EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (IATA: MLH, BSL, EAP, ICAO: LFSB, LSZM)[note 1][1] is an international airport 3.5 km (2.2 mi) northwest of the city of Basel, Switzerland, 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Mulhouse in France, and 46 km (29 mi) south-southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. The Franco-Swiss administered airport is geographically located within the French Alsace region, in the administrative commune of Saint-Louis near the border tripoint between France, Germany, and Switzerland. The airport serves as a base for easyJet Switzerland and features mainly flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations.

EuroAirport
Basel Mulhouse Freiburg

Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse

Flughafen Basel-Mülhausen
Summary
Airport typeInternational
OwnerFrance and Swiss canton of Basel-City
OperatorL'administration de l'Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse
ServesBasel, Switzerland
Mulhouse, France
Freiburg, Germany
LocationSaint-Louis, France
Hub foreasyJet Switzerland
Elevation AMSL885 ft / 270 m
Coordinates47°35′24″N 007°31′45″E
Websitewww.euroairport.com
Map
BSL/MLH/EAP
Location of airport in Alsace region
BSL/MLH/EAP
Location of airport in France
BSL/MLH/EAP
Location of airport near Switzerland
BSL/MLH/EAP
Location of airport near Germany
BSL/MLH/EAP
BSL/MLH/EAP (Europe)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 3,900 12,795 Concrete
08/26 1,820 5,971 Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Passengers9.090.312
Freight (tons)110,129
Aircraft movements99,313
Sources: French AIP,[2] airport's annual report[3] and French AIP at EUROCONTROL[4]

History

Early years
Aerial view

Plans for the construction of a joint Swiss–French airport started in the 1930s, but were halted by the Second World War. Swiss planners identified Basel as one of the four cities for which a main urban airport would be developed, but recognized that the existing airfield at Sternenfeld in Birsfelden was too small and, due to development of the adjacent river port facilities, unsuitable for expansion. The suburb of Allschwil was proposed for a new airport, but this would require being constructed across the Franco-Swiss border, leading to talks with French authorities centered developing a single airport that would serve both countries, enhancing its international airport status.[5]

In 1946 talks resumed and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Blotzheim, France. France would provide the land and the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt would cover the construction costs. Basel-Stadt's Grand Council agreed to pay the costs for a provisional airport even before an international treaty was signed (which was not until 1949). Construction began on 8 March 1946 and a provisional airport with a 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) runway was officially opened on 8 May.

Between autumn 1951 and spring 1953, the east–west runway was extended to 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) and the "Zollfreistrasse" (customs-free road) was constructed, allowing access from Basel to the departure terminal without passing through French border controls.

The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the terminals and runways were continually extended. The north–south runway was extended further to 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) in 1972. In 1984, an annual total of 1 million passengers was reached. In 1987, the trademark name EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg was introduced.[6]

In 1992 a total of 2 million passengers used the airport. By 1998, this number rose up to 3 million.

Development in the 2000s

A decision was made to enlarge the terminals again with a new "Y-finger" dock. The first phase was completed in 2002 and the second phase in 2005.

Crossair was based at Basel and was its largest airline. Following the Swissair liquidation in 2001, the subsequent ending of services in early 2002, and the transformation of Crossair into Swiss International Air Lines, the number of flights from Basel fell and the new terminal was initially underused. In 2004 the low-cost carrier easyJet opened a base at Basel and the passenger totals rose again, reaching 4 million in 2006.

From 2007 until 2009, Ryanair also flew to the airport for the first time. However, as result of a dispute over landing fees, the airline closed all eight routes.[7] More recently Ryanair announced it would return in April 2014, with the resumption of Basel–Dublin route as well as the new route Basel – London–Stansted. Since then, Ryanair has hinted at the possibility of adding new routes in the foreseeable future.

In December 2014, Swiss International Air Lines announced it would cease all operations at Basel by 31 May 2015 due to heavy competition from low-cost carriers.[8] Swiss faced direct competition on five out of its six Basel routes, all of which were operated by Swiss Global Air Lines. The Lufthansa Group announced it would set up Eurowings' first base outside Germany at the EuroAirport as a replacement. However these plans were later cancelled in favour of Vienna International Airport.[9]

In January 2017, the removal of Basel/Mulhouse from Air Berlin and its Swiss subsidiary Belair's route networks was announced.[10]

International status

EuroAirport is one of the few airports in the world operated jointly by two countries,[11] in this case France and Switzerland. It is governed by a 1949 international convention. The headquarters of the airport's operations are located in Blotzheim, France.[12] The airport is located completely on French soil; however, it has a Swiss customs area connected to Basel by a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long customs road, thus allowing air travelers access into Switzerland bypassing French customs clearance. The airport is operated via a state treaty established in 1946 wherein the two countries (Switzerland and France) are granted access to the airport without any customs or other border restrictions. The airport's board has 8 members each from France and Switzerland and two advisers from Germany.[13]

The airport building is split into two separate sections – Swiss and French. Though the whole airport is on French soil and under French jurisdiction, the Swiss authorities have the authority to apply Swiss laws regarding customs, medical services and police work in the Swiss section, including the customs road connecting Basel with the airport. However, French police are allowed to execute random checks in the Swiss section as well.[13] With Switzerland joining the Schengen Treaty in March 2009, the air side was rearranged to include a Schengen and non-Schengen zone.[14] As border control is staffed by both Swiss and French border officers, passengers departing to or arriving from non-Schengen countries may receive either a Swiss or French passport stamp, depending on which officer they happen to approach.

Due to its international status, EuroAirport has three IATA airport codes: BSL (Basel) is the Swiss code, MLH (Mulhouse) is the French code and EAP (EuroAirport) is the neutral code.[1] The ICAO airport code is: LFSB, sometimes LSZM is used to designate the Swiss airport.[2]

Terminal

The EuroAirport consists of a single terminal building, a brick-style main area with four levels and the Y-shaped gate area attached to it. The basement (Level 1) contains the access to the car park, the ground level (Level 2) features the arrivals facilities. Level 3 is the check-in area divided into halls 1-4 while the departure gates are located at Level 4. The gate area features gates 1-2, 20-46, 60-61 and 78-87 of which gates 22-32 are used for non-Schengen flights.[15] Six of the boarding gates feature jet bridges, the others are used for walk- or bus-boarding. As described above, the landside areas are uniquely divided into a French and a Swiss part.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at the EuroAirport:[16]

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Seasonal: Athens
Air Algérie Constantine
Seasonal: Algiers[17]
Air Arabia Casablanca
Air France Hop Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly
Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau
Austrian Airlines Vienna
British Airways London–Heathrow
Brussels Airlines Brussels
Chair Airlines Pristina[18]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya,[19] Bodrum ,[20] Hurghada,[21] İzmir [22]
easyJet Alghero, Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin–Schönefeld, Berlin–Tegel, Bordeaux, Brindisi, Bristol, Brussels, Budapest, Catania, Copenhagen, Dresden, Edinburgh, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Kraków, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Marrakech, Montpellier, Nantes, Naples, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Porto, Prague, Pristina, Rome–Fiumicino, Santiago de Compostela, Tel Aviv, Tenerife–South, Toulouse, Valencia, Venice, Vienna
Seasonal: Agadir, Ajaccio, Athens, Bastia, Biarritz, Cagliari, Calvi, Dubrovnik, Faro, Figari, Hurghada, Ibiza, Menorca, Mykonos, Olbia, Pisa, Pula, Seville, Split, Thessaloniki, Zadar [23]
Eurowings Düsseldorf
Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca[24]
FlyEgypt Seasonal charter: Hurghada,[25] Sharm El Sheikh[25]
Holiday Europe Seasonal charter: Dubai–Al Maktoum[26]
Iberia Madrid
KLM Amsterdam
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Nouvelair Seasonal: Djerba,[27] Monastir[28]
Orange2Fly Charter: Pristina[29]
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Ryanair Dublin
SunExpress Antalya
Seasonal: Izmir
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Heraklion,[30] Marrakesh [31]
TUI fly Deutschland Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife–South
Seasonal: Corfu, Funchal, Heraklion, Kos, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes
Tunisair Djerba
Turkish Airlines Istanbul[32]
Seasonal: Gaziantep [33]
Vueling Barcelona
Wizz Air Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Chișinău, Niš, Ohrid, Pristina, Skopje, Tirana,[34] Tuzla, Warsaw–Chopin
Seasonal: Sibiu,[35] Sofia[36]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Korean Air Cargo[37] Seoul–Incheon, Vienna
Qatar Airways Cargo[38] Doha

Statistics

Route statistics
Busiest routes at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg Airport (2019) [39]
RankCity2019 Passengers2018 Passengers2017 Passengers2016 Passengers
1 Amsterdam 222 480 219 746 210 215 206 986
2 Barcelona 177 693 179 538 173 414 170 492
3 Pristina 158 867 138 668 115 066 105 338
4 Palma de Mallorca 153 240 172 534 182 496 155 949
5 Berlin (Tegel) 147 257
6 London (Gatwick) 143 672 141 380 138 051 135 895
7 London (Heathrow) 140 676 140 289 129 091 126 362
8 Hamburg 126 019 118 612 112 104 113 642
9 Budapest 124 652 89 290
10 Porto 108 173 108 106 106 307 103 998
11 Istanbul (Sabiha Gökçen) 103 528 87 709 78 588 70 338
12 Lisbon 101 667
13 Wien 99 173
14 Nice 93 345 91 405 92 490 87 752
15 Frankfurt 92 685 93 550 83 348 76 381
16 Madrid 87 218 91 386 80 318
17 Munich 85 508 87 754 80 186 76 625
18 Berlin (Schönefeld) 80 956 192 847 222 665 217 504
19 Antalya (Antalya) 75 789
20 Paris (Charles de Gaulle) 72 785 75 910 76 900 82 424
21 Bordeaux (Bordeaux) 68 836
22 Skopje (Skopje) 61 660
23 Istanbul (Istanbul) 60 690
Istanbul (Atatürk) 21 553 82 821 73 527 72 896

Other facilities
Swiss International Air Lines head office at EuroAirport
  • The headquarters of Swiss International Air Lines and Swiss Global Air Lines are on the grounds at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg in the Swiss section of the airport; even though the airport is within France, the Swiss head office is only accessible from Switzerland.[40][41] The Swiss division Swiss Aviation Software has its head office there as well.[42]
  • Farnair Switzerland formerly had its head office at EuroAirport. As in the case of the Swiss head office, the area with the former Farnair head office may only be accessed from Switzerland.[43] The head office moved to its current location, the Villa Guggenheim in Allschwil, in proximity to EuroAirport, on 1 October 2011.[44]
  • Hello, a now defunct Swiss airline, had its head office in the General Aviation area of EuroAirport.[45]
  • Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport.[46] Prior to its dissolution, Crossair Europe was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport as well.[47]

Ground transportation

Car
Location of the airport relative to Basel and its surroundings

The airport is connected to motorway A3 which leads from Basel to the southeast of Switzerland passing Zürich.

Bus

There are several bus connections to and from the EuroAirport to all three countries around it:

  • On the Swiss exit Basel's BVB bus No. 50[48] connects the airport to Bahnhof SBB, which is the main Swiss and French railway station in Basel. During weekdays, there is a service every 7–8 minutes and on weekends, every 10 minutes during daytime. The duration of the trip is about 20 minutes. On the day of a visitor's arrival to Basel, a reservation confirmation from a local hotel guarantees a free transfer by public transport from the station or the EuroAirport to the hotel.[49]
  • On the French exit Saint-Louis' distribus bus No. 11[50] connects the airport to the gare SNCF, Saint-Louis's railway station in 10 minutes.
  • The German private bus company Flixbus calls Zürich, Basel and Freiburg i.Br. up to five times a day. FlixBus however only serves the French exit of the airport. Serving Swiss destinations from the French part of the airport is a questionable legal trick, as people transport by foreign companies inside of Switzerland is illegal without official authorization due to cabotage regulations, which will not be granted by Swiss authorities on routes already supported by tax-financed public services. It's illegal to travel between Swiss destinations only. Police started to do random checks and to fine failing travelers. Serving Swiss destinations from abroad however is compliant.[51][52]
gollark: Especially horrible is having *different functions for each type*.
gollark: Or C, that looks like C.
gollark: Don't use C++?
gollark: Aren't `Set`s just maps with `()` as the value and some wrapper functions?
gollark: `elem` on a giant list will not be fast. Use a set!

See also

Notes
  1. IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area

References
  1. "Airline and Airport Code Search: 3-letter airport code". Quebec, Canada: International Air Transport Association (IATA). Retrieved 6 November 2014. Search for location
  2. LFSB – BÂLE-MULHOUSE. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 13 August 2020.
  3. "Annual Report 2013 (2/3): Key Figures" (annual report) (in French, German, and English). l’Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  4. EAD Basic Archived 23 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Bell, E. A. (10 May 1945). "Swiss Planning". Flight and Aircraft Engineer. Royal Aero Club. XLVII (1898): 501. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  6. "EuroAirport - Serving the needs of the RegioTriRhena". EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  7. "Ryanair verlässt den EuroAirport". baz.ch/. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  8. "Kurznachrichten: SWISS verlässt Basel, Regierungsterminal in Berlin und Fluggastzahlen von Air France". airportzentrale.de. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  9. "Lufthansa-Billigairline: Eurowings: Wien statt Basel - aeroTELEGRAPH". aeroTELEGRAPH. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  10. "Das Streckennetz der new airberlin - airberlin.com". Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  11. Cochennec, Yann (27 August 2018). "Des avions et des hommes : destination EuroAirport". air-cosmos.com.
  12. "General conditions of use Archived 28 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine". EuroAirport. Retrieved on 24 September 2009. "The Site is published by Basel–Mulhouse Airport, a Franco-Swiss public enterprise governed by the international convention of 4 July 1949 concerning its construction and operation and the headquarters of which are situated at 68730 Blotzheim, France".
  13. "Schweizerisch-Französischer Staatsvertrag vom 4. Juli 1949 (Höflichkeitsübersetzung)" (in German). EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. 1 November 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  14. "Terminal plan". EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  15. "Terminalplan". Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  16. "Timetable". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  17. Liu, Jim. "Air Algerie adds Algiers – Mulhouse route in Sep/Oct 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  18. https://www.aerotelegraph.com/chair-fliegt-im-winter-auch-ab-basel-und-genf
  19. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/283947/corendon-resumes-various-antalya-service-in-s19/
  20. "Flights to Bodrum". corendonairlines.com.
  21. "Flights to Hurghada". corendonairlines.com.
  22. "Flights to Izmir". corendonairlines.com.
  23. Liu, Jim. "easyJet S20 new routes as of 27DEC19". Routesonline. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. "New FTI flight program is bookable". abouttravel.ch. 10 October 2019.
  26. "FTI back in full charter to Dubai - with Holiday Europe". abouttravel.ch. 3 September 2019.
  27. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/277173/nouvelair-tunisie-adds-djerba-basel-seasonal-route-in-s18/
  28. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/281533/nouvelair-tunisie-adds-new-routing-to-basel-in-s19/
  29. https://www.flyrbp.com/
  30. Liu, Jim. "TUIfly Belgium schedules new Greek routes in S19". Routesonline. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  31. Liu, Jim (4 December 2019). "TUIfly Maroc adds new Marrakech routes in S20". routesonline.com.
  32. onemileatatime.com - Istanbul New Airport Transition Delayed Until April 5, 2019 20 February 2019
  33. Liu, Jim (1 June 2020). "Turkish Airlines S20 European network addition as of 29MAY20". Routesonline.
  34. https://wizzair.com/#/
  35. https://wizzair.com/en-gb/information-and-services/about-us/news/2017/11/27/wizz-air-announced-expanding-sibiu-s-network
  36. https://money.bg/business/wizz-air-spira-poletite-do-8-destinatsii-ot-sofiya-i-varna.html
  37. cargo.koreanair.com - Flight Operation Status retrieved 17 November 2019
  38. qrcargo.com retrieved 12 September 2019
  39. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/mobilitaet-verkehr/querschnittsthemen/zivilluftfahrt/linien-charterverkehr.assetdetail.4622491.html
  40. "Facts and figures Archived 1 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved on 13 June 2009.
  41. "Swiss International Air Lines Basel Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved on 24 September 2009.
  42. "CONTACT". Swiss Aviation Software. Retrieved on 17 September 2011. "Swiss AviationSoftware Ltd. BSLSAS/MA P.O.Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland Marketing & Administration" The location is implied by this picture Archived 27 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine which is of the Swiss head office at Basel Airport.
  43. "How to find us". Farnair Europe. Retrieved on 8 December 2010.
  44. "Contact Us". (Archived 5 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine) Farnair Switzerland. Retrieved on 19 February 2012.
  45. "Hello Location Archived 10 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine". (Direct image link) Hello. Retrieved on 1 July 2010.
  46. "Location". Crossair. Retrieved on 13 June 2009.
  47. World Airline Directory. Flight International. 23–29 March 2004. 58.
  48. "BVB – Line network". Basel, Switzerland: BVB. Archived from the original on 28 May 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  49. "Mobility Ticket". Basel, Switzerland: Basel Tourismus. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  50. "distribus ligne 11" (PDF). Saint-Louis, France: distribus. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  51. Petar Marjanovic (16 June 2016). "Umstrittene SBB-Konkurrenz: Bund will Fernbus-Tricksern an den Kragen". Blick (in German). Zurich, Switzerland. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  52. SDA/gr (10 November 2016). "Bundesrat über Fernbus-Trickser: Verstösse kaum nachzuweisen!". Blick (in German). Zurich, Switzerland. Retrieved 3 July 2016.

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