on 18 September. The Ninth Air Force 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group operated a variety of photo-reconnaissance aircraft until 29 October 1944 when they also moved east into Germany.

Sandweiler Airport was used by the Americans for the rest of the war as a transport supply airfield and also to evacuate combat casualties to the UK. It was returned to Luxembourgish control on 15 August 1945.

Present

Luxembourg Airport has constructed a high-security zone far away from most airport activities in order to attract the business of transporting valuable goods such as art and jewels. According to Hiscox, there is a "massive demand" for such a hub for precious cargo. Planes taxi away from main airport facilities before loading.

In 2015, the airline with the largest share of the airport's total passenger volume was still Luxair with 1.69 million passengers at a 63% share.

Terminals

Terminal A

Built in 1975, the building was the only terminal of the airport for 30 years, until terminal B opened in 2004. The terminal was getting overcrowded especially during the summer period, and only contained two or three shops. The terminal started to be demolished at the end of 2011 and was complete by March 2012; this was in order to make way for a footbridge connecting terminal B to the new terminal A. Construction of the new Terminal A started in 2005 and it was inaugurated in May 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Terminal B

Terminal B opened in 2004, the building is unique as it only has gates and no check-in counters or arrivals hall. It was built for small planes with a maximum capacity of 50 people. It can handle up to 600,000 passengers a year. The Terminal reopened in the summer of 2017 after some arrangements to handle aircraft with a capacity of up to 80 passengers. It is mainly used by Luxair's Q400 fleet.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Luxembourg Airport:

Airlines	Destinations 
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens
Alitalia	Milan–Linate
British Airways	London–Heathrow
easyJet	Berlin–Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Milan–Malpensa, Porto
Flybe	Manchester
Hahn Air	Düsseldorf
KLM	Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair	Barcelona, Berlin–Tegel, Copenhagen, Djerba, Dublin, Fuerteventura, Faro, Funchal, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Lanzarote, Lisbon, London–City, Madrid, Málaga, Marrakech, Milan–Malpensa, Munich, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Porto, Rome–Fiumicino, Saarbrücken, Tenerife–South, Vienna Seasonal: Agadir, Ajaccio, Almería, Antalya, Bari, Bastia, Biarritz, Boa Vista, Bodrum, Brač, Burgas, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Figari, Heraklion, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Malta, Menorca, Naples, Palermo, Prague, Ras Al Khaimah, Rhodes, Rimini, Sal, Split, Varna, Venice, Zadar Seasonal charter: Hurghada, Marsa Alam
Ryanair	Barcelona, Bergamo, Berlin-Tegel, Budapest (begins 29 October 2019), Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London–Stansted, Madrid, Malta, Porto, Seville, Toulouse (begins 29 October 2019) Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
Scandinavian Airlines	Stockholm–Arlanda (begins 4 November 2019)
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon, Porto
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul
Volotea	Seasonal: Marseille, Nice

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations 
Cargolux	Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Accra, Aguadilla, Almaty, Amman, Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bahrain, Baku, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Beijing–Capital, Beirut, Bogotá, Brazzaville, Budapest, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Cairo, Calgary, Campinas–Viracopos, Chennai, Chicago–O'Hare, Cincinnati, Cotopaxi, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Dammam, Doha, Dubai–International, Fortaleza, Guadalajara, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston–Intercontinental, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Johannesburg–O.R. Tambo, Karachi, Kinshasa, Komatsu, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuwait, Lagos, Latacunga, Libreville, London–Stansted, Los Angeles, Lubumbashi, Lusaka, Maastricht, Manaus, Melbourne, Mexico City, Miami, Milan–Malpensa, Mumbai, Muscat, N'Djamena, Nagoya–Centrair, Nairobi-Kenyatta, New York–JFK, Osaka–Kansai, Oslo–Gardermoen, Ouagadougou, Petrolina, Prestwick, Quito, Recife, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, San Juan, Santiago de Chile, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Sharjah, Singapore, Taipei–Taoyuan, Tokyo–Narita, Tbilisi, Vienna, Zaragoza, Zhengzhou
China Airlines Cargo	Abu Dhabi, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, Taipei–Taoyuan
China Southern Airlines	Shanghai–Pudong
Emirates SkyCargo	Dubai–Al Maktoum
Panalpina	Huntsville
Qatar Airways Cargo	Atlanta, Doha, Houston–Intercontinental, Mexico City, Oslo–Gardermoen, Pittsburgh, Toronto–Pearson
Silk Way Airlines	Baku
Uni-Top Airlines	Wuhan

Statistics

Check-in area in Terminal A

Busiest Routes from Luxembourg Airport (2016)

Rank	Airport	Passengers 2016
1	Portugal, Porto Airport	231,154
2	Germany, Munich Airport	207,822
3	UK, London City Airport	182,670
4	Germany, Frankfurt Airport	174,811
5	Portugal, Lisbon Airport	167,396
Source: eurostat.ec.europa.eu

Incidents and accidents

• On 22 December 1969, Vickers Viscount LX-LGC of Luxair was damaged beyond economic repair when it ran off the runway and the nose wheel collapsed.
• On 29 September 1982, Aeroflot Flight 343 suffered a runway excursion on landing at Luxembourg Airport.
• On 6 November 2002, Luxair Flight 9642, Fokker 50 (registration LX-LGB) was incoming from Berlin, Germany, and crashed in a field near the village of Niederanven during its final approach to Luxembourg Airport. 20 passengers and crew lost their lives, including artist Michel Majerus.^{[citation needed]}
• On 21 January 2010, Cargolux Flight 7933, operated by Boeing 747-400F LX-OCV struck a vehicle on landing. The van suffered major damage and the aircraft sustained a damaged tyre.

See also

• Advanced Landing Ground

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

External links

• Official website
• Luxembourg Airport Authority
• Accident history for LUX at Aviation Safety Network
• Airport webcams, flight timetables and pilot data