Luxembourg Airport

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[1] of Luxembourg City. In 2018, it handled 4.04 million passengers.[3][4] It is a major cargo airport, ranking as Europe's fifth-busiest by cargo tonnage 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.[5][6]

"ELLX" redirects here. For the London railway engineering project, see East London line extension.
Luxembourg Airport

Fluchhafe Lëtzebuerg

Aéroport de Luxembourg

Flughafen Luxemburg
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorSociété de l’aéroport de Luxembourg S.A. lux-Airport
ServesLuxembourg City, Luxembourg
LocationSandweiler
Hub for
Elevation AMSL1,234 ft / 376 m
Coordinates49°37′24″N 006°12′16″E
Websitelux-airport.lu
Map
ELLX
Location in Luxembourg
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 4,002 13,130 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers3,988,224
Cargo821,000 tons
Sources: Belgian AIP at Belgocontrol[1]
Statistics from Eurostat[2]

History
Terminal interior

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.

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.[7]

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.[7]

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.[8][9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12]

Luxembourg Airport was closed to all passenger traffic for an indefinite period from 23 March 2020 as a public health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15] 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:[16]

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens
Air Malta Malta[17]
Alitalia Milan–Linate
British Airways London–Heathrow
easyJet Berlin–Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Milan–Malpensa, Porto
Hahn Air Seasonal: Düsseldorf
KLM Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair[18] Barcelona, Berlin–Tegel, Copenhagen, Djerba, Dublin, Faro, Florence,[19] Fuerteventura, Funchal, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Lanzarote, Lisbon, London–City, Madrid, Málaga, Marrakech, Milan–Malpensa, Montpellier,[19] Munich, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Porto, Rome–Fiumicino, Saarbrücken, Stockholm–Arlanda,[20] Tenerife–South, Vienna
Seasonal: Agadir, Ajaccio, Almería, Antalya, Bari, Bastia, Biarritz, Boa Vista, Bodrum, Bordeaux,[21] Brač, Brindisi,[22] Budapest, Burgas, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Figari, Heraklion, Hurghada,[23] Innsbruck,[24] Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Malta, Manchester (resumes 2 September 2020),[25] Marsa Alam,[23] Marseille,[26] Menorca, Naples, Palermo, Prague, Ras Al Khaimah, Rhodes, Rimini, Sal, Salzburg,[27] Split, Valencia,[28] Varna, Venice, Zadar
Ryanair Barcelona, Bergamo, Budapest, Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London–Stansted, Madrid, Malta, Porto, Seville
Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
Scandinavian Airlines Stockholm–Arlanda
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon, Porto
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Volotea Nice
Seasonal: Alicante,[29] Marseille, Venice[30]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Cargolux[31] 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, 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, Jakarta-Soekarno Hatta[32], Johannesburg–O.R. Tambo, Karachi, Kinshasa, Komatsu, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuwait, Lagos, 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[33] Delhi, Dubai–International, Prague, Taipei–Taoyuan
China Southern Airlines[34] Shanghai–Pudong
Emirates SkyCargo[35] Dubai–Al Maktoum
Qatar Airways Cargo[36] Atlanta, Chicago–O'Hare, Doha, Mexico City, São Paulo–Guarulhos
Silk Way Airlines[37] Baku

Statistics
Busiest Routes from Luxembourg Airport (2016)
RankAirportPassengers 2016
1 Portugal, Porto Airport231,154
2 Germany, Munich Airport207,822
3 UK, London City Airport182,670
4 Germany, Frankfurt Airport174,811
5 Portugal, Lisbon Airport167,396
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.[38]
  • On 29 September 1982, Aeroflot Flight 343 suffered a runway excursion on landing at Luxembourg Airport.[39]
  • 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.
  • 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.[40]
gollark: Clearly, autobotrobot bad.
gollark: Hmm, still can't override that!
gollark: ++help
gollark: +say ++help
gollark: Never mind, broke it all.

See also

References

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

  1. AIP for ELLX – Luxembourg Findel Airport from Skeyes
  2. "European Commission". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  3. "Luxembourg airport recorded passenger increase in 2018". Lux-Airport s.a. 18 January 2019.
  4. "Luxembourg Airport - My Journey Starts Here". Luxembourg Airport.
  5. "Legal." Luxair. Retrieved on 7 February 2011. "Luxair S.A. LuxairGroup Luxembourg Airport L-2987 Luxembourg."
  6. "Network & Offices Luxembourg Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine." Cargolux. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Cargolux Head Office Luxembourg Airport L 2990 Luxembourg"
  7. "The Luftwaffe, 1933-45". Ww2.dk. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. "IX Engineer Command". Ixengineercommand.com. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  10. Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
  11. Michaels, Daniel (19 February 2013). "Gunmen Waylay Jet, Swipe Diamond Trove". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  12. "Air travel: lux-Airport expects 6 percent growth, new destinations in 2016". 8 January 2016.
  13. (in French) Le Findel ferme aux voyageurs dès lundi. L'Essentiel, 19 Mars 2020,
  14. "The History of Luxembourg Airport". Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  15. L'essentiel. "Le terminal B du Findel rouvrira pour l'été 2017".
  16. "Timetable - Flight Information - Luxembourg Airport". Lux-airport.lu. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  17. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/291686/airmalta-s20-operation-revision-as-of-06jun20/
  18. luxair.u - Online timetable retrieved 23 February 2019
  19. http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/luxembourg/story/3-nouvelles-destinations-au-depart-du-findel-14904017
  20. Liu, Jim. "Luxair resumes regular Stockholm service from June 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  21. https://www.luxairgroup.lu/sites/default/files/2020-06/Press%20release_Une%20reprise%20dynamis%C3%A9e.pdf
  22. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/285853/luxair-adds-brindisi-service-from-april-2020/
  23. "Luxair adds Egypt service from Nov 2019". routesonline.com. 15 November 2019.
  24. https://www.luxairgroup.lu/sites/default/files/2020-06/Press%20release_Une%20reprise%20dynamis%C3%A9e.pdf
  25. Liu, Jim. "Luxair delays Manchester service resumption to Sep 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  26. https://www.luxairgroup.lu/sites/default/files/2020-06/Press%20release_Une%20reprise%20dynamis%C3%A9e.pdf
  27. https://www.luxairgroup.lu/sites/default/files/2020-06/Press%20release_Une%20reprise%20dynamis%C3%A9e.pdf
  28. https://www.anna.aero/2020/06/23/luxair-adds-valencia-another-new-summer-route/
  29. https://fly-news.es/aviacion-comercial/aerolineas/volotea-madrid-toulouse-faro-alicante-napoles-luxemburgo/
  30. http://www.turismoitalianews.it/ultime/15781-venezia-volotea-spinge-sull-offerta-dal-2020-voli-per-lussemburgo-hannover-e-kalamata-decolla-anche-lione
  31. cargolux.com - Network & Offices retrieved 6 March 2020
  32. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/cv7947
  33. cargo.china-airlines.com - Our Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  35. skycargo.com - Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  36. qrcargo.com - Route Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  37. silkway-airlines.com - Our Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  38. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  39. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 62M CCCP-86470 Luxembourg-Findel Airport (LUX)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  40. "Incident: Cargolux B744 at Luxemburg on January 21st 2010, touched van on runway during landing". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2010.

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