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Memmingen Airport

(Redirected from Memmingen Air Base)

Memmingen Airport (IATA: FMM, ICAO: EDJA), also known as Allgäu Airport Memmingen, is an international airport in the town of Memmingerberg near Memmingen, in Bavaria, Germany. It is the smallest of the three commercial airports in the state after Munich Airport and Nuremberg Airport.

Memmingen Airport

Flughafen Memmingen
Summary
Airport typePublic
ServesMemmingen and the Allgäu
LocationMemmingerberg
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL633 m / 2,077 ft
Coordinates47°59′33″N 10°14′37″E / 47.99250°N 10.24361°E / 47.99250; 10.24361
Websitememmingen-airport.com
Map
FMM is located in Bavaria
FMM
FMM
Location of the airport in Bavaria
FMM is located in Germany
FMM
FMM
FMM (Germany)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 2,981 9,777 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers2,824,711 Increase+42%[1]
Sources: Statistics at ADV,[2]
AIP at German air traffic control.[3]

It was built in 1935 and housed the third group of Kampfgeschwader 255 until the airport was destroyed in 1944. From 1959 to 2003, it was the home base of German Air Force Jagdbombergeschwader 34 ("Allgäu"), which flew the F-84F Thunderstreak, from 1964 onward the F-104 Starfighter and from 1987 the Tornado IDS. Besides its conventional mission the squadron also had a nuclear mission, as part of NATOs nuclear deterrence until nuclear weapons were moved to other locations in Germany in 1996 and the airport was closed in 2003.

Since 2004, it has been serving Memmingen and the Allgäu as a civilian airport, though its catchment area covers a much wider range of places such as Augsburg, Lake Constance, and western Austria. It provides a low-cost alternative to Munich Airport. It serves as a base for Ryanair and features flights to European leisure and some metropolitan destinations and handled over 2.8 million passengers in 2023.[1]

Geography

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The Allgäu Airport Memmingen, is located in the town of Memmingerberg near Memmingen, the third-largest city in the Swabia region of Bavaria, Germany, about 3.8 km (2.4 mi) from the centre of Memmingen and 110 km (68 mi) from the city centre of Munich. It has the highest altitude of any commercial airport in Germany.[citation needed]

History

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The former military airfield in 2000 with the hangar visible in the background being today's passenger terminal.
 
Ryanair Boeing 737–800 at Memmingen Airport with the Bavarian Alps visible in the background
 
Aerial view of Memmingen Airport

Military use (20th century)

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A military airfield was built at Memmingerberg in 1935. Starting March 1937, it housed the third group of Kampfgeschwader 255,[4] later renamed Kampfgeschwader 51, flying Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111H-20 during World War II. The airport was destroyed during an attack in March 1944 and bombed again in July 1944 and April 1945.[5]

After World War II, the former airport served as a refugee camp. In 1954, the US allied forces declared it as a training ground. From 1955, the runway, halls and buildings were rebuilt, and the US Air Force used it for training flights from 1956 onward.[5]

From 1959 to 2003, it was the home base of German Air Force Jagdbombergeschwader 34 ("Allgäu"). The JaboG 34 first flew the F-84F Thunderstreak, from 1964 onward the F-104 Starfighter and from 1987 the PA 200 Tornado.[5] The squadron had a conventional and a nuclear mission, as part of NATOs nuclear deterrence: The "S" security squadron was required to guard the nuclear weapons depot and the ready-to-take-off, loaded alarm aircraft in the Quick Reaction Alert. The 7261st munitions squadron of the USAF was responsible for the weapons with over 100 soldiers stationed in their own barracks, housing estate, with their own care facilities and school. In light of post-Cold War reduction of troop sizes and military infrastructure, it was decided to close the military airfield end of 2000. On 31 December 2002, operations were officially suspended, in June 2003 it was decommissioned and on 31 March 2004 it was closed.[5] It was decided as a part of the proposed peace dividend to convert it to civilian uses.

2004–2009

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The airport was certified as a regional commercial airport on 20 July 2004, and began operation on 5 August 2004, but there were no scheduled or regular chartered flights.[citation needed] Scheduled flights to the 2005 Hanover Fair were cancelled due to lack of demand. In June 2005, the district of Oberallgäu granted initial finance of €480,000. A further sum of €200,000 was granted by the city of Memmingen after a popular vote on 25 September 2005.[citation needed] In 2006, scheduled flights to Dortmund and Rostock were planned but cancelled because the carrier became insolvent. In autumn 2006, Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter offered chartered flights to Dortmund for two months, during which only 100 passengers were carried.[citation needed]

In March 2007, a subsidy of €7,500,000 promised by the Bavarian government was approved by the European Commission.[citation needed]

Until 25 September 2008, it was known as Allgäu Airport/Memmingen.[citation needed]

On 28 June 2007,[6] TUIfly started offering domestic flights to Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne, and also flights to holiday destinations such as Palma de Mallorca, Heraklion, Naples, Rome, Venice, and Antalya. In March 2009, Ryanair announced seven new routes serving Memmingen starting May 2009.

Since 2010

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From May 2010, Ryanair operated 14 routes to and from Memmingen. Wizz Air also started serving Memmingen and has established eight routes since then.[citation needed] On 24 October 2013, Ryanair announced a new seasonal service to Shannon, while Palermo was added as a destination from the summer season of 2015.[citation needed] On 5 June 2014, the airport welcomed its five-millionth passenger.[6]

In December 2014, InterSky announced that it would be taking over the domestic flights from Memmingen to Berlin and Hamburg by 1 March 2015, as Germanwings had announced that it would cease the same services just a few days earlier.[7] In earlier years, these routes had already been unsuccessfully served by TUIfly, Air Berlin, and Avanti Air. In May 2015, InterSky announced that it would have a presence at Memmingen Airport by October 2015 consisting of one aircraft, adding a new route to Cologne and increasing frequencies on the already existing services to Berlin and Hamburg.[8] Later, that plan was changed to a triangular route of Friedrichshafen – Memmingen – Cologne/Bonn was to be established instead of basing an aircraft in Memmingen.[9] However, on 6 November 2015, InterSky ceased all operations due to financial difficulties, leaving Memmingen again without any domestic connections.[10]

For the 2015 summer schedule, Wizz Air announced that it would expand its commitment and serve the cities of Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bulgarian city of Sofia and the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.[11]

In March 2017, Ryanair announced plans to establish its second Bavarian base (after Nuremberg Airport) in Memmingen from October 2017 consisting of one aircraft and seven additional routes.[12] On 31 March 2019, another Ryanair aircraft was stationed in Memmingen and the workforce was increased to 70 employees.[13] In December 2017, Memmingen Airport received its safety certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency.[14] 2017 has been announced the first business year in which the airport achieved a profit at year end since the start of public services.[15] In August 2018, the airport announced the schedule for its planned expansion which will take place from September 2018 until 2020. While the runway will be widened and its guidance system and lightning upgraded, the luggage facilities will see an expansion.[16]

On 6 December 2018, the 10 millionth passenger was welcomed.[17] In early 2019 the planned expansion works began to widen the runway and expand the handling facilities with the airport being closed for several weeks in September of the same year.[18] The widened and refurbished runway has been inaugurated on 1 October 2019.[19]

On 20 October 2022, Ryanair announced it would base an additional aircraft at Memmingen Airport, making a total of three Boeing 737 aircraft based at the airport.[20] This would boost the number of destinations Ryanair serves from Memmingen to twenty-two.[21]

In 2023, the airport served over 2.8 million passengers, a sharp increase of 42% over 2022 and an all-time record for the airport.[1] Following this news, the airport's management announced plans to expand the main terminal.[22]

Ownership

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It is operated by Flughafen Memmingen GmbH, a limited partnership of mostly local, medium-sized companies and public shares.[citation needed]

Facilities

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Check-in area inside the main hall, the interior has since been rearranged to accommodate longer queues and bag drop machines.
 
Apron and ATC tower

Terminal

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Memmingen Airport has one passenger terminal building equipped with 10 check-in counters and overall 13 departure gates used for Schengen flights (Zone A, Gates 1–7) on the ground floor and non-Schengen flights (Zone B, G22-25) as well as a variable Gate 8/26 on the upper floor.[23] The building has no jet bridges, therefore walk-boarding and bus-boarding is used. There is also a duty-free shop, as well as some food outlets and car-hire facilities at the airport. The terminal has a capacity of two million passengers per year.[23] In October 2021, a vastly expanded arrivals hall and baggage claim area was inaugurated[24] followed by another annex containing new gates 6 and 7 in 2024.

Runway and apron

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Memmingen Airport has an ILS Category 1 for runway 24 and is equipped with NDB/DME and GPS RNAV. Originally, the runway was only 30 metres (98 ft) wide with accordingly narrow taxiways due to its former use as a facility for jet fighter aircraft. However, an expansion to the international standard 45 metres (148 ft) had been granted in 2016[25] and was completed in September 2019.[19] Simultaneously, the runway was equipped with new LED lighting, while an upgrade of the ILS for direction 06 is under preparation.[19]

Two aprons provide parking spaces for six mid-sized aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 at a time as well as some smaller business jets. There is an additional smaller apron for general aviation aircraft located on the other side of the runway.

Airlines and destinations

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The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Memmingen Airport:[26]

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Seasonal charter: Heraklion,[27] Rhodes[28]
Avanti Air Seasonal charter: Calvi[29]
Corendon Airlines Hurghada
Seasonal: Antalya
Eurowings Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca[30]
Freebird Airlines Seasonal charter: Hurghada[31][32]
GP Aviation Charter: Pristina[33]
Ryanair[34][35] Alicante, Banja Luka, Dublin, Faro, Fuerteventura, Kraków, London–Stansted, Málaga, Malta,[36] Manchester,[37] Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Porto, Riga, Rome–Fiumicino,[38][39] Sarajevo,[40] Sofia, Tangier,[41] Tel Aviv,[42] Thessaloniki, Tenerife–South, Valencia, Zagreb[43]
Seasonal: Alghero, Brindisi, Chania, Corfu, Dubrovnik,[44] Girona, Gran Canaria, Lamezia Terme, Lanzarote,[45] Naples,[36] Pescara, Pisa, Pula,[46] Rhodes,[47] Santiago de Compostela, Zadar
Trade Air Charter: Pristina[48]
Wizz Air Belgrade,[49] Bucharest–Otopeni, Budapest (begins 17 December 2024),[50] Catania, Chișinău (begins 16 December 2024),[51] Cluj-Napoca, Iași,[52] Kutaisi, Niš, Ohrid, Podgorica, Pristina,[26] Rome–Fiumicino,[53] Sibiu, Skopje, Sofia, Suceava, Timișoara, Tirana, Tuzla, Varna

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at FMM airport. See Wikidata query.
Passengers
2008 462,000[54]
2009   810,000[54]
2010   911,609[55]
2011   764,782[55]
2012   869,937[56]
2013   838,971[56]
2014   750,000[57]
2015   883,490[58]
2016   996,714[59]
2017   1,179,875[60]
2018   1,492,553[59]
2019   1,722,764[61]
2020   690,780[62]
2021   980,503[63]
2022   1,991,208[2]
2023   2,824,711[64]

Ground transportation

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An Allgäu Airport Express coach in Munich

Road

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The airport is located close to the A96 motorway (Memmingen Ost exit) and its intersection with the A7 motorway. The A96 leads directly to Munich, Lake Constance, and Switzerland, while the A7 leads to Ulm, Northern Germany, and Austria. Taxis as well as several car-hire companies are available at counters in the terminal building.[65]

Coach

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There are dedicated coach services from Memmingen Airport directly to Munich (journey time approx. 80 minutes) as well as long-distance coaches operated by Flixbus to several cities within Germany and neighbouring countries.[66]

Bus and rail

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Local bus lines 2 and 810/811 connect the airport within a 15-minute drive with Memmingen town centre, including Memmingen railway station, from where frequent Deutsche Bahn services depart for Munich (journey time approx. 1:00) and Augsburg (journey time approx. 1:10), as well as some EuroCity long-distance Swiss Federal Railways services to Bregenz and Zurich.[65]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c memmingen-airport.de (German) 4 January 2024
  2. ^ a b "ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2022" (PDF; 919 KB). adv.aero (in German). Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  3. ^ "AIP VFR online". dfs.de. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  4. ^ Henry L. deZeng IV (June 2014). "Luftwaffe Airfields 1935–45 Luftwaffe Airfields 1935–45 Germany (1937 Borders)" (PDF).
  5. ^ a b c d "Geschichte Fliegerhorst Memmingen". 15 February 2008. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Allgäu Airport begrüßt den fünfmillionsten Passagier – Allgäu Airport". allgaeu-airport.de. 5 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Memmingen – Intersky statt Germanwings". 22 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Intersky kehrt nach Köln zurück". 18 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Intersky verlinkt Friedrichshafen mit Memmingen". 16 June 2015.
  10. ^ austrianaviation.net – "InterSky is grounded" Archived 8 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine (German) 6 November 2015
  11. ^ "Memmingen erhält neue Verbindung ins Baltikum".
  12. ^ antenne.de – "Allgäu Airport becomes second Bavarian Ryanair base" (German) 21 March 2017
  13. ^ "Ryanair stationiert zweite Maschine am Allgäu Airport – Memmingen / Unterallgäu – B4B Schwaben".
  14. ^ allgaeu-airport.de – Flughafen erhält EASA-Zertifikat Archived 7 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine (German) 21 December 2017
  15. ^ aerotelegraph.com – Flughafen Memmingen schreibt erstmals Gewinn (German) 16 August 2018
  16. ^ airliners.de – Zeitplan für Memmingen-Ausbau abgesteckt (German) 2 August 2018
  17. ^ "Zehn Millionen Passagiere am Flughafen Memmingen". 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  18. ^ flymemmingen.de Archived 4 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 24 August 2019
  19. ^ a b c flugrevue.de – "Allgäu Airport opened again" (German) 1 October 2019
  20. ^ "Start Winterflugplan & Dritte Ryanair Maschine".
  21. ^ "Ryanair stationiert dritte Maschine in Memmingen".
  22. ^ "Allgäu Airport mit Passagier-Boom: Memminger Flughafen verspricht klimaneutrales Fliegen – aber geht das überhaupt?". 18 January 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Daten & Fakten | Allgäu Airport". Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  24. ^ allgauer-zeitung.de (German) 1 October 2021
  25. ^ all-in.de – Längere Betriebszeiten und Verbreiterung der Startbahn: Gericht weist Klagen gegen Allgäu Airport ab 14 July 2015
  26. ^ a b allgaeu-airport.com – Destinations from Memmingen Airport retrieved 1 April 2024
  27. ^ "Memmingen: With TUI to Heraklion from Pentecost". 1 December 2022.
  28. ^ memmingen-airport.de – Schedule retrieved 1 April 2024
  29. ^ "Sommer-Charter 2022: Avanti Air fliegt ab Graz, Klagenfurt und Memmingen". 13 January 2022.
  30. ^ "Eurowings fliegt von Memmingen nach Mallorca". 4 April 2022.
  31. ^ "Ab 4. November ins ägyptische Ferienzentrum Hurghada". 18 September 2023.
  32. ^ https://www.airliners.de/freebird-verbindet-memmingen-hurghada/ [bare URL]
  33. ^ "GP Aviation Expands Prishtina Network in Nov/Dec 2023". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  34. ^ "ryanair.com". ryanair.com. [not specific enough to verify]
  35. ^ "Ryanair NS23 Network Additions Summary – 26MAR23". Aeroroutes.
  36. ^ a b aerotelegraph.com – "New Ryanair summer routes from Memmingen" (German) 17 November 2022
  37. ^ "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA".
  38. ^ "Ryanai apre 16 nuove rotte a Roma. Baserà un altro aereo". 12 January 2023.
  39. ^ "Ryanair starts Memmingen – Rome earlier" (in German). 3 March 2023.
  40. ^ "Ryanair unveils Sarajevo routes". 28 November 2023.
  41. ^ "Ryanair Morocco NS24 Network Expansion". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  42. ^ "Ryanair announces resumption of flights to Tel Aviv from February 1". i24news.tv. i24news. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  43. ^ "Ryanair adds over 100.000 seats on Zagreb flights this winter". ExYUAviation.
  44. ^ "Ryanair: Dubrovnik – Memmingen".
  45. ^ "Ryanair NW22 Network Additions Summary – 09DEC22". Aeroroutes.
  46. ^ "Ryanair schedules additional new Croatia flights". 6 December 2023.
  47. ^ "Ryanair NS24 Network Additions – 10DEC23".
  48. ^ "Deutschland: Trade Air mit drei weiteren Kosovo-Strecken". 27 February 2024.
  49. ^ "Wizz Air NW24 Network Additions – 14JUL24".
  50. ^ "Flughafen Memmingen fliegt ab Dezember noch ein neues Ziel in Osteuropa an".
  51. ^ https://boardingpass.ro/wizz-air-redeschide-baza-de-la-chisinau-si-redeschide-opt-rute-aeriene/
  52. ^ "Wizz Air: Patru rute noi din Iași și Craiova din decembrie 2022". 18 August 2022.
  53. ^ airliners.de – "Wizz Air connects Memmingen with Rome" (German) 11 January 2023
  54. ^ a b "Flughafen Memmingen: 75 Prozent mehr Passagiere". 7 January 2010.
  55. ^ a b "Bilanz 2011: Allgäu Airport legt eine Wachstumspause ein – Allgäu Airport". allgaeu-airport.de. 24 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  56. ^ a b "Bilanz 2013: Bessere Auslastung, leichter Rückgang bei den Fluggastzahlen – Allgäu Airport". allgaeu-airport.de. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  57. ^ "Flughafen Memmingen verbucht zweistelliges Minus bei Passagierzahlen".
  58. ^ austrianaviation.net – Memmingen mit knapp 18% Passagierplus (German) 5 January 2016
  59. ^ a b GmbH, Südwest Presse Online-Dienste (5 January 2017). "Airport: Allgäu Airport ständig im Aufwind".
  60. ^ br.de – "Over one million passengers at Allgäu Airport Memmingen 8 January 2017
  61. ^ allgaeu-airport.de Archived 28 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine (German) 3 January 2020
  62. ^ "Corona trübt die Bilanz 2020 – Flughafen dennoch verhalten optimistisch – Flughafen Memmingen". allgaeu-airport.de. 18 January 2021.
  63. ^ "Memmingen Airport close to the one Million". EN – Memmingen Airport. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  64. ^ "Flughafen Memmingen: 2023 war ein gutes Jahr – 2024 könnte auch gut werden | airportzentrale.de".
  65. ^ a b "With bus and train to Memmingen Airport". allgaeu-airport.com.
  66. ^ allgaeu-airport.com – Public transportation retrieved 1 May 2021
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