Frankfurt-Hahn Airport

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Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn

IATA: HHN – ICAO: EDFH
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn GmbH, Germany
Elevation AMSL 1610 ft / 491 m
Coordinates 49°56′54″N 7°15′51″E / 49.94833, 7.26417
Website www.hahn-airport.de
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
03/21 12,467 3,800 Asphalt
For the NATO Military use of this facility, see Hahn Air Base

Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (German: Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn) (IATA: HHN, ICAO: EDFH) is a commercial airport located 10 km (6.25 miles) from the town of Kirchberg and 20 km (12.5 miles) from the town of Simmern in the Rhein-Hunsrück district of Rhineland-Palatinate to the west of central Germany. Despite its name, the airport is situated over 120 km (75 miles) to the west of the city of Frankfurt (by road).

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: Hahn Air Base

During the Cold War Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was a frontline NATO facility known as Hahn Air Base. Hahn Air Base was the home of the United States Air Force 50th Fighter Wing (in various designations) for most of those years as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany (Zweibrücken, Ramstein, Sembach, Bitburg, Spangdahlem, and Rhein-Main) all within 100 km (62.5 miles) of each other. Beyond their location in the heart of US troop concentrations, these air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean region.

On 30 September 1993, most of Hahn Air Base was turned over to civil German authorities, the USAF retaining a small portion as a communications site.

Ryanair Boeing 737-800s at Frankfurt-Hahn.
Ryanair Boeing 737-800s at Frankfurt-Hahn.

The German government decided to turn the former airfield into a civil airport. One of the main investors in the development of the new Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was Fraport AG, which primarily runs Frankfurt International Airport, the aim being to reduce the amount of traffic using that airport.

Hahn charges its airline operators less due to its remote location. This has made the airport popular with low-cost carriers, especially Ryanair which uses the airport as a major hub.

Although its scheduled traffic is almost exclusively international flights, Hahn Airport does not carry the word "International" as part of its name.

[edit] Access

Hahn is served by a number of (mostly) private bus operators that run regular services to Frankfurt/Main (1h 45min, via Frankfurt International Airport), Cologne (2h 15min), Luxembourg (1h 45min) and a number of other cities in western Germany and the region.

The airport has no direct railway connection; there is a bus connection to the closest major railway stations in Mainz (1h 10min, 60 km/38 mi) and Koblenz (1h 5min). The bus services to other major cities (e.g. Frankfurt, Cologne, Koblenz) usually connect to that city's main railway station, too.

Hahn is fairly well reachable by road, though it is not directly connected to the Autobahn (Highway system). Parking and car rental are available at the airport.

[edit] Technical information

Frankfurt-Hahn Airport can handle airplanes up to the size of an Antonov An-124 or Boeing 747 cargo jet on a regular basis. The even larger Antonov An-225 cargo transporter has paid visits in 2002 and 2003.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

  • Belavia (Minsk)
  • Iceland Express (Reykjavik)
  • Ryanair (Alghero, Bari, Berlin-Schönefeld, Biarritz, Birmingham [begins 27 October], Bratislava, Budapest, Dublin, Edinburgh, Faro, Féz, Forlì, Fuerteventura, Gdańsk, Girona, Glasgow-Prestwick, Gothenburg-City, Granada, Jerez, Kaunas, Kerry, London-Stansted, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester [begins 26 October], Marrakech, Milan-Bergamo, Montpellier, Oslo-Torp, Palma de Mallorca, Pescara, Pisa, Porto, Reus, Riga, Rome-Ciampino, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Stockholm-Skavsta, Tampere, Tenerife, Trapani, Treviso, Valencia, Verona, Wrocław)
  • Vladivostok Air (Moscow-Vnukovo)
  • Wizz Air (Katowice)

[edit] Cargo airlines

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1989
  • Endicott, Judy G., USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Office of Air Force History
  • Fletcher, Harry R., Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989

[edit] External links