Bremen Airport Flughafen Bremen | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Flughafen Bremen GmbH | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Bremen,Germany | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 14 ft / 4 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°02′51″N008°47′12″E / 53.04750°N 8.78667°E /53.04750; 8.78667 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | bremen-airport.com | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  EDDW Location of airport in Bremen | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Helipads | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2024) | |||||||||||||||
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| Source: Statistics, ADV[1], AIP atGerman air traffic control.[2] | |||||||||||||||
Bremen Airport (German:Flughafen Bremen,IATA:BRE,ICAO:EDDW) is theinternational airport of the city andstate ofBremen inNorthern Germany. It is located 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south of the city[2] and handled 1.81 million passengers in 2023.[3] It mainly features flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations.
The beginnings of the airport date back to the early 20th century. TheBremer Verein für Luftschiffahrt, a local aerospace club, conducted the first experimental flights at the present site in the summer of 1910, on what was then the parade ground of the local garrison. TheSenate of Bremen supported the establishment of an airfield to connect Bremen to the growing airship route network. Official permission for the opening of an airport was granted on 16 May 1913. The initial infrastructure was geared towards aircraft operations instead of the initially envisaged airships. Several wooden hangars were erected.[4]
DuringWorld War I, the airport was taken into military administration, and civilian operations ceased. The military erected a wooden hangar, but conducted only a small number of operations from the airfield.[4] After the war, the airport only reopened on 18 July 1920, with Dutch airlineKLM beginning scheduled flights toAmsterdam soon thereafter. In the same year, theWeimar National Assembly authorised investment into upgraded facilities at the airport. Administration of the airport was transferred to the newly foundedBremer Flughafengesellschaft.[5] In 1923, the aeroplane manufacturerFocke-Wulf was founded on a site adjacent to the airfield.
In the 1930s, several new terminal buildings and hangars were constructed, with the largest to date being completed in 1937. In the same year, four new runways were built. These were arranged in a star-like pattern. The increasing military buildup under the rule of theNazis also began to show itself at the airport, with theLuftwaffe establishing a flight training base there. Civilian operations again came to a standstill with the beginning ofWorld War II. For a short period between November 1939 and June 1940, the airport served as the base for a squadron ofFocke-Wulf Fw 200 bombers. In the later stages of the war, the airport came under repeated bombardment due to co-location with the Focke-Wulf plant. This left most of the infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged by the end of the war.[4]
TheUnited States Army took over the airport and the adjacent aircraft plant in 1945 for use as an airbase. After conducting the necessary repairs, it operated mostly transport aircraft into and out of the American enclave within otherwise British-occupied northern Germany. Control was handed back to the Bremen authorities in 1949. Civilian operations resumed that year withScandinavian Airlines using Bremen Airport as a stopover on routes fromScandinavia toGeneva andVienna.[6] Runway 09-27 was extended to 2,000 m.[4]
In the mid-1950s, the terminal buildings were reconstructed andLufthansa began scheduled flights to the airport. The German airline also established its pilot training operations (Lufthansa Flight Training) at the airport. During the 1960s, scheduled jet flights began to be operated at Bremen. In 1971, a large radar system was installed on the southern perimeter of the airport.[4]
1989 was the first year that the airport had more than one million passengers. The current terminal building was opened in 1998.[7]
In January 2016 the airport's operator announced that the main terminal building would undergo major redesign and renovation works until 2018. Terminal sections 1, 2 and 3 were merged amongst several other changes.[7] In May 2016 the airport introduced its newbrand withBRE Bremen Airport replacingCity Airport Bremen .[8]
In February 2017British Airways announced it would end its flights from Bremen toLondon andManchester, which were both operated bySUN-AIR.[9] SUN-AIR maintained a base for the routes at Bremen Airport. In April 2017 the airport announced it was changing its name to Bremen AirportHans Koschnick, after the former mayor and honorable citizen of Bremen.[10]
In October 2018,Ryanair announced it would be closing its base at the airport on 5 November 2018.[11] In February 2021,Lufthansa Aviation Training announced it would relocate its entire German practical training from Bremen Airport toRostock Airport.[12] In 2023 and 2024, Bremen Airport gained two important additional hub connections whenLufthansa Group AirlinesSWISS andAustrian Airlines began scheduled routes to their hubs inZürich andVienna, respectively.[13][14]
The airport consists of one main passenger terminal building, split into sectionsTerminal 1, 2 and3[15] that features several shops, restaurants and service facilities as well five aircraft stands equipped withjet bridges and some additional stands for mid-sized aircraft on the apron. The main building contains the check-in counters 5–19 and 21–38.[15]Ryanair uses another more basic facility to the west of the main terminal calledTerminal E which only features walk-boarding and features the check-in counters 1E-4E.[15]
TheBremenhalle inside the airport hosts a small aviation and space exploration museum, displaying theJunkers W33Bremen and the firstSpacelab module.
Bremen airport is the home airport of theAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) twoBasler BT-67 research aircraftPolar 5 andPolar 6.[16] The AWI fleet was relocated to Bremen afterBremerhaven Airport was closed in 2016.
The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Bremen Airport:[17]
| Passengers | Movements | Freight (int) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,918,064 | – | – | |
| 2008 |  2,486,337 | 46,876 | 723 | |
| 2009 |  2,448,851 | 43,650 | 731 | |
| 2010 | 2,676,297 | 46,409 | 539 | |
| 2011 | 2,560,023 | 45,412 | 612 | |
| 2012 | 2,447,007 | 44,737 | 643 | |
| 2013 | 2,612,627 | 44,263 | 567 | |
| 2014 | 2,773,129 | 45,987 | 721 | |
| 2015 | 2,660,754 | 42,263 | 608 | |
| 2016[31] | 2,573,501 | 40,687 | 731 | |
| 2017[32] | 2,540,084 | 37,233 | 647 | |
| 2018 | 2,561,535 | 38,574 | 626 | |
| 2019 | 2,308,338 | 36,308 | 525 | |
| 2020 | 594,680 | 20,173 | 1,151 | |
| 2021[33] | 630,062 | 18,949 | 230 | |
| 2022[34] | 1,493,007 | 25,083 | 319 | |
| 2023[3] | 1,814,892 | 27,045 | 276 | |
| 2024[35] | 1,887,017 | 28,429 | 287 | |
| Source: ADV[36] | ||||
Tram line 6 departs every 6 to 10 minutes (on Sunday evenings up to 20 min) to Universität Bremen via Domsheide and Hauptbahnhof. The ride takes 11 minutes to the city center, 16 minutes to the central station and 30 minutes to the university.[37]
The airport can be reached via motorwayA1 (Baltic Sea –Ruhr area; ExitArsten) and the yet only partly completed city motorwayA281 which crosses the city of Bremen.[38]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Media related toBremen Airport at Wikimedia Commons
