Erfurt–Weimar Airport (, formerly ''Erfurt Airport'', ) serves

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, the capital of the German state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, and the nearby city of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, both of which form the largest part of the state's central metropolitan area. The

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

is west of Erfurt city center and is mainly used for seasonal charter flights to European leisure destinations.

History

Foundation and early years

The first Erfurt airport was built in the mid-1920s at Roter Berg in the north of the city, later also known as Erfurt-North. At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, this site was taken over by the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

, thus ending passenger traffic. With the end of the war in 1945, Erfurt-North was closed, but in 1956, the pre-military organisation Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik resumed glider operations here. In 1974, the airfield was finally closed in order to build the residential area Roter Berg on the site. The foundation for today's Erfurt–Weimar Airport was laid in 1935, when a new air base was built by the Luftwaffe west of Erfurt near Bindersleben. In 1945 the air base was taken over by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, which stationed an alert unit with MiG-15 fighter planes here in the 1950s. Around 1957 the airfield was handed over to the East German authorities who extended it and built a 2000 m long concrete runway. In the following years the airfield was used by the East German Lufthansa and later by Interflug for domestic flights until these were discontinued in 1980. In addition, there were individual connections to socialist countries, especially to Budapest in Hungary. Erfurt was also a base for Interflug’s agricultural aviation with the Erfurt district squadron stationed here.

Development since 1990

After German reunification, Erfurt Airport was further expanded and the runway was extended to 2600 m. The airport's name was changed from ''Erfurt Airport'' in 2011, it was felt that from a marketing point of view the addition of

to the name would better sell the area due to its historic importance. Despite its importance as a state capital and its central location within Germany, the airport features no domestic flights. The only route to Munich Airport offered by Cirrus Airlines ceased by March 2012. However, the city became one of Germany's most important long distance railway hubs by 2017, when the newly constructed Munich-Berlin high-speed line met the Frankfurt-Dresden line at Erfurt main station. As a result, it is possible to reach

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

within two hours by rail from Erfurt, making domestic flights redundant. After the shutdown of

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

in early 2019, the airport lost the vast majority of its routes.

Facilities

The airport consists of one passenger and one business terminal. The passenger terminal features two aircraft parking positions and four boarding gates on two levels, the upper ones are equipped with

jet bridge A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

s. There are also some shops and restaurants, a visitors terrace as well as travel and rental car agencies inside the terminal. The apron also features several additional bus-boarding stands for mid-sized aircraft such as the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Erfurt–Weimar Airport:

Statistics

Ground transportation

Car

The airport can be reached via nearby A71 motorway (''Erfurt-Bindersleben'' exit) which leads from Erfurt to

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Tram

Erfurt Tram line No. 4 to the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Bindersleben stops in front of the airport. The trams depart every 10–20 minutes and connect the airport with Erfurt's main train station via the city centre in about 20 minutes.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erfurt-Weimar Airport Airports in Thuringia

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Buildings and structures in Erfurt Airports established in 1935 1935 establishments in Germany Former Soviet military air bases in East Germany