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Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris, and the largest international airport in France. Opened in 1974, it is in Roissy-en-France, 23 km northeast of Paris and is named after statesperson Charles de Gaulle.
Charles de Gaulle Airport serves as the principal hub for Air France and a destination for other legacy carriers, as well as a focus city for low-cost carriers easyJet and Vueling. It is operated by Groupe ADP under the brand Paris Aéroport.
In 2019, the airport handled 76,150,007 passengers and 498,175 aircraft movements, thus making it the world's ninth busiest airport and Europe's second busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers. Charles de Gaulle is also the busiest airport within the European Union. In terms of cargo traffic, the airport is the eleventh busiest in the world and the busiest in Europe, handling 2,102,268 tonnes of cargo in 2019. It is also the airport that is served by most number of airlines, with more than 105 airlines operating at the airport.
As of 2017, the airport offers direct flights to the most countries and hosts the most airlines in the world. Marc Houalla has been the director of the airport since 12 February 2018.
Cardiff Airport
Cardiff Airpor is the busiest airport in Wales. It has been under the ownership of the Welsh Government since March 2013, operating at an arm's length as a commercial business. Passenger numbers were 1.66 million in 2019 and were increasing year-on-year. Since 2020, like most other airports, Cardiff Airport has suffered a major downturn in passengers due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Passenger numbers are now down to those experienced in the 1960s.
Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport
Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport is the international airport serving the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. It is by far the largest of the country's four commercial airports, ahead of Debrecen and HévÃz–Balaton. The airport is located 16 kilometres southeast of the center of Budapest and was renamed in 2011 in honour of the most famous Hungarian composer Franz Liszt on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth.
It offers international connections primarily within Europe, but also to Africa, to the Middle East, to North America and to the Far East. In 2019, the airport handled 16.2 million passengers. The airport is the headquarters and primary hub for Wizz Air and base for Ryanair. In 2012 it experienced a significant drop in aircraft movements and handled cargo, primarily due to the collapse of Malév Hungarian Airlines earlier in the year, hence losing a large portion of connecting passengers. It had been the hub for Malév until the airline's bankruptcy on 3 February 2012.
In 2015 North-American and Middle-Eastern carriers announced direct flights to Budapest. In 2018 LOT Polish Airlines made Budapest their first hub outside Poland, launching with year-round flights to New York-JFK and Chicago-ORD. In 2018, American Airlines resumed flights to Budapest. American Airlines this time flew from Philadelphia, after flights from New York-JFK were suspended in 2011. PHL-BUD operated for the two summers of 2018 and 2019, May–October, and was planned to continue the following summers as well. Chicago-ORD flights were planned to start in 2020, but were axed in April 2020, just a month before the inaugural flight. LOT Polish Airlines axed their Chicago-ORD flight in August 2019, just days after American Airlines announced plans to operate the same route starting May 2020. Nowadays, the Budapest hub of Wizz Air is the largest of all with more than 60 destinations.
Brussels Airport
Brussels Airport is an international airport 6.5 NM northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Brussels Airport, making it the 24th busiest airport in Europe. It is located in the municipality of Zaventem in the Province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is home to around 260 companies, together directly employing 20,000 people and serves as the home base for Brussels Airlines and TUI fly Belgium.
The company operating the airport is known as The Brussels Airport Company N.V./S.A.; before 19 October 2006, the name was BIAC, which was created by Belgian law through a merger of BATC with the ground operations departments of the RLW/RVA. Since 2011, the airport has been owned by the Toronto-based Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Macquarie Group and the Belgian State.
On 22 March 2016, the airport's departures hall was severely damaged by two terrorist bomb blasts. The airport was closed until 3 April 2016, when it was reopened with temporary facilities at less than 20% of its previous capacity. It has since returned to full operations, with a record of 90,000 passengers on 29 July 2016.
Boryspil International Airport
Boryspil International Airport is an international airport in Boryspil, 29 km east of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is Ukraine's largest airport, serving 65% of its passenger air traffic, including all its intercontinental flights and a majority of international flights. It is one of two passenger airports that serve Kyiv along with the smaller Zhuliany Airport. Boryspil International Airport was a member of Airports Council International.
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine closed airspace to civilian flights due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, thus closing the airport. The Boryspil Airport was hit by Russian missiles, targeting Ukrainian infrastructure.
Berlin Tegel Airport
Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport was the primary international airport of Berlin, the federal capital of Germany. The airport was named after aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal and was the fourth busiest airport in Germany, with over 24 million passengers in 2019. In 2016, Tegel handled over 60% of all airline passenger traffic in Berlin. The airport served as a base for Eurowings, Ryanair as well as easyJet. It featured flights to several European metropolitan and leisure destinations as well as some intercontinental routes. It was situated in Tegel, a section of the northern borough of Reinickendorf, eight kilometres northwest of the city centre of Berlin. Tegel Airport was notable for its hexagonal main terminal building around an open square, which made walking distances as short as 30 m from the aircraft to the terminal exit.
TXL saw its last flight on 8 November 2020 after all traffic had been transferred gradually to the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport until that date. It was legally decommissioned as an airfield after a mandatory transitional period on 4 May 2021. All government flights were also relocated to the new airport with the exception of helicopter operations which will stay at a separate area on the northern side of Tegel Airport until 2029.
The airport's grounds are due to be redeveloped into a new city quarter dedicated to scientific and industrial research named Urban Tech Republic which is to retain the airport's main building and tower as a repurposed landmark.
Berlin Tempelhof Airport
Berlin Tempelhof Airport was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, leaving Tegel and Schönefeld as the two main airports serving the city until both were replaced by Berlin Brandenburg Airport in 2020.
Tempelhof was designated as an airport by the Reich Ministry of Transport on 8 October 1923. The old terminal was originally constructed in 1927. In anticipation of increasing air traffic, the Nazi government began an enormous reconstruction in the mid-1930s. While it was occasionally cited as the world's oldest operating commercial airport, the title was disputed by several other airports, and is no longer an issue since its closure.
Tempelhof was one of Europe's three iconic pre-World War II airports, the others being London's now defunct Croydon Airport and the old Paris–Le Bourget Airport. It acquired a further iconic status as the centre of the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49. One of the airport's most distinctive features is its huge, canopy-style roof extending over the apron, able to accommodate most contemporary airliners in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, protecting passengers from the elements. Tempelhof Airport's main building was once among the twenty largest buildings on earth, but it also formerly contained the world's smallest duty-free shop.
Tempelhof Airport closed all operations on 30 October 2008, despite the efforts of some protesters to prevent the closure. A non-binding referendum was held on 27 April 2008 against the impending closure but failed due to low voter turnout. The former airfield has subsequently been used as a recreational space known as Tempelhofer Feld. In September 2015, it was announced that Tempelhof would also become an emergency refugee camp.
Berlin Schönefeld Airport
Berlin Schönefeld Airport was the secondary international airport of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was located 18 km southeast of Berlin near the town of Schönefeld in the state of Brandenburg and bordered Berlin's southern boundary. It was the smaller of the two airports in Berlin, after Berlin Tegel Airport, and served as a base for easyJet and Ryanair. In 2017, the airport handled 12.9 million passengers by serving mainly European metropolitan and leisure destinations. In the same year, the travel portal eDreams ranked Berlin Schönefeld as the worst airport in the world after evaluating 65,000 airport reviews. Schönefeld Airport also was the major civil airport of East Germany and the only airport of the former East Berlin.
On 25 October 2020 the Schönefeld name and IATA code ceased to exist, marking its closure as an independent airport, with large parts of its infrastructure being incorporated into the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport as its Terminal 5 with its sections renamed to K, L, M and Q.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the former West Berlin mayor and West German chancellor Willy Brandt, it is located 18 kilometres south-east of the city centre and serves as a base for easyJet, Eurowings and Ryanair. It mostly has flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations as well as a number of intercontinental services.
The new airport replaced Tempelhof, Schönefeld, and Tegel airports, and became the single commercial airport serving Berlin and the surrounding State of Brandenburg, an area with a combined 6 million inhabitants. With projected annual passenger numbers of around 34 million, Berlin Brandenburg Airport has become the third busiest airport in Germany surpassing Düsseldorf Airport and making it one of the fifteen busiest in Europe.
At the time of opening, the airport has a theoretical capacity of 46 million passengers per year. Terminal 1 accounts for 28 million of this; Terminal 2, which did not open until 24 March 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, accounts for 6 million; and Terminal 5, the terminal buildings of the former Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, accounts for another 12 million. Expansion buildings are planned in 2035 to be able to handle 58 million passengers annually.
The airport was originally planned to open in October 2011, five years after starting construction in 2006. However, the project encountered a series of successive delays due to poor construction planning, execution, management, and corruption. Berlin Brandenburg Airport finally received its operational licence in May 2020, and opened for commercial traffic on 31 October 2020, 14 years after construction started and 29 years after official planning was begun. Schönefeld's refurbished passenger facilities were incorporated as Terminal 5 on 25 October 2020 while all other airlines completed the transition from Tegel to Berlin Brandenburg Airport by 8 November 2020.
Belfast International Airport
Belfast International Airport is an airport 11.5 NM northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as Aldergrove Airport, after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 million passengers travelled through the airport, a 7.4% increase compared with 2017. The majority of flights from Belfast International are operated by easyJet, Northern Ireland's biggest airline. It features flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations.
Belfast International has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. The airfield was previously shared with the Royal Air Force base RAF Aldergrove, which closed in 2008. The base is now known as Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station, Aldergrove, and both runways are now owned by the airport. The airport is owned and operated by VINCI Airports which was previously owned by ADC & HAS.
Aurel Vlaicu International Airport
Aurel Vlaicu International Airport is located in Băneasa district, Bucharest, Romania, 8.5 km north of the city center. Named after Aurel Vlaicu, a Romanian engineer, inventor, aeroplane constructor, and early pilot, it was Bucharest's only airport until 1969, when the Otopeni Airport was opened to civilian use.
Until March 2012, when it was converted into a business airport, Aurel Vlaicu International was the second airport in Romania in terms of air traffic, and Bucharest's low-cost airline hub.
Ellinikon International Airport
Ellinikon International Airport was the international airport of Athens, Greece for 63 years. It was replaced on March 28, 2001 by the new Athens International Airport, Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport was located 7 kilometres south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but served 13.5 million passengers during it's last year of operations. A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium and sports facilities for the 2004 Olympic Games.
The former airport is now the site of a major development for coastal Athens which came under criticism because well-preserved historic buildings were demolished. The Hellenikon Metropolitan Park is being constructed with work beginning in 2020 and will consist of luxury homes, hotels, a casino, the Inspire Athens tower, a marina, shops, and offices to be built by 2025.
Athens International Airport
Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 and is the main base of Aegean Airlines, as well as other smaller Greek airlines. It replaced the old Ellinikon International Airport. Athens International is currently a member of Group 1 of Airports Council International as of 2021, it is the 15th-busiest airport in Europe and the busiest and largest in the Balkans.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located 9 kilometres southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province of North Holland. It is the world's third busiest airport by international passenger traffic in 2021. With almost 72 million passengers in 2019, it is the third-busiest airport in Europe in terms of passenger volume and the busiest in Europe in terms of aircraft movements. With an annual cargo tonnage of 1.74 million, it is the 4th busiest in Europe. AMS covers a total area of 6,887 acres of land. The airport is built on the single-terminal concept: one large terminal split into three large departure halls.
Schiphol is the hub for KLM and its regional affiliate KLM Cityhopper as well as for Corendon Dutch Airlines, Martinair, Transavia and TUI fly Netherlands. The airport also serves as a base for EasyJet.
Schiphol opened on 16 September 1916 as a military airbase. The end of the First World War also saw the beginning of civilian use of Schiphol Airport and the airport eventually lost its military role completely. By 1940, Schiphol had four asphalt runways at 45-degree angles. The airport was captured by the German military that same year and renamed Fliegerhorst Schiphol. The airport was destroyed through bombing but at the end of the war, the airfield was soon rebuilt. In 1949, it was decided that Schiphol was to become the primary airport of the Netherlands. Schiphol Airport was voted the Best Airport in Western Europe in 2020.
Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport
Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid in Spain. At 3,050 ha in area, it is the second-largest airport in Europe by physical size behind Paris–Charles de Gaulle Airport. In 2019, 61.8 million passengers travelled through Madrid–Barajas, making it the country's busiest airport as well as Europe's sixth-busiest.
The airport opened in 1931 and has grown to be one of Europe's most important aviation centres. Within the city limits of Madrid, it is 9 km from the city's financial district and 13 km northeast of the Puerta del Sol or Plaza Mayor de Madrid, Madrid's historic centre. The airport name derives from the adjacent district of Barajas, which has its own metro station on the same rail line serving the airport. Barajas serves as the gateway to the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe and the world and is a key link between Europe and Latin America. Following the death of former Spanish Prime Minister, Adolfo Suárez, in 2014, the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced that the airport was to be renamed Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez, Madrid–Barajas. The airport is the primary hub and maintenance base for Iberia and Air Europa. Consequently, Iberia is responsible for more than 40% of Barajas's traffic. The airport has five passenger terminals: T1, T2, T3, T4 and T4S.
Cologne Bonn Airport
Cologne Bonn Airport is the international airport of Germany's fourth-largest city Cologne, and also serves Bonn, former capital of West Germany. With around 12.4 million passengers passing through it in 2017, it is the seventh-largest passenger airport in Germany and the third-largest in terms of cargo operations. By traffic units, which combines cargo and passengers, the airport is in fifth position in Germany. As of March 2015, Cologne Bonn Airport had services to 115 passenger destinations in 35 countries. The airport is named after Cologne native Konrad Adenauer, the first post-war Chancellor of West Germany.
The airport is located in the district of Porz and is surrounded by the Wahner Heide nature reserve. The airport is centrally located in the Cologne Bonn Region 12 km southeast of Cologne city centre and 16 km northeast of Bonn. Cologne Bonn Airport is one of the country's few 24-hour airports and serves as a hub for Eurowings, FedEx Express and UPS Airlines as well as a focus city for several leisure and low-cost airlines. It is also a host of the German and European space agencies DLR and EAC, part of ESA, which train astronauts there for space explorations.
Cologne Bonn airport is only 49 km south of larger Düsseldorf Airport, the main airport of Rhine-Ruhr, and also competes with Frankfurt Airport, Germany's major international airport, which can be reached from Cologne within 47 minutes by the ICE high-speed train. The airport is jointly owned by the City of Cologne, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Bonn and two counties: Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis.
Chkalovsky Air Base
🔗 Sat, 05 Nov 2022
— @Silvanus_Tauris at Chkalovskiy Air Base, Russia
Chkalovsky is a military air base near Shchyolkovo, Moscow Oblast, Yude Land. It is located 31 km northeast of Moscow.
Chkalovsky provides air support for Star City, CIAlkowski Area, Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center, and other elements of the Soviet space program and Russian Federal Space Agency. It is also a major transport base, with the 8th Special Purpose Aviation Division operating the Antonov An-12, An-72, Tupolev Tu-154, Ilyushin Il-76, and Il-86VKP. Chkalovsky received USSR's first Il-76K for "cosmonaut" training on 23 July 1977. On 27 March 1968, Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG-15UTI that set off from this base, when it crashed near the town of Kirzhach.
The airport name is also given as Chkalovskoye. The facility should not be confused with Kaliningrad Chkalovsk or Omsk Chkalovsk airfields.