Kiel Airport Flughafen Kiel | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | State of Schleswig-Holstein (55%) City of Kiel (45%) | ||||||||||
| Serves | Kiel,Germany | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 101 ft / 31 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 54°22′46″N010°08′43″E / 54.37944°N 10.14528°E /54.37944; 10.14528 | ||||||||||
| Website | airport-kiel.de | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  EDHK Location of Kiel Airport | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Source: Usage Regulations.[1] AIP atGerman air traffic control.[2] | |||||||||||
Kiel Airport (German:Flughafen Kiel,IATA:KEL,ICAO:EDHK) is a small regionalairport inKiel,Germany. It is located in the borough ofHoltenau, 8.3 km (5.2 mi) north[2] of the city centre. It is registered as apublic airfield (German:Verkehrslandeplatz). As of 2006, it served 30,528 passengers p. a.[3]
The aerodrome was built in 1914 on a plain area that had been created from material dug out during the construction of theKiel Canal. In 1927, the Kiel Airport Company (German:Kieler Flughafengesellschaft) was founded, which operated theState Airport of Kiel (German:Landflughafen Kiel). During this time, there were 27 national and international destinations. In 1937, the airport was designated a military airbase. However, it continued to be used for civilian flights, such as scheduled flights toBraunschweig andBerlin (Tempelhof).
Its taxiways were extended in 1963, a first terminal was built in 1965. This terminal was used for scheduled flights toWest Berlin operated byPan Am.
In 1987, the terminal that is still used today was built. At the same timeLufthansa began offering scheduled flights toFrankfurt, and later toCologne/Bonn,Munich,Copenhagen,Kaliningrad andRiga.
In 1995, the airport became a civilian airport again and in 1997, a newcontrol tower that was operated by civilian staff was constructed. However, it continues to be used for military purposes.
A new hangar was built in 2000. In the same year, the airport's future prospects were analysed. Based on that analysis, plans approved by the state administration ofSchleswig-Holstein in March 2002 included an extension of the runway from 1300 m to 2100 m. This would have allowedjet aircraft to land at Kiel. Federal Highway B 503 would have crossed the extended runway in a tunnel.
However, use of the airport declined in the following years as more and more scheduled flight routes were discontinued. When the last route was cut on 23 December 2005, operation of the airport was suspended until 3 April 2006 and on 24 January 2006, the state's Secretary of Commerce announced that the extension plans were scrapped for good.
Cirrus Airlines operated scheduled flights toMunich from 2 May 2006 using a singleDHC-8-100 aircraft, which was based in Kiel Airport. The state ofSchleswig-Holstein offered subsidies for three years. However, as the number of passengers was substantially lower than expected, the service was discontinued in October 2006.
There are no scheduled services to and from Kiel Airport.
Luftsportverein Kiele.V. (German forAir Sports Association Kiel) and a helicopter flight service are based at Kiel Airport and thecharter airlineFLM Aviation used to operate from it. Further, there are annualInternationale Flugtage (German forInternational Aviation Days) with air acrobatics, parachute jumps and displays of historic aeroplanes.
The aerodrome has been in military use since its construction. DuringWorld War II, theLuftwaffe operated aircraft in support of theKriegsmarine from the base, including the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th squadrons of Embarked Air Group 196 (German:Bordfliegergruppe 196) which provided aircraft to supportsurface combatants.[4]
In 1958, theGerman Navy basednaval aviation units at Kiel. Until 28 March 2013, Air Wing No. 5 (German:Marinefliegergeschwader 5) was based at Kiel, usingSikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters for search and rescue operations flown from the airport. Since 2013, they have been based atNordholz.
German Air Force aircraft operating as fake targets for practice also depart from Kiel Airport.
