Rotterdam Airport

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Rotterdam Airport

IATA: RTM – ICAO: EHRD
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Schiphol Group
Serves Rotterdam
Elevation AMSL -4.6 m / -15 ft
Coordinates 51°57′25″N 4°26′14″E / 51.95694, 4.43722
Website www.rotterdam-airport.nl
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 2,260 7,414 Asphalt

Rotterdam Airport (formerly (Dutch): Vliegveld Zestienhoven), (IATA: RTM, ICAO: EHRD) located in Rotterdam, is The Netherlands' second largest regional airport after Eindhoven Airport (measured in passengers). From the airport, there are daily services to London, Hamburg, and Berlin and charter flights. The airport handled over 1.150.400 passengers in 2007.

Contents

[edit] History

After World War II it was decided by the Dutch government that a second national airport next to Schiphol was needed. The city of Rotterdam had an airport before the war, Waalhaven airport, however, this was destroyed to prevent it from being used by the Germans. Reconstruction of this airport wasn't realistic, so a new location had to be found.

A new location was found, the Zestienhoven polder. Construction of the airport started in August 1955 and the airport was officially opened in October 1956. Not long after the opening several large international airlines such as Swissair, Lufthansa and Air France started operating from Rotterdam. However, in the 1970's plans were made to either close or move to airport to make room for houses and the uncertain future caused a stagnation in the airport's growth and many operators left. For almost thirty years the airport faced closure, but the economic growth in the 1990's caused an increase in passengers again and in 2001 it was decided that the airport's current location would be maintained for at least 100 years.

[edit] Metroliner accident

In September 2005, a Fairchild Metroliner of Dynamic Airlines ran off the runway during take-off causing the landing gear to collapse, leaving the airplane badly damaged and obstructing the runway for a large part of the day. There were no casualties.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Several smaller aircraft in the snow on Rotterdam Airport
Several smaller aircraft in the snow on Rotterdam Airport

The following airlines frequently visit or operate from/to Rotterdam Airport:

[edit] Scheduled

  • InterSky (Friedrichshafen)
  • KLM
  • transavia.com (Alicante, Faro, Geneva, Girona, Grenoble, Innsbruck, Málaga, Nice, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino, Salzburg, Toulon)
  • VLM Airlines (Donegal [charter], Guernsey, Hamburg, Isle of Man, Jersey, London-City, Manchester)

[edit] Charter/Other

The airport is also used extensively by general aviation and there are several flying clubs and schools located on the airport.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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