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 2019, it handled 4.4 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
Alitalia Milan–Linate
British Airways London–Heathrow
easyJet Bordeaux, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Milan–Malpensa, Porto
Hahn Air Düsseldorf
KLM Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Luxair[17] Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna,[18] Bucharest,[19] Copenhagen, Djerba, Dublin, Faro, Florence, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Kraków,[18] Lanzarote, Lisbon, London–City, Madrid, Málaga, Marrakesh, Milan–Malpensa, Montpellier, Munich, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos (begins 15 February 2021),[18] Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Porto, Rome–Fiumicino, Saarbrücken, Stockholm–Arlanda, Tenerife–South, Tunis (begins 13 February 2021),[20] Vienna
Seasonal: Agadir, Ajaccio, Almería, Antalya, Bari, Bastia, Belgrade (begins 3 June 2021),[21] Biarritz, Boa Vista, Bodrum, Bordeaux, Brač, Brindisi, Budapest, Burgas, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Figari, Heraklion, Heringsdorf (begins 8 May 2021),[22] Hurghada, Innsbruck, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, La Rochelle (begins 8 May 2021),[23] Lamezia Terme, Malta, Marsa Alam, Menorca, Monastir (begins 1 April 2021),[20] Naples, Palermo, Podgorica (begins 12 February 2021),[24] Prague, Rhodes, Rimini, Rostock (begins 19 June 2021),[25] Sal, Salzburg, Split, Toulon (begins 3 April 2021),[26] Valencia, Varna, Venice, Zadar
Ryanair Barcelona (ends 26 March 2021), Berlin (begins 29 March 2021),[27] Dublin (ends 26 March 2021), Edinburgh, Lisbon (ends 26 March 2021), London–Stansted, Malta, Porto
Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
Scandinavian Airlines Stockholm–Arlanda
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Volotea Seasonal: Alicante, Marseille, Nice, Venice

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Cargolux[28] Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Accra, Aguadilla, Almaty, Amman-Queen Alia, 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, 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, Ouagadougou, Petrolina, Prestwick, Quito, Recife, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, San Juan, Santiago de Chile, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Sharjah, Shenzhen,[29] Singapore, Taipei–Taoyuan, Tokyo–Narita, Tbilisi, Vienna, Zaragoza, Zhengzhou
China Airlines Cargo[30] Delhi, Dubai–International, Prague, Taipei–Taoyuan
China Southern Airlines[31] Shanghai–Pudong
Emirates SkyCargo[32] Dubai–Al Maktoum
Qatar Airways Cargo[33] Atlanta, Chicago–O'Hare, Doha, Mexico City, São Paulo–Guarulhos
Silk Way Airlines[34] Baku

Statistics
Busiest Routes from Luxembourg Airport (2019)
RankAirportPassengers 2019
1 Portugal, Porto Airport339,505
2 Portugal, Lisbon Airport311,867
3 Germany, Munich Airport216,312
4 Germany, Frankfurt Airport202,300
5 Netherlands, Amsterdam Airport184,711
Source:
Passengers [35]
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2019 2020
6 525 55 591 476 938 670 159 1 072 264 1 267 640 1 669 484 1 573 825 1 630 027 1 919 694 2 467 864 3 022 918 4 036 878 4 416 038 1 446 354
Movements, freight and night flights [35]
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2019 2020
International movements 39 738 46 586 61 189 65 446 57 537 59 785 62 260 69 577 79 101 80 557 43 635
Local movements 22 976 24 912 24 322 24 211 22 957 21 378 21 962 16 825 15 485 14 428 21 066
Freight (kg) 142 956 417 286 380 935 499 910 851 742 341 598 705 079 728 614 904 815 708 077 753 801 807 232 894 648 866 853 354 139 905 222 594
Night flights 764 886 1 069 1 550 1 256 1 554 1 991 2145 1951 1420
Movements by airplane category [35]
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2019 2020
0-2t Propeller 2 656 8 569 9 796 8 744 14 174 33 657 36 415 39 325 29 015 28 386 28 468 25 119 23 481 22 346 16 472 20 339
2-5t Propeller 338 136 313 1 553 982 1 794 1 802 1 549 1 919 2 028 1 955 5 834 5 158 4 167 3 932 5 170
>5t Propeller 608 2 688 4 016 6 853 7 927 6 945 7 554 12 266 18 043 22 660 19 536 7 581 11 034 14 817 21 862 9 173
Jet 390 2 952 6 683 8 833 9 271 13 737 16 588 35 552 51 123 40 821 43 701 52 719 30 020

Ground transportation

The airport can be reached via autoroute A1 (Luxembourg City - Trier) and is also connected with the surrounding areas by public bus transport routes 16, which also reaches Luxembourg railway station, and 29 as well as by a cross-border coach service to nearby Trier in Germany.[36]

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.[37]

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 2019". Lux-Airport s.a. 21 January 2020.
  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 2 September 2020.
  17. luxair.u - Online timetable retrieved 2 September 2020
  18. Liu, Jim. "Luxair W20 European network additions". Routesonline. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  19. "Rută nouă: Luxemburg – București cu Luxair din 30 noiembrie 2020". boardingpass.ro. 9 September 2020.
  20. Liu, Jim. "Luxair resumes Tunisia service in 1H21". Routesonline. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  21. "Luxair to launch Belgrade flights". EX-YU Aviation.
  22. https://www.luxair.lu/en
  23. https://www.luxair.lu/en
  24. "Luxair delays Podgorica launch". exyuaviation.com. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  25. airliners.de (German) 22 January 2021
  26. https://www.luxair.lu/en
  27. ryanair.com retrieved 25 October 2020
  28. cargolux.com - Network & Offices retrieved 6 March 2020
  29. https://theloadstar.com/cargolux-adds-shenzhen-to-its-global-network/
  30. cargo.china-airlines.com - Our Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  32. skycargo.com - Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  33. qrcargo.com - Route Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  34. silkway-airlines.com - Our Network retrieved 6 March 2020
  35. Wagner, Jean (14 January 2021). "global-for-the-public-2020" (PDF). data.public.lu. Administration de la navigation aérienne (ANA). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  36. lux-airport.lu - Getting to the airport retrieved 2 September 2020
  37. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  38. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 62M CCCP-86470 Luxembourg-Findel Airport (LUX)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  39. aviation-safety.net retrieved 2 September 2020
  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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