Hamburg Airport - Facts and figures, and the Chamber's view

History:

Hamburg Airport was founded in 1911 and is thus the oldest airport in Germany.

Trend in transport / the location factor:

Hamburg Airport, situated conveniently close to the city, is the fifth-largest airport in Germany. In 2010, it handled nearly 13 million passengers and over 150,000 flight movements. It is the oldest airport in the country still to be located on its original site.Looking to the future, the airport is set to expand further, and estimates predict a sustained upward trend in passenger numbers.

There are 63 airlines operating to over 115 national and international destinations from this airport.Of the 16 domestic flight routes, the top destinations are the German aviation hubs at Munich and Frankfurt, with around 1.6 and 1.4 million passengers respectively.The attraction of direct flights to New York and Toronto mean that today over 100,000 passengers are already using these fast and comfortable connections to North America.The direct flight to Dubai connects Hamburg to one of the biggest intercontinental hubs, thus providing good transfer connections to Africa, India, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

The Flughafen Hamburg GmbH company directly employs around 1,600 staff.If one adds the approximately 4,500 employees with the airlines, security services etc. and the 7,600 staff at the Lufthansa hangar facility, the airport provides jobs for a total of around 14,000 people.That makes it one of the biggest employers in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

A passenger survey in 2006 revealed that close on three in ten passengers live in Schleswig-Holstein.This means that the airport is used to practically the same level by passengers from Hamburg and from Schleswig-Holstein.Of those passengers flying to and from Hamburg, 40 per cent are business passengers.This makes Hamburg Airport the most important North German gateway, supporting the wider economic development opportunities for the entire metropolitan region.

The airlines have experienced particularly strong growth in recent years at the price-favourable end of the market.In 2006, close on every fourth passenger flying from Hamburg was using one of the nine established low-price airlines.Given the increasing competition, the traditional airlines are also changing their price policy.One example is Lufthansa's better-fly programme.It offers return ticket to over 35 destinations from EUR 99/109.

Hamburg Airport is well-equipped for rising passenger numbers going forward.With its Terminal 1, opened in 2005, Hamburg Airport offers total capacity for 15 million passengers.By 2008 or 2009, Hamburg Airport will also feature an S-Bahn (fast overground rail) link which will take 23 minutes without changing to reach the city centre, a luxury hotel and the Airport Plaza, a large shopping and catering complex for passengers.

A factor in the economy:

Beyond its importance as an influencing factor for its surrounding area, the airport also makes a major contribution as a company to the economic performance and wealth of the Hanseatic city.Hamburg Airport is a major business which largely produces services.Since 1994, the overall ”Airport– system has placed contracts totalling around EUR 561 million for upstream services and investments.In addition, it has paid out a total of around EUR 460 million in wages and salaries.In addition to the approximately 12,000 staff employed in a direct connection to the airport (including the Lufthansa hangar facility), Hamburg Airport provides for a total of around 27,600 further jobs in the Hamburg metropolitan area.

Ownership relations / privatisation:

Until mid-2000, Hamburg Airport was wholly state-owned; 75% of its shares were held by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and the remaining 26% was held by the Federal government.In July 2000, 36% of the shares, including all those held by the Federal government, were sold for DM 540 million to a private consortium comprising Hochtief AirPort and Air Rianta International.In addition, the consortium holds the option for the further purchase of up to 13% of the shares by 2007. At the time of writing in 2005, the ownership rights in Flughafen Hamburg GmbH are held 51% by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and 49% by HAP Hamburg Airport Partners GmbH & Co. KG.

For more information, please visit Flughafen Hamburg.

Chamber view

Location factor / overall economic importance:

Our Chamber of Commerce considers a high-performance airport which is situated in a transport-favourable location as an essential precondition for the economic prosperity of the Hamburg metropolitan region.All measures which service the maintenance and further development of the performance capability of Hamburg Airport are therefore supported by our Chamber of Commerce.In addition to collaborating on practical projects, our Chamber of Commerce therefore has a representation on a number of committees.Mention should be made of the Supervisory Board (Aufsichtsrat) of Flughafen Hamburg GmbH (FHG), the Administrative Board (Verwaltungsrat) of the Working Group of German Transport Airports (ADV) and the aviation working group (Arbeitsgruppe Luftverkehr) of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).

Airport connections:

The location of Hamburg Airport, on the outskirts of the city, is essential to ease of accessibility both from the business centres of the city centre and from the other economic centres across the entire metropolitan region.Full exploitation of the advantages of this location calls for a high-performance transport infrastructure.Our Chamber of Commerce is therefore committed to the four-lane expansion of the Krohnstieg road between the Fuhlsbüttel ringroad and the Langenhorner Chaussee, and has played a decisive part in driving forward the S-Bahn link to the airport. Even after the S-Bahn link is operational, there will be an ongoing need for good availability of parking spaces as the airport continues to expand.

Housing policy in the areas around the airport / noise protection:

In the immediate vicinity of the airport, there is a conflict of use between the noise-emitting airport and housing construction.To limit this conflict of interests, the Hamburg Senate took a decision on 23 September 1996 on guidelines for housing planning in the area around the airport - even though these have only been partially implemented.Given the importance of Hamburg Airport to the wider economy, our Chamber of Commerce is calling for consistent implementation of these guidelines.To achieve a balance of interests between the Hamburg economy and local residents in the area around the airport, our Chamber of Commerce is also a participant in the flight noise protection commission [Fluglärmschutzkommission (FLSK)].

Passenger transport performance:

Within Europe, Hamburg Airport offers good direct connections to most economic centres.What has been lacking for the Hamburg economy up till now were direct flights between Hamburg and North America and Asia.Our Chamber of Commerce supports all efforts to establish such connections, and therefore welcomes e.g. the Hamburg-Dubai direct route which has been operating since 2006.

Cargo transport performance:

The possibility of problem-free dispatch and receipt of air cargo is a key location factor either for companies which produce time-sensitive and high-quality goods and need to transport these quickly to their sales markets, or for companies which are reliant on corresponding preliminary products for the production of other goods.Our Chamber of Commerce is therefore committed to maintaining and further developing a high-performing cargo area.To identify improvement potential at Hamburg Airport, our Chamber of Commerce carried out two air cargo surveys in 2004.