Hamburg Airport

Early years

The airport was opened in January 1911 from private funding by the Hamburger Luftschiffhallen GmbH (HLG), making it the oldest airport in the world which is still in operation. The original site comprised 45 hectares and was primarily used for airship flights in its early days. In 1913, the site was expanded to 60 hectares, the northern part being used for airship operations, while the southeast area was used for fixed-wing aircraft.

During the First World War, the airship hangar was used extensively by the military, until it was destroyed by fire in 1916.

During the British occupation, beginning in 1945, the airport was given its current name, Hamburg Airport. It was used extensively during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 as a staging area, as the northern air corridor went between Hamburg and West Berlin.

When Lufthansa launched passenger operations in 1955, Hamburg was used as a hub until Frankfurt Airport took over due to growth constraints posed by the location in the city. Lufthansa Technik still maintains a large presence at the airport due to the early activities of the airline at the airport.

In the 1960s discussions began with the aim of moving the airport to Heidmoor by Kaltenkirchen. Reasons cited were limited expansion possibilities, capacity constraints due to crossing runways, and noise. Lufthansa had introduced the Boeing 707 in 1960, which made more noise than previous piston engined aircraft. The plans were dropped due to bad experiences in other cities with airports being moved far from city centres and Lufthansa's move to Frankfurt.

Development since the 1990s

In the early 1990s, the airport began an extensive modernization process. The plan, called HAM21, included a new 500 m pier extension, a new terminal (Terminal 1), and the Airport Plaza between Terminals 1 and 2, which includes a consolidated security area. The airport's shareholders are the City of Hamburg and AviAlliance.

The Radisson Blu Hotel Hamburg Airport was added in 2009, combined with new roadside access and a station and connection to the rapid transit system Hamburg S-Bahn.

In January 2016, TUIfly announced to leave Hamburg Airport entirely due to the increasing competition from low-cost carriers. While the summer seasonal routes will not resume, all remaining destinations will be cancelled by March 2016. A few weeks later, it has been officially announced to christen the airport after Helmut Schmidt, a former Senator of Hamburg and chancellor of Germany. Since 10 November 2016, the airport is named Hamburg Airport Helmut Schmidt.

In October 2016, Air Berlin announced to close its maintenance facilities at the airport due to cost cutting and restructuring measures.

2017 chemical incident

Shortly after 12pm local time on 12 February 2017, an "unknown and uncommon" chemical, likely pepper spray according to officials, was circulated around the airport. At least 50 people were seriously injured and were taken to hospital by ambulance. Firefighters completely evacuated the airport and passengers were forced to wait outside the airport in sub-zero temperatures. All flights have been cancelled and thousands of passengers have been stranded.

Shortly after 12pm local time on 13 February 2017, a second incident was reported. The local authorities, are not sure about the official cause of the incident, however they assume that it was linked to residue of the spray from the previous incident.

Facilities

Hamburg Airport originally covered 440,000 m² (4,700,000 sq ft). Since then, the site has grown more than tenfold to 5.7 km² (2.2 sq mi). The main apron covers 320,000 m² (3,400,000 sq ft) and features 54 parking positions, the passenger terminals provide 17 jetways. As of July 2016 the airport only has three routes served with widebody aircraft, however during 2016 three stands will be upgraded with double-jetbridges to provide faster boarding and de-boarding for large planes. These positions will also be capable to handle the Airbus A380.

The runways, taxiways and aprons are able to accommodate large aircraft, up to and including the Airbus A380. Currently there is no scheduled A380, however Hamburg Airport is a diversion airport for Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport, the location of the Airbus plant in Hamburg, where all A380s are painted and interior fitted prior to delivery. Therefore, the apron facilities had already been upgraded for the use by A380s before the terminal.

Terminals

Hamburg has two terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, connected by the Airport Plaza and the baggage claim area that extends through the lower levels of all three buildings. These three buildings were designed by Gerkan, Marg, und Partner. Both Terminals have a high, curved ceiling designed to emulate the shape of a wing. In all buildings level 1 is the departure level, while level 0 is arrivals. Hamburg Airport offers 12 baggage claim belts on the arrivals level.

The Airport Plaza hosts the central security check as well as shops, restaurants, lounges and other service-facilities. It houses the S-Bahn station (suburban railway) and was completed in December 2008.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 was completed in 2005 and is highly similar to Terminal 2 in terms of design and size. It has numerous energy and water saving features like rain water collection for use in restrooms and a ThermoLabyrinth, which uses ground temperature to help regulate the building's temperature and reduce loads on the air conditioning systems. Terminal 1 houses most of the airlines including those from the Oneworld and SkyTeam alliances.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is, despite its name, the older facility and was completed in 1993. It houses Eurowings including Germanwings and Lufthansa together with its Star Alliance partners amongst some others.

Passenger

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Hamburg Airport:

Train

The airport is located ca. 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Hamburg city centre and 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Norderstedt in the borough of Fuhlsbüttel. HVV, the Hamburg public transit network, runs the S-Bahn-line (suburban railway) S1 which links the airport directly to the city centre every ten minutes. The trip to Hamburg central station takes approximately 25 minutes.

Car

By road, the airport can be reached from motorway A7 using the state highway B433, which is the third ring road. Motorists from the east of the city must drive through Hamburg.

Bus

The airport is also linked by some local bus routes to nearby areas as well as regular coach services to the cities of Kiel and Neumünster.

Trivia