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Dortmund Airport

Coordinates: 51°31′06″N 007°36′44″E / 51.51833°N 7.61222°E / 51.51833; 7.61222
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Dortmund Airport

Flughafen Dortmund
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorFlughafen Dortmund GmbH
ServesDortmund and the eastern Rhine-Ruhr area, Germany
Focus city forWizz Air
Elevation AMSL130 m / 427 ft
Coordinates51°31′06″N 007°36′44″E / 51.51833°N 7.61222°E / 51.51833; 7.61222
Websitedortmund-airport.de
Map
DTM is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
DTM
DTM
Location of airport in North Rhine-Westphalia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 2,000 6,562 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers2,934,516 Increase13,5%
Aircraft movements36,258 Increase25,3%
Cargo (metric tons)0 tonnes Steady+/-0,0%
Sources: Statistics at ADV.[1],
AIP at German air traffic control.[2]

Dortmund Airport (IATA: DTM, ICAO: EDLW) is a minor international airport located 10 km (6.2 mi) east[2] of Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It serves the eastern Rhine-Ruhr area, the largest urban agglomeration in Germany, and is mainly used for low-cost and leisure charter flights. In 2023 the airport served nearly 3 million passengers. The nearest major international airport is Düsseldorf Airport approx. 70 km (43 mi) to the southwest.

History

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Terminal interior

Early years

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The airport, originally located in the suburb of Brackel, was first served by commercial flights in 1925 by Aero Lloyd, which operated flights to Paris. By the business year 1927/1928, service had expanded to 2,589 commercial flights annually. During World War II the airport was used as a German air base, and was subsequently used by the British Royal Air Force. Service to Dortmund was not recommenced when German commercial air service was restarted in 1955. In 1960, the civil airfield was relocated to Dortmund-Wickede. The old airport was abandoned and occupied by British forces until the 1990s.

Little service

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Over the next decades Düsseldorf Airport and Cologne Bonn Airport were the dominant commercial airports in the Rhine-Ruhr Area. Additionally Hannover Airport also covered some of the air travel needs of this region. Furthermore, the 257-km (160-mile) Sauerlandlinie opened in the late 1960s, connecting Dortmund with Frankfurt Airport in under two hours by car.

Commercial service was restored in 1979 with daily flights to Munich by Reise- und Industrieflug. Nuremberg and Stuttgart followed shortly afterwards. Following German Reunification in 1990, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, and London were added to the flight schedule. Reise- und Industrieflug and Nürnberger Flugdienst merged in 1990 and Eurowings was formed, which is still based in Dortmund.

Construction was started in 1998, and completed in 2000 on a new replacement terminal. This multi-level terminal prepared the airport for its resurgence.

Resurgence

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From late 2000 onwards, Dortmund Airport has experienced a drastic increase in air traffic. In the 1990s weekly service had been generally restricted to a few turboprop flights to destinations within Germany, as well as occasional charter flights to warm-weather destinations. Since 2000, several new airlines have commenced service to Dortmund, many with mainline jets. Most of the air traffic today is by low cost airlines operating Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 family series aircraft to warm-weather destinations and business centres.

The first mass carrier at Dortmund Airport was Air Berlin, which began flights to London, Milan, and Vienna in 2002, supplementing its leisure routes to the Mediterranean. easyJet made Dortmund a hub in 2004, and Germanwings followed in 2007. Air Berlin ceased most non-leisure routes from Dortmund in 2005, but easyJet has taken over in this role. However, easyJet cancelled four of five destinations in 2012.[3] To this day the relatively popular London-Luton route is the only one served by easyJet.

Since 2006 it has been carrying the name "Dortmund Airport 21", in reference to the fact that Dortmund's utility company, DSW21, is its major shareholder. The airport's master plan consists of the following elements: Increasing normal operating hours by one hour at night (to 23:00h), with an additional one-hour window in the morning and at night for exceptions, lengthening the runway to 2,800 m (9,200 ft), expanding the terminal and its infrastructure, improving the motorway connections and directly connecting the airport to mass transit.

At one time Eurowings had its headquarters, the Dortmund Administrative Center (Verwaltungsstandort Dortmund), at the airport.[4] It has been relocated to Düsseldorf in 2010.

In October 2014, Air Berlin announced it was leaving Dortmund Airport entirely, cancelling their last remaining summer seasonal route to Palma de Mallorca.[5] The airline had shut down several leisure routes from the airport in 2012.[6]

As with easyJet in the 2000s, other low-cost carriers started opening routes from Dortmund Airport. Ryanair has progressively added new routes from Dortmund, mostly to destinations around the Mediterranean and the UK. At one point, Spanish low-cost airline Vueling offered flights to Barcelona, but they have been discontinued despite strong demand. However, Wizz Air has been the most significant contributor to the airport's resurgence. The Hungarian low-cost airline began servicing the airport in the mid 2000s by operating several routes to Eastern Europe, in large parts due to the Ruhr's significant Slavic community. In June 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wizzair announced that Dortmund Airport would become its 33rd base, the first in Germany. However, a year later, Wizz Air announced the closure of their Dortmund base which led to the termination of few routes.[7]

In October 2024, Ryanair announced the termination of all routes at three German airports including Dortmund, citing high operational costs.[8] In December 2024, Eurowings also announced to downsize its operations in Dortmund, terminating the year-round service to Munich Airport as well as not resuming four seasonal destinations.[9]

Airlines and destinations

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The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Dortmund Airport:[10]

AirlinesDestinations
Condor Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca[11]
Dan Air Bacău[12][13]
Eurowings Munich (ends 31 March 2025),[14] Palma de Mallorca[9]
Seasonal: Catania,[9] Kavala,[9] Split,[9] Thessaloniki[9]
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[15][16]
Ryanair Katowice, Kraków,[17] London–Stansted,[18] Palma de Mallorca
SunExpress Izmir
Seasonal: Antalya, Zonguldak[19]
Trade Air Seasonal charter: Pristina[20]
Wizz Air[21] Banja Luka, Belgrade, Brașov,[22] Bucharest–Otopeni, Budapest, Chișinău,[23] Cluj-Napoca, Craiova (resumes 2 June 2024)[24],Gdańsk, Iași, Katowice, Kutaisi, Ohrid, Podgorica, Pristina, Rome–Fiumicino, Sibiu, Skopje, Sofia, Suceava, Timișoara, Tirana, Tuzla, Varna,[25] Vilnius, Warsaw-Chopin (begins 10 June 2025),[26] Yerevan[27]

Statistics

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Direct flight destinations from Dortmund Airport (Dec 2024)[28][29]
Terminal exterior
Control tower
Passengers Movements Freight (in t)
2001 1,064,149 37,393 257
2002 Decrease 994,478 Decrease 33,812 Increase 289
2003 Increase 1,023,329 Decrease 29,788 Decrease 96
2004 Increase 1,179,028 Decrease 25,743 Decrease 75
2005 Increase 1,742,911 Increase 30,672 Decrease 58
2006 Increase 2,019,651 Increase 32,785 Decrease 37
2007 Increase 2,155,057 Decrease 32,223 Increase 40
2008 Increase 2,329,440 Decrease 29,555 Decrease 35
2009 Decrease 1,711,157 Decrease 24,043 Decrease 21
2010 Increase 1,747,731 Increase 24,232 Increase 33
2011 Increase 1,814,246 Increase 26,391 Decrease 26
2012 Increase 1,896,885 Decrease 22,634 Decrease 4
2013 Increase 1,924,386 Increase 23,809 Decrease 2
2014 Increase 1,964,625 Decrease 22,202 Decrease 0
2015 Increase 1,985,379 Increase 23,616 Steady 0
2016 Decrease 1,918,845 Decrease 21,719 Steady 0
2017 Increase 2,000,695 Increase 21,931 Steady 0
2018 Increase 2,284,202 Increase 25,523 Steady 0
2019 Increase 2,719,566 Increase 26,948 Steady 0
2020 Decrease 1,220,624 Decrease 18,983 Increase 4
2021 Increase 1,692,960 Increase 31,039 Decrease 0
2022 Increase 2,586,238 Increase 36,258 Steady 0
2023 Increase 2,934,516
Source: ADV German Airports Association[30][31][1]
Dortmund Airport press release[32]

Ground transportation

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To Dortmund and the Ruhr area

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Dortmund Airport is served by an express bus to Dortmund main station, a shuttle bus to the nearby railway station Holzwickede/Dortmund Flughafen, a bus to the city's metro line U47, as well as a bus to the city of Unna.

To Düsseldorf

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There are two possibilities to go to Düsseldorf main station:

  • Heading to Dortmund main station by the AirportExpress bus (or taking bus line 490 to Aplerbeck and then metro line U47). The direct connection from Dortmund central station to Düsseldorf is operated by frequent regional and long-distance trains.
  • Catching the AirportShuttle bus to nearby Holzwickede station. The shuttle bus leaves every 20 minutes in front of the terminal building. From Holzwickede station taking the RE 13 (Maas-Wupper-Express) towards Venlo. The train runs once every hour and provides a direct connection to Düsseldorf, the travel time is approx. 60 minutes.

Accidents and incidents

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  • On the evening of November 20, 1985, a private Cessna 421 coming from Vienna crashed about 1 kilometer short of the runway while attempting to land in bad weather. All four occupants were killed.[33]
  • On 3 January 2010, Air Berlin Flight 2450, operated by a Boeing 737-800 (D-ABKF) overran the end of the runway after an aborted take-off at high speed due to an airspeed discrepancy on the two pilots' instruments. There were no injuries among the 171 people on board.[34]
  • On 5 December 2022, a Ryanair Boeing 737 landing at Dortmund Airport overran the end of the runway, which was wet and slightly covered with snow. None of the 175 people on board were injured.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b "AIP VFR online". dfs.de. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  3. ^ "EasyJet streicht vier von fünf Verbindungen am Flughafen Dortmund - Dortmund - derwesten.de". Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Dortmund Administrative Center Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine." (German version, Map) Eurowings. Retrieved on 28 January 2011. "Dortmund Administrative Center Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG Flugplatz 21 44319 Dortmund Germany."
  5. ^ derwesten.de, DerWesten- (15 October 2014). "Air Berlin verlässt Dortmund komplett". www.derwesten.de. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Air Berlin zieht sich im Frühjahr vom Flughafen Dortmund zurück". airliners.de. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Wizz Air schließt Basis am Dortmunder Flughafen". wdr.de (in German). 12 October 2021. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021.
  8. ^ derstandard.de - "Ryanair terminates entire operations in Dortmund, Dresden and Leipzig" (German) 10 October 2024
  9. ^ a b c d e f airliners.de - "Eurowings continues Hamburg decrease, Dortmund also affected" (German) 6 December 2024
  10. ^ dortmund-airport.com - Flight schedule retrieved 1 November 2024
  11. ^ "Growing offerings for Mallorca". Dortmund Airport. 14 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Neue Airline und neues Reiseziel (in German)". Dortmund Airport. 22 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Dan Air NW24 Network Additions – 26MAY24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  14. ^ aerotelegraph.com - "Eurowings cancels domestic route from Dortmund" (German) 16 October 2024
  15. ^ "New route added: Dortmund Airport to Istanbul". Dortmund Airport. 19 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Pegasus NW23 Network Additions – 08NOV23".
  17. ^ "Ryanair NW23 Network Changes – 17SEP23".
  18. ^ "Ryanair NS23 A320 Network Additions – 05FEB23". Aeroroutes.
  19. ^ "SunExpress fliegt von Dortmund nach Zonguldak | Dortmund Airport".
  20. ^ https://cdn0.scrvt.com/airportdtm/74ce529d0a2d0426/ae307da2c948/de_Flightplan_2023-03-01.pdf/[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ "Wizz Air". Retrieved 30 August 2021.[full citation needed]
  22. ^ "Aeroportul Braşov. Se stiu cursele Wizz Air - MyTex.ro". 6 April 2023.
  23. ^ "Wizz Air redeschide baza de la Chișinău și redeschide opt rute aeriene". 17 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Flughafen Dortmund: Wizz Air bringt Verbindung nach Craiova zurück". aerotelegraph.com. 12 December 2024.
  25. ^ "Wizz Air 1Q24 Routes Suspension Summary – 31DEC23".
  26. ^ "Neue Verbindung: Wizz Air verbindet Dortmund und Warschau". aerotelegraph.com. 17 December 2024.
  27. ^ "Wizz Air to launch flights from Yerevan to Dortmund, Sofia, Katowice and Prague".
  28. ^ "Direct flights from Cologne Bonn Airport (DTM)". FlightConnections. 15 December 2024.
  29. ^ "dortmund airport destinations - Google Search". Google. 15 December 2024.
  30. ^ "Traffic figures (since 1991)". adv.aero (in German). Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  31. ^ "ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2021" (PDF). adv.org. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  32. ^ "Dortmund Airport make an annual balance sheet for the year 2021" (PDF) (in German). Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Accident Cessna 421C Golden Eagle III D-IFLY". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  34. ^ "Incident: Air Berlin B738 at Dortmund on Jan 3rd 2010, rejected takeoff results in runway overrun". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
  35. ^ "Ryanair-Landung in Dortmund geht fast schief – Behörde untersucht Vorfall". www.24rhein.de (in German). 10 March 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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