Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport

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The airfield Mönchengladbach is a German airfield near Mönchengladbach. Its legal status is that of an airfield, from the operators it is referred to and marketed as " Dusseldorf Monchengladbach Airport ".

Airlines and destinations

The runway in MGL is sufficient to 1,200 m for conventional aircraft on regional routes, for larger jets but it is too short.

Currently, the image of the airport is dominated by the General Aviation (General Aviation ) and there is no regular service instead. The limited liability company is 70% owned by the operating company of Düsseldorf Airport, to 30% in the Lower Rhine NEW catering and 0.01% of the town of Willich.

History

Today's airfield is the second airport location Mönchengladbach. The first airfield was located until 1945 in the west of the city. Here is now the North Park.

The site of the airfield was used by 1945 as waste collection point and debris deposition site. As about grass was grown, a model airfield and a parachutist terrain was with much interest at the weekends. The Segelfluggelände Mönchengladbach was raised in 1955 as a small airfield, which only had a grass runway. Two years later, a hangar was built the following year, they built a tower and a passenger building. The construction of the existing up to 1200 meters long airstrip began in 1970 and was completed in 1973.

1993/1994 took over the Dusseldorf Airport GmbH 70 percent of Mönchengladbach airport company with the intention to shift the regional routes from Dusseldorf airport to Monchengladbach. On 1 April 1996, the scheduled air service was opened. The airport was due to the effects of ten days later at the Dusseldorf airport erupted heavy fire first important alternate airport and had 1998 224.000 passengers. In the following years, however, led bankruptcies and the migration of carriers to a significant decline. Since the exodus of airline GLOBUS, the 42 airports Heringsdorf on Usedom had approached with an ATR and Katowice in Poland, there was no scheduled air service.

From the 5th February 2007, the newly founded Austrian airline Smartline took to flight operations. The connection to St. Gallen was offered twice a day. The air traffic was suspended again in March because of obvious demand deficiency. Last flew another line during the summer months once a week to Usedom. Since the setting of the shipping service flights are offered through the region Mönchengladbach to the north of Dusseldorf still occasionally. In addition, the square outside the airport serves as the main stopping point of a local coach provider, from where start and end larger coach tours.

Pros and Cons

Many critics see the airfield to be superfluous. They base their decisions on the reasoning that in North Rhine -Westphalia, inter alia, with the Düsseldorf airport, the airport Cologne / Bonn Airport and the Airport Weeze more than a sufficient amount of aeronautical infrastructure is already present. Supporters, however, are of the opinion that the airfield could constitute an important relief for the Düsseldorf airport and see him primarily as a regional airport, which should score with short routes, quick -handling and clarity. They also perform as an argument for the viability of the airport into the field, that the airline Air Berlin had met with its scheduled flights from Mönchengladbach with great customer interest, but nevertheless withdrew because the BAe used were not profitable enough 146 aircraft from their point of view and the use of economical machines was not possible because of the short take-off and landing strip. In addition, to be built near the airport more jobs through the establishment of companies.

Future

To make the airport more attractive, 2003, an application for the commencement of the planning approval process at the state of North Rhine -Westphalia has been submitted. The objective of this proposal is to extend the start and runway 2320 meters and the construction of a new terminal, which is designed to 3 million passengers per year. This project is likely to fail, because the Regional Council of the administrative district Dusseldorf decided on 29 September 2005 that a necessary change in the field development plan will not be consummated. One of the reasons: The airfield is located in Moenchengladbach traffic shadow of Dusseldorf International Airport. This its development is severely impaired. How does this traffic shadow effect, the airfield Mönchengladbach had experienced in the past few years. ( Counting arrival and departure ) of 180,000 passengers per year, passenger numbers fell to 31,000 per year currently.

On 23 May 2007, the Minister responsible for Building and Transport Wittke said in Düsseldorf parliament that due to the rejection of the field development plan by the Regional Council ( see above) and for lack of the backing of the country's air traffic concept there will be no expansion of the VLPs MGL. In the regional press, this was referred to as the end for the airfield.

In December 2009, explaining the Düsseldorf airport company, that she wants to find an expansion of Mönchengladbach airport in the future. The airport will continue to be operated on the measures necessary to reduce costs is currently, however, no final decision has been made. The Düsseldorf airport company decided in June 2010 that it wants to continue to pay for the costs of the airfield. Savings to be achieved by shortening the operating time and the exclusion of scheduled and charter traffic.