German Airports
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FRA is located primarily in the Frankfurt City Forest Preserve and comprises its own city neighborhood “Frankfurt-Flughafen” (Frankfurt Airport). It lies about 12 kilometers (km) (7.4 mi) from downtown Frankfurt. A Regional Train Station at Terminal 1 connects the airport with regular regional trains; also, the S8 and S9 S-Bahn Trains connect to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station). The ICE and IC Trains of the German Railways (DB) stop regularly at the “AIRTerminal Flughafen Fernbahnhof.” Arriving buses stop at their own Bus Station in front of the Arrival Halls of Terminals 1 and 2 (on Level 2). Connections to surrounding highways are through the A3 and A5 highways. Another connection is through the A67 Highway. The B43, which runs parallel to the A3, absorbs a large part of the traffic.
The largest airport in Germany is the one in Frankfurt am Main. After London-Heathrow (approx. 78 Million passengers), Paris-Charles de Gaulle (approx. 70 Million) and Amsterdam-Schiphol (approx. 68 Million), Frankfurt Airport bills itself as the fourth largest in Europe and 14th in the world, with 64.5 Million passengers. However, with a freight load of 2.2 million tons, it’s the largest freight airport in Europe and 8th in the world. The Airport boasts two large Terminals and an additional one which is reserved exclusively for Frequent Flyers and First-Class passengers of the Lufthansa German Airline, as well as the Swiss and Austrian state airlines. A Skyline People-Mover and a Bus Shuttle run between the Terminals. Connections to surrounding highways are through the A3 and A5 highways; they merge shortly before reaching the Frankfurt Airport at the “Frankfurter Kreuz” (intersection), which is the most congested in Europe with 310,000 vehicles per day.
DUS is ca. 8 km (4.9 mi) from the downtown, reachable through the S1 and S7 S-Bahn trains as well as through the A44 Highway.
MUC is ca. 30 km (18.6 mi) from downtown, reachable in ca. 40 min from the Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station) through the S1 and S8 S-Bahn Trains, as well as through the B11 and A53 Highways.
BER is located in Schönefeld ca. 20 km (12.4 mi) from downtown and is reachable through the S9 and S45 S-Bahn Trains, as well as through the A113 Highway. There are also passenger train connections and an Express Bus Line.
HAM is reachable from the city center via the S1 S-Bahn Train (ca. 25 minutes); also via the B433, A7 Highway and also via the night bus 606. A Shuttle Bus connects the airport with Lübeck and Kiel.
STR is located ca. 13 km (8 mi) from the city center in Filderstadt and is accessible via the S2 and S3 S-Bahn trains (27 min). It lies directly on the A8 and the B27. There are also bus connections to the surrounding cities.
CGN is ca. 14 km (8.7 mi) from Köln (Cologne) and 22 km from Bonn. It’s connected via the S13 and S19 S-Bahn trains as well as through German Railway (DB) trains and bus connections, and via the A59 and the L 84 highways.
HAJ is ca. 11 km (6.8 mi) from downtown and is reachable via the S1 S-Bahn train (15 min) and the 470 Bus line, and by car via the A322 and L 190 highways.
NUE is ca. 7 km (4.3 mi) from downtown and is reachable via the A3/E35 highway: take the Exit “Nürnberg-Nord”; it’s also reachable through the U2 Bus line (12 minutes).
BRE is only 3 km (1.9 mi) from the city center. It’s reachable via Bus 52 or the Straßenbahn (light rail streetcar) 6, as well as the A1, A27, A281, and the B 57.
| Long-Distance Bus Connections from the Airports |
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| Flixbus (bus company) |
| Eurolines (bus company) |
| Flibco (bus company) |
| Wiki Travel (list of bus connections) |
Additional airports are found at: Dortmund, Frankfurt-Hahn (misleading as it is 120 km from Frankfurt), Dresden, Münster-Osnabrück, Berlin-Schönefeld, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Weeze, Paderborn-Lippstadt, Friedrichshafen, Westerland/Sylt, Saarbrücken, Rostock-Laage, Erfurt-Weimar, Kassel-Calden, Heringsdorf, Mannheim-Neuostheim, Essen, Hof-Plauen, Würzburg, Zweibrücken, Emden, Heide-Büsum, Helgoland, Mönchengladbach, Norden-Norddeich, and Altenburg-Nobitz. For further info go to: List of German Airports
How to book a flight? Take a look at the “Frequently asked questions”.
Facts
German airports serve a total of about 200 million passengers per year. 83% of the flights are within Europe, with about 6 million to Spain. The other 17% originate in, or fly to, the other continents.
The proportion of flights that are domestic is about 10%, which is relatively small in comparison with comparable countries. In regular operation, more flights occur in July than in any other month, while the fewest occur in the winter months of January and February.
There are also arrangements for individual (private) flights; they have certain rules governing them, but these flights are infrequent because they are expensive. This applies to helicopters, airplanes, and drones. Certain airlines fly to domestic and international destinations, and comparable rules apply worldwide. Airboats and hot air balloons are available solely for local tours.
Germany has 40 public airports (27 of which are in northern Germany). 19 are so-called Regional Airports. A unique airport only for freight is located in Lahr, in southwestern Germany. Besides these, there are more than 300 private airports that only accommodate small planes.
Historical context
Germany is one of the countries with the oldest tradition of flying. Beginning with Hamburg in 1911, the cities of Bremen and Friedrichshafen (Graf Zeppelin) also opened airports before World War I (1914-18). Near the end of that war Lübeck-Blankensee (1917) and Sylt (1918) were built. Before the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship in 1933 there were already 7 airports. During the rearmament period from 1934 to 1938, 10 new airports were constructed while the older ones were expanded.