EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg

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EuroAirport
Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse
Flughafen Basel-Mulhouse
Basel airport logo.png
Euroairport from the air (7262130986).jpg
IATA: BSL, MLH, EAP[1] – ICAO: LFSB, LSZM
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner France and Swiss canton of Basel-City
Operator L'administration de l’Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse
Serves Basel, Switzerland
Mulhouse, France
Freiburg, Germany
Location Saint-Louis, France
Hub for <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Elevation AMSL 885 ft / 270 m
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website euroairport.com
Map
BSL/MLH/EAP is located in Alsace
BSL/MLH/EAP
BSL/MLH/EAP
Location of airport in Alsace region<templatestyles src="Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"/>
Location of Alsace region in France
220px
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 3,900 12,795 Concrete
08/26 1,820 5,971 Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 7,061,059
Freight (tons) 101,050
Aircraft movements 94,000
Sources: French AIP,[2] airport's annual report[3] and French AIP at EUROCONTROL[4][dead link]

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (IATA: MLH, BSL, EAP, ICAO: LFSB, LSZM)[note 1][1] is an international airport 3.5 km (2.2 mi) northwest of Basel in Switzerland, 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Mulhouse in France, and 46 km (29 mi) south-southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. It is located in France, on the administrative territory of the commune of Saint-Louis near the Swiss and German borders. The airport serves as a base for easyJet Switzerland and Belair, which operates on behalf of Air Berlin, and features mainly flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations.

History

Early years

Main terminal building

Plans for the construction of a joint Swiss–French airport started in the 1930s, but were halted by the Second World War.

In 1946 talks resumed and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Blotzheim, France. France would provide the land and the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt would cover the construction costs. Basel-Stadt's Grand Council agreed to pay the costs for a provisional airport even before an international treaty was signed (which was not until 1949). Construction began on 8 March 1946 and a provisional airport with a 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) runway was officially opened on 8 May.

Between autumn 1951 and spring 1953, the east–west runway was extended to 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) and the "Zollfreistrasse" (customs-free road) was constructed, allowing access from Basel to the departure terminal without passing through French border controls.

The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the terminals and runways were continually extended. The north–south runway was extended further to 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) in 1972. In 1984, an annual total of 1 million passengers was reached. In 1987, the trademark name EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg was introduced.[5]

In 1992 a total of 2 million passengers used the airport. By 1998, this number rose up to 3 million.

Development in the 2000s

A decision was made to enlarge the terminals again with a new "Y-finger" dock. The first phase was completed in 2002 and the second phase in 2005.

Crossair was based at Basel and was its largest airline. Following the Swissair liquidation in 2001, the subsequent ending of services in early 2002, and the transformation of Crossair into Swiss International Air Lines, the number of flights from Basel fell and the new terminal was initially underused. In 2004 the low cost carrier EasyJet opened a base at Basel and the passenger totals rose again, reaching 4 million in 2006.

From 2007 until 2009, Ryanair also flew to the airport for the first time. However, as result of a dispute over landing fees, the airline closed all eight routes.[6] More recently Ryanair announced it would return in April 2014, with the resumption of Basel–Dublin route as well as the new route Basel – London–Stansted. Since then, Ryanair has hinted at the possibility of adding new routes in the foreseeable future.

In December 2014, Swiss International Air Lines announced it would cease all operations at Basel by 31 May 2015 due to heavy competition from low-cost carriers.[7] Swiss faced direct competition on five out of its six Basel routes, all of which were operated by Swiss Global Air Lines. The Lufthansa Group announced it would set up Eurowings' first international base at the EuroAirport as a replacement. However these plans were later cancelled in favour of Vienna International Airport.[8]

International status

EuroAirport is one of the few airports in the world operated jointly by two countries, in this case France and Switzerland. It is governed by a 1949 international convention. The headquarters of the airport's operations are located in Blotzheim, France.[9] The airport is located completely on French soil; the airport has a Swiss customs area connected to Basel by a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long customs road. The airport is operated via a state treaty established in 1946 wherein the two countries (Switzerland and France) are granted access to the airport without any customs or other border restrictions. The airport's board has 8 members each from France and Switzerland and two advisers from Germany.[10]

The airport building is split into two separate sections – Swiss and French. Though the whole airport is on French soil and under French jurisdiction, the Swiss authorities have the authority to apply Swiss laws regarding customs, medical services and police work in the Swiss section, including the customs road connecting Basel with the airport. However, French police are allowed to execute random checks in the Swiss section as well.[10] With Switzerland joining the Schengen Treaty in March 2009, the air side was rearranged to include a Schengen and non-Schengen zone.[11] Travellers departing from the airport into non-Schengen countries may receive either the Swiss or the French passport stamp, according to their entry choice.

Due to its international status, EuroAirport has three IATA airport codes: BSL (Basel) is the Swiss code, MLH (Mulhouse) is the French code and EAP (EuroAirport) is the neutral code.[1] The ICAO airport code is: LFSB, sometimes LSZM is used to designate the Swiss airport.[2] Geneva International Airport has a similar international status, though without the multiple codes.

Terminal

The EuroAirport consists of a single terminal building, a brick-style main area with four levels and the Y-shaped gate area attached to it. The basement (Level 1) contains the access to the car park, the ground level (Level 2) features the arrivals facilities. Level 3 sees the check-in area divided into halls 1-4 while the departure gates are located at Level 4. The gate area features gates 1-2, 20-46, 60-61 and 78-87 of which gates 22-32 are used for non-Schengen flights.[12] Six of the boarding gates feature jet bridges, the others are used for walk- or bus-boarding. As described above, the landside areas are uniquely divided into a French and a Swiss part.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at the EuroAirport:[13]

Airlines Destinations
Aigle Azur Algiers, Constantine, Oran, Sétif
Air Algérie Constantine
Air Arabia Maroc Casablanca
Air Berlin1 Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife-South
Seasonal: Antalya, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Pristina
Air France
operated by HOP!		 Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Paris–Orly
Seasonal: Ajaccio, Figari
Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau
Air VIA Seasonal charter: Burgas
Austrian Airlines Vienna
British Airways London–Heathrow
Brussels Airlines Brussels
easyJet[14] Barcelona, Bristol, Berlin–Schönefeld, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester, Naples, Rome-Fiumicino (ends 28 February 2016),[15] Toulouse
easyJet Switzerland[14] Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Brindisi, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dresden, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Kraków, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakech, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Pisa (begins 28 March 2016),[16] Porto, Prague, Pristina, Rome-Fiumicino (begins 29 February 2016),[15] Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion, Tenerife–South, Thessaloniki, Toulouse, Venice–Marco Polo
Seasonal: Ajaccio, Antalya, Bastia, Cagliari, Catania, Faro, Figari (begins 11 June 2016),[17] Ibiza, Mykonos, Olbia, Reykjavík–Keflavík, Split
Eurowings Düsseldorf[18]
Germania Pristina
KLM
operated by KLM Cityhopper		 Amsterdam
Lufthansa Regional
operated by Lufthansa CityLine		 Frankfurt, Munich
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Ryanair[19] Dublin, London–Stansted
SkyWork Airlines Cologne/Bonn (begins 1 May 2016),[20] London-City2
Seasonal: Heringsdorf (begins 12 June 2016)[21]
SunExpress Antalya
Seasonal: Izmir
TUIfly Agadir, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria
Seasonal: Boa Vista, Corfu, Funchal, Heraklion, Kos, Marrakech, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Pristina, Rhodes, Sal, Tenerife–South
Tunisair Djerba
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk
Vueling Barcelona
Wizz Air Belgrade, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Niš, Ohrid, Skopje, Tuzla, Warsaw-Chopin[22]

^1 Some flights are operated by Belair using the corporate identity of its parent, Air Berlin.
^2 SkyWork Airlines serves the route Bern - Basel/Mulhouse - London and return. However, SkyWork does not sell tickets on the Swiss domestic sector.[23]

Cargo

Airlines Destinations
AirBridgeCargo Airlines Moscow-Sheremetyevo[24]
DHL Aviation Leipzig/Halle
DHL Aviation
operated by Atlantic Airlines		 East Midlands
DHL Aviation
operated by Bluebird Cargo		 Geneva, Leipzig/Halle
Emirates SkyCargo Dubai–Al Maktoum[25]
FedEx Feeder
operated by ASL Airlines Ireland		 Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Korean Air Cargo Seoul–Incheon, Vienna
LAN Cargo Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo
Qatar Airways Cargo Doha, Brussels
TNT Airways Liège
UPS Airlines
operated by ASL Airlines Switzerland		 Cologne/Bonn, Geneva

Statistics

Route statistics

Busiest routes at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg Airport (2014) [26]
Rank City Total departing passengers
1 London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, City Airport, Stansted, Southend) 312,006
2 Berlin 203,015
3 Amsterdam 157,285
4 Palma de Mallorca 144,827
5 Paris (Paris-Orly, Paris-Charles de Gaulle) 140,826
6 Istanbul (Istanbul-Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen) 135,043
7 Hamburg 132,320
8 Barcelona 124,423
9 Antalya 104,037
10 Pristina 86,951
11 Edinburgh 80,861
12 Porto 80,190
13 Nice 76,644
14 Frankfurt 73,175
15 Brussels 67,839

Passenger development

EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Passenger Totals 1950-2014 (millions)[27] [28]
Updated: 13 January 2016

Other facilities

Swiss International Air Lines head office at EuroAirport
  • The headquarters of Swiss International Air Lines and Swiss Global Air Lines are on the grounds at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg in the Swiss section of the airport; even though the airport is within France, the Swiss head office is only accessible from Switzerland.[29][30] The Swiss division Swiss Aviation Software has its head office there as well.[31]
  • Farnair Switzerland formerly had its head office at EuroAirport. As in the case of the Swiss head office, the area with the former Farnair head office may only be accessed from Switzerland.[32] The head office moved to its current location, the Villa Guggenheim in Allschwil, in proximity to EuroAirport, on 1 October 2011.[33]
  • Hello, a now defunct Swiss airline, had its head office in the General Aviation area of EuroAirport.[34]
  • Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport.[35] Prior to its dissolution, Crossair Europe was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport as well.[36]

Ground transportation

Car

Location of the airport relative to Basel and its surroundings

The airport is connected to motorway A3 which leads from Basel to the southeast of Switzerland passing Zürich.

Bus

There are several bus connections to and from the EuroAirport to all three countries around it:

  • On the Swiss exit Basel's BVB bus No. 50[37] connects the airport to Bahnhof SBB, which is the main Swiss and French railway station in Basel. During weekdays, there is a service every 7–8 minutes and on weekends, every 10 minutes during daytime. The duration of the trip is about 20 minutes. On the day of a visitor's arrival to Basel, a reservation confirmation from a local hotel guarantees a free transfer by public transport from the station or the EuroAirport to the hotel.[38]
  • On the French exit Saint-Louis' distribus bus No. 11[39] connects the airport to the gare SNCF, Saint-Louis's railway station in 10 minutes.
  • Freiburger-Reisedienst AirportBus connects the airport to Freiburg Central bus station in Germany.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 LFSB – BÂLE-MULHOUSE (PDF). AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 18 Apr 2024.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ EAD Basic Archived 23 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ "General conditions of use". EuroAirport. Retrieved on 24 September 2009. "The Site is published by Basel–Mulhouse Airport, a Franco-Swiss public enterprise governed by the international convention of 4 July 1949 concerning its construction and operation and the headquarters of which are situated at 68730 Blotzheim, France". Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://forum.airliners.de/topic/33610-aktuelle-streckeneinstellungen-reduktionen/?p=721122
  16. ↑ http://m.easyjet.com/m2p-ej/s/?%26utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_term%3Dvolo%20easy%20jet%26utm_campaign%3DIT_IT_Brand%20-%20Extended%20(desktop,tablet)&dclid=CIKc9q6798gCFcMJwwodsfYKlg
  17. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2015/12/14/u2-ch-16h1/
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/01/01/sx-bsl-s16/
  21. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2016/01/01/sx-bsl-s16/
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ http://www.aircargoworld.com/Air-Cargo-World-News/2014/08/emirates-starts-freighter-service-swiss-pharma-capital/6708
  26. ↑ http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/infothek/lexikon/lex/0.Document.190848.xls
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ "Facts and figures". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved on 13 June 2009.
  30. ↑ "Swiss International Air Lines Basel". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved on 24 September 2009.
  31. ↑ "CONTACT". Swiss Aviation Software. Retrieved on 17 September 2011. "Swiss AviationSoftware Ltd. BSLSAS/MA P.O.Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland Marketing & Administration" The location is implied by this picture which is of the Swiss head office at Basel Airport.
  32. ↑ "How to find us". Farnair Europe. Retrieved on 8 December 2010.
  33. ↑ "Contact Us". (Archive) Farnair Switzerland. Retrieved on 19 February 2012.
  34. ↑ "Hello Location". (Direct image link) Hello. Retrieved on 1 July 2010.
  35. ↑ "Location". Crossair. Retrieved on 13 June 2009.
  36. ↑ World Airline Directory. Flight International. 23–29 March 2004. 58.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

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