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History
History
From 1926 until today...
A year-by-year account of important events at Dortmund Airport.
A Brief Trip through the history of Dortmund Airport
Today, it is difficult to ascertain when the first aircraft took off and landed in Dortmund. It is, however, certain that it was before the First World War. On the advice of the then Mayor, Dr. Eichoff, a flight base "north of Brackel Village" was established in Dortmund during the war. After the war, Dortmund was involved in postal flights for the German Air Freight Service. When the French left the Ruhr Area in the autumn of 1924, negotiations began with German Aero Lloyd and Junkers Air Traffic AG concerning the connection of the nearby cities of the international air traffic network. In the spring of 1925, Aero Lloyd began flights to Berlin and on the 25th of May, the inaugural meeting of the " Luftverkehr Aktiengesellschaft Westfalen (Welu)" took place. The initial investment amounted to one million Reichsmark. The aim of this body was to promote organisations related to flight, in particular, the advancement of air traffic. From its foundation, various cities from across the Ruhr Area took part including the City of Dortmund. However, in the autumn of the same year, the city could no longer bear the financial burden. Therefore, a private airport company was established.
1926
Flughafen Dortmund GmbH was founded on 16th April 1926 with an initial capital investment of 835 000 Reichsmark. This date heralds the actual beginning of Dortmund’s airborne history with involvement from the German Reich, the state of Prussia, the region of Westfalia, the city of and area surrounding Dortmund itself as well as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and several independent companies. After the merger of Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehrs AG in January 1926, the young, aspiring Deutschen Luft Hansa AG was formed, operating 12 flights daily to and from the city. In the matter of internal flights, Dortmund had established itself as a close competitor to Cologne with more scheduled routes than either Düsseldorf or Essen.
1928
Even as early as the financial year 1927/1928, Flughafen Dortmund GmbH reported 4 319 take-offs and 4 321 landings (2 589 of these being scheduled flights).
1930
On the 10th August 1930 to an audience of 120 000 people, the airship "Graf Zeppelin" landed in Dortmund-Brackel.
1937
The flight plan from Dortmund for the summer of this year included destinations such as Berlin, Dresden, Erfurt and Nuremberg within Germany and Basel, Copenhagen, Paris, Rome and Stockholm across Europe.
1939
At the beginning of the Second World War, all civil aviation operations were suspended. The military took over all available facilities such as the 1 100 by 80 meter runway provided by Dortmund Airport.
1945
The last flight took off from Dortmund-Brackel on 28th March 1945. A few days later on the 8th April, Allied tanks were to be found on the bombed ruins of the airport site. The Royal Air Force took over the airport and all German aviation was prohibited by Allied forces.
1950
Aero-Clubs e.V., the successor of the Dortmund Aviation Club, was founded by two brothers, Theo and Hans Hengsbach, along with many other aviation enthusiasts.
1953
On the 13th June, the first German glider since the war took off from Dortmund-Brackel.
1955
On the 5th May, the German nation returned to the sky. Dortmund Airport was no longer included in Lufthansa’s flight network because post-war aircraft required a runway with a length of at least 2 000 metres. Though there was sufficient land to extend the Brackel site to the east, the runway could not have then been used owing to its proximity to a rail line.
1956
Hengsbach & Co., a flight company founded in Dortmund by the Hengsbach brothers, began to advertise flights once more. These included a route to the North Sea Islands for sea bathing holidays. Around the same time, a flying school was opened at the airport.
1960
Owing to a British artillery unit being stationed at Dortmund-Brackel, a new location was sought for civil aviation. Thanks to the initiative of the aviation club and the Hengsbach & Co. flight company a new recreational facility was opened near Wickede high road, the current location of the Airport. This concern took over the running of Dortmund Aviation Club. On the 1st January 1960, the first recreational aircraft landed in Wickede.
1969
On 24th February 1969, Dormund City Council created the General Development Plan. This commissioned, arranged sponsorship and laid the foundations of a Development Scheme for Dortmund Airport. On the 13th August of the same year, the city received permission from the President to build an 850 m-long runway together with all necessary suppport facilities.
1971
On 1st April 1971, Flughafen Dortmund GmbH again became responsible for the assets and management of the airport following the closing of the old airfield. The company also took over the administration of Dortmund Aviation Club 45 years after its founding. This was gradually developed from a field into a full aircraft traffic area.
1974
In June 1974 on safety grounds, a 650m by 20m asphalt runway replaced the old grass outfield.
1975
On the 10th March 1975, the President accepted the 1969 proposal for the extension of the runway to 850m over a period of 10 years.
1976
Founding of RFG - Reise- und Industrieflug GmbH in Dortmund.
1979
RFG operates ist first regular flight between Dortmund and Munich. This was followed later by further routesto Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
1980
In this year, LGW was founded by flight captain and company owner Bernd Walter.Since then the company has had its headquarters located at Dortmund Airport.
Starting out as a flight school operating photographic flights and aerial tours, the company expanded its operations to a "seaside service", providing charter flights to the North Sea islands of East Frisia (Ostfriesland). This service made use of one and two engined Cessna 208/404 aircraft as well as Brotten Norman Islanders.
1983
On 28th June 1983, the former President, Johannes Rau, opened the new 850 metre long "Startbahn Ruhrgebiet" (with an additional 100m take-off stretch at each end). From then on, the previous runway has been used as a taxiway.
1986
Flughafen Dortmund GmbH took on permanent responsibility for the management and further alteration of the airport traffic area.
1987
The airport runway was extended to a length of 1 050 metres (plus two 200 metre emergency stop areas). The check-in building also underwent major redevelopment.
1990
Following the reunification of Germany, new routes to Dresden and Leipzig were established alongside those to Berlin, London, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
1993
The City Council and Supervisory Board broke the ground for the extension of the runway to 2000 metres as well as the construction of a new terminal building. The Airline company Eurowings was established though the merger of RFG (Reise- und Industrieflug GmbH, which was known as Regionalflug GmbH from 1985 onwards) and NFD (Nürnberger Flugdienst).
1998
The foundations of the new check-in building were laid in the presence of Wolfgang Clement, the President of NRW. The new Cargo Centre was opened.
2000
Terminal A was completed and began operations on 29th October 2000. At the same time, following the acceptance of a proposal of 24th January 2000, the runway was extended to 2000m.
2001
Flughafen Dortmund GmbH turned 75 years old on 16th April 2001 and on the occasion of its birthday an illustrated account: "Horizons – the economic and cultural history of Westfalian Aviation" was published. (Klartext-Verlag, ISBN: 3-89861-030-6)
The number of passengers exceeded the one million mark for the first time, and an additional first was that the new terminal and the 2000 metre long runway were used for an entire business year. However, this rapid climb came to an abrupt end as Dortmund Airport also felt the effects of the terror attack in New York on 11th September 2001.
2002
Following the terrorist attack of 11th September 2001, passenger numbers at Dortmund Airport were stagnant for the first time. Further developments in this year provided hope, however: Air Berlin picked up the City Shuttle services to London, Milan and Vienna in September/October. Construction at the airport was also further developed with a new administration building replacing the existing provisional measures.
2003
A survey of 23 airports carried out by the magazine "Reise und Preise" (Travel and Prices) put Dortmund Airport in 1st place. The year of consolidation also fit well to various other matters: The airport once again registered growth in the number of passengers - exceeded the one million mark.
2004
The "Ruhr Runway" achieved a record number of passengers (1.18 million). At the same time, the starter's gun was fired for low-cost flights from Dortmund: in July, the leading European low-cost airline started its operations here. The flight schedule included destinations such as London, Paris, Alicante, Budapest, Palma de Mallorca, Nice, Prague and Rome, with Krakow joining them later. The airline, Wizz air piloted Kattowitz onto this list from July onwards. The airport also grew on the Internet: In December, the airport presented its new homepage.
2005
The airport takes off: in the first quarter the number of passengers at the airport doubled in comparison to the previous year. Over the whole year, the airport counted 1.7 million passengers, with the greatest turnover coming in October. Incidentally, a similar trend was seen on the Internet – 130,000 different visitors to the homepage. New destinations (Posen and Berlin) were provided from Dortmund by dauair.
- [+] Click on the image
2006
Two events crowned the year 2006 at Dortmund Airport: The World Cup and the airport's 80th anniversary. The airport was superbly prepared for the major sporting event: in particular, for the World Cup, a special Homepage on the Internet was established, containing a wealth of information about the World Cup in the local area.
- [+] Germanwings crew and management meeting the press with Airport Director Manfred Kossack for the first Germanwings flight from Dortmund.
2007
2007 was an exciting year for Dortmund Airport. Amongst other events, the Ruhr Region Runways were able to welcome two new airline operators: the Scandinavian low-cost carrier Sterling and the German economy airline Germanwings. Dortmund is now the fifth base opened by Germanwings. A further success story was reported by another airline in September: easyJet welcomed their three-millionth passenger to Dortmund Airport.
A little more out of the ordinary was the filming of scenes for the star-studded RTL TV thriller 'Das Papstattentat', shown on German TV in 2008. The key scene of the story, in which a killer (played by German actor Heiner Lauterbrach) attempts to assassinate the Pope, was shot in and around the airport.
The reconstruction of several sets on the airport site and the use of a helicopter revealed how complex the making of a film can be.
The new P3 parking area with 800 spaces was opened in time for the winter flight schedule – the reason behind this was the above-average increase in passenger volume and resulting parking bottlenecks during the holiday seasons. The airport operator, Flughafen Dortmund GmbH, was able to close the 2007 financial year with a record volume of 2,155,064 passengers.
- [+] Markus Bunk – the new Managing Director of Flughafen Dortmund GmbH since October 2008.
2008
Modern, transparent and an intuitive layout – since April 2008, the Dortmund Airport website now has a brand new look. The highlight: for the first time, flights can now be booked online on the airport website. The destination map is displayed on the landing page and creates a focal point for what the airport offers. When it comes to routes flown, the Ruhr Region Runways further expanded their leading role in the Eastern European segment: in the meantime, 14 destinations in Eastern Europe can now be reached from Dortmund. Yet another reason why 2008 will be a record year: over 2.3 million passengers flew from Dortmund Airport between January and December 2008 – more passengers than ever before.
This is one positive development that former Managing Director Manfred Kossack is certainly very pleased to have been able to pass on to his successor, Markus Bunk. In June 2008, the Supervisory Board of the DSW21 subsidiary unanimously selected Markus Bunk as the new Managing Director of Flughafen Dortmund GmbH – Markus Bunk officially took over the responsibilities of his predecessor in October.
The airport's dialogue website, www.dialog-dortmund-airport.de, also went online in 2008. This is an online forum where anyone interested can find information about the airport and discuss the latest developments and plans for expansion. This is further proof that Dortmund Airport remains true to its promise of maintaining absolute transparency when reporting on development perspectives.