Hahn Airport
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox airport
Hahn Airport<ref name=FlugH>hahn-airport.de retrieved 30 April 2025</ref> (Template:Langx) Template:Airport codes, also colloquially known and formerly officially branded as Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, is an international airport in the municipality of Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The airport is Template:Convert from the town of Kirchberg and Template:Convert from both Simmern and Traben-Trarbach. The airport is equidistant between Frankfurt and Luxembourg – about Template:Convert to each city by road. The closest major cities are Koblenz at about Template:Convert and Mainz at about Template:Convert. The airport served 1.4 million passengers in 2019, down from 2.60 million in 2016.<ref name="2019figures"/><ref name=traffic>Template:Cite web</ref> Most airlines that operate commercial passenger service to and from the airport are low-cost carriers. It is also a prominent cargo airport as a result of its location and 24-hour operating licence.<ref>South China Morning Post: "HNA to buy majority stake in Hahn airport in Germany – If deal goes ahead, it will help take the owner of Hainan Airlines take a step closer to becoming one of the world’s top 100 companies" by Sandy Li 6 March 2017</ref> It had a turnover of 156,000 tons of cargo in 2019.<ref name="2019figures"/> As of 2024, the airport is jointly owned by Triwo Travvex Group (82.5%) and by the state of Hesse (17.5%).
History
[edit]Military base
[edit]Template:Main During the Cold War, at which time an invasion of West Germany was a possibility, Hahn Air Base was a frontline air base, and home of the United States Air Force 50th Tactical Fighter Wing (now the 50th Space Wing), in various designations, as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany within Template:Convert of each other including Zweibrücken Air Base, Ramstein Air Base, Sembach, Bitburg Air Base, Spangdahlem Air Base, and Rhein-Main Air Base. These air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. Hahn Air Base had more than 13,000 people and three squadrons of F-16 tactical fighters.Template:Citation needed At the end of the Cold War, the United States was left with a huge excess capacity of expensive airfields in Europe.
As a result, the squadrons at the base were inactivated: the 496th Tactical Fighter Squadron was inactivated on 15 May 1991, the 313th Tactical Fighter Squadron was inactivated on 1 July 1991, and the 10th Tactical Fighter Squadron was inactivated on 30 September 1991. The 50th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated on 30 September 1991 and then activated as the 50th Space Wing at Falcon AFB (now Schriever Air Force Base) in Colorado on 30 January 1992. The inactivations had a significant effect on the local economy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Most of Hahn Air Base was turned over to German civil authorities on 30 September 1993, though USAFE retained a small portion as a radio communications site until its final turnover to German authorities in 2012. It is still frequently used for military charters operated by, amongst others, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.
The German government decided to turn Hahn Air Base into a civil airport with the goal of reducing traffic to Frankfurt Airport (which is located in the neighbouring state of Hesse). One of the main investors in the development of the airport was Fraport AG, the operator of Frankfurt International Airport, which received a 65% ownership stake in the airport.Template:Citation needed
In 1996, the faculty and police training school of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Police were combined at a new joint facility located at the air base's former housing area.Template:Citation needed
Name controversy
[edit]In 2001, Ryanair began flying to the airport, using it as a second base for its European operations.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref> At the request of Ryanair, the name of the airport was officially changed from Hahn Airport to Frankfurt–Hahn Airport. Lufthansa began legal proceedings against Ryanair in 2002, claiming the usage of "Frankfurt" in the name to be false advertising. Ryanair was allowed to keep the name but was forced to clarify in its advertising that the airport is actually 120 kilometers (75 miles) by road from Frankfurt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2023, the new owners, Triwo, changed the name to "Hahn Airport".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Losses and ownership transfers
[edit]In 2003, the airport reported a loss of €17 million, compared to €20 million in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2007, Etihad Cargo switched its German freighter services from Frankfurt International airport to Frankfurt-Hahn airport.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Effective 1 January 2009, Fraport sold its 65% interest in the airport to the government of Rhineland-Palatinate for the symbolic price of €1. The airport had been losing money and Fraport did not want to continue to fund losses. The transaction increased the stake owned by the government to 82.5%.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 2009, a cargo flight departing from Hahn using the Antonov 225 made the world record for the heaviest single piece of air cargo, a 189.98 tonne generator for a Fossil-fuel power station in Armenia.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
In 2013, Etihad Cargo, a major customer of the airport, announced the relocation of its cargo operations from Hahn to Frankfurt Airport.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In January 2014, the airport announced it had accumulated debts of €125 million while passenger and cargo traffic were decreasing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The same year, the government pledged €80 million to the airport so that it would avoid bankruptcy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2014, security staff at the airport initiated a strike action.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref> In the summer of 2014, Ryanair reduced capacity on several routes for and removed 3 of 9 aircraft based at the airport.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In March 2015, Yangtze River Express, the largest freight customer of the airport with 4 cargo destinations and accounting for 50,000 of the airport's 130,000 tons of annual volume, announced it would cease its cargo operations at Frankfurt–Hahn Airport in favor of Munich Airport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Months earlier, Qatar Airways and Aeroflot had also ceased their cargo operations at the airport.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In June 2016, the cargo subsidiary of Air France–KLM announced it would shut down its cargo reloading point at the airport, which was used to collect freight and transfer it to Paris by truck.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2016, RAF-Avia from Latvia announced basing two aircraft at the airport to operate ad-hoc charter flights.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in June 2016, the government of Rhineland-Palatinate announced the sale of its 82.5% interest in the airport to Shanghai Yiqian Trading Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, the deal fell apart a month later after the buyer failed to get approval to make the payment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2017, Suparna, formerly known as Yangtze River Express, began operating a 747-400F at the airport and AirBridgeCargo and Etihad also expanded cargo operations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2017, HNA Group, a Fortune Global 500 company based in China acquired the 82.5% stake in the airport owned by the government of Rhineland-Palatinate for €15.1 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In conjunction with the acquisition, the European Commission agreed to cover up to €25.3 million of losses between 2017 and 2021 while HNA makes improvements to the airport.<ref name=ecpublic>Template:Cite press release</ref>
In February 2018, Ryanair announced the shift of part of its operations from Hahn to Frankfurt Airport, where it opened a base in 2017. One of five aircraft were moved to Frankfurt Airport and four routes were cut at Frankfurt-Hahn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A year later, Ryanair announced further major cuts with a reduction to just 16 routes — from over 40 in earlier years — for the 2019/2020 winter season.<ref>eifelzeitung.de 2 May 2019</ref> In July 2020, Ryanair announced plans to close their Hahn base by November 2020 after a labour union dispute. Hahn has been Ryanair's second base in continental Europe, inaugurated in 2002.<ref>aerotelegraph.com 22 July 2020</ref> However, as of September 2020, no final decision had been made.Template:Update inline
The airport filed for bankruptcy on 19 October 2021 while continuing normal operations.<ref>Template:Cite web 19 October 2021</ref> In June 2022, it was sold to a German investor,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="SoldARGS">Template:Cite web</ref> which however did not transfer the agreed sales price by late 2022 raising doubt about the airport's future again.<ref>airliners.de - "Hahn buyer does not pay" (German) 17 November 2022</ref> Shortly after, the administrator signed preliminary contracts with two new potential buyers, one of them being the owner of nearby Nürburgring.<ref>swr.de (German) 4 February 2023</ref> If the purchase is approved, the new owner of the airport will be NR Holding, owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin, a major figure in the Russian pharmaceutical industry. The purchase price is 20 million euros.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In April 2023, the administrator announced that the airport had been sold to the Trier-based company Triwo, which already owns and operates several smaller airports.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The sale was subject to conditions from the time of the announcement until its definitive closing around 20 April 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Triwo AG has officially been the owner of the airport company TRIWO Hahn Airport GmbH since May 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Infrastructure
[edit]Terminals
[edit]The airport consists of two passenger terminals and one cargo terminal. The passenger terminals, designated A and B, include shops and restaurants including a McDonald's.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The apron has 11 stands for mid-sized aircraft, such as the Boeing 737, which are reached on foot. The cargo apron has three stands for large aircraft such as the Boeing 747-8F.
Runway
[edit]Frankfurt–Hahn has a long runway of Template:Convert in the direction of 03/21. This, combined with a large apron, allows it to handle some of the world's biggest aircraft, such as the Antonov An-124 or the Boeing Dreamlifter. While the Antonov is a frequent visitor, the Dreamlifter has only landed twice at the airport, both times in 2010. An Instrument Landing System is available, with runway 21 being category 3 approved; low-visibility conditions are a frequent problem at the airport, especially in autumn and winter.
Airlines and destinations
[edit]Passenger
[edit]The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Hahn:<ref name=hahn-airport.de>hahn-airport.de – Destinations retrieved 29 October 2022</ref>
Template:Airport destination list
Cargo
[edit]Template:Airport destination list
The airport is also used by further cargo carriers on an irregular basis, e. g. for ad-hoc charter or military operations.<ref>hahn-airport.de - Airlines on site retrieved 3 November 2019</ref>
Statistics
[edit]
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| Template:Nowrap<ref name=traffic/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 2,751,585 |
| 2005 | Template:Increase 3,076,823 |
| 2006 | Template:Increase 3,704,633 |
| 2007 | Template:Increase 4,014,898 |
| 2008 | Template:Decrease 3,940,159 |
| 2009 | Template:Decrease 3,793,710 |
| 2010 | Template:Decrease 3,493,451 |
| 2011 | Template:Decrease 2,894,109 |
| 2012 | Template:Decrease 2,790,961 |
| 2013 | Template:Decrease 2,667,402 |
| 2014 | Template:Decrease 2,447,140 |
| 2015 | Template:Increase 2,667,000 |
| 2016 | Template:Decrease 2,609,156 |
| 2017 | Template:Decrease 2,472,198 |
| 2018 | Template:Decrease 2,092,868 |
| 2019<ref name="2019figures">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Decrease 1,496,362 |
| 2020<ref name="adv_2020">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Decrease Template:0436,862 |
| 2021<ref name="adv_2021">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Increase Template:0678,829 |
| 2022<ref name="adv_2022" /> | Template:Increase 1,377,087 |
| 2023<ref name="adv_2023">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Increase 1,673,219 |
Ground transportation
[edit]Bus
[edit]As of September 2023, the airport can be reached with the following long-distance bus and regional lines:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Flibco to Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt Airport and Mainz.
- Intermezzo lines to Saarbrücken and Saarlouis.
- Line 615 to Koblenz
- Line 660 to Simmern
- Line 750 to Bullay
Rail
[edit]The airport has no railway station. The nearest train station is in Traben-Trarbach (20 kilometers by road, 10 kilometers as the crow flies), the terminus of the Pünderich–Traben-Trarbach railway. The nearest long-distance railway stations are Bullay (15 kilometers northwest, on the Koblenz–Trier railway), and Idar-Oberstein (26 kilometers south) on the Mainz–Bad Kreuznach–Saarbrücken line. Frequent buses also run to the main railway station of nearby cities, the closest being Mainz (70 minutes, Template:Convert to the east) and Koblenz (65 minutes, 50 kilometers northeast). Frankfurt–Hahn Airport is almost equidistant from Frankfurt and Luxembourg.
Car
[edit]The nearest Autobahn connections are approximately Template:Convert to the west (A1) or east (A 61). Parking and car rental are available at the airport.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]External links
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