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DÜSSELDORF AIRPORT EXPANSION

On schedule, at the start of the summer holidays in Germanyís most densely populated state, North Rhine-Westphalia, five years of makeshift arrangements at Düsseldorf airport finally came to an end. On 1 July, after a long move was somehow fitted into a short night, the new central passenger terminal at Germanyís third largest airport entered service.

On 11 April 1996 a serious fire that had claimed the lives of 17 people had taken place at Düsseldorf airport. After that the airport company, Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH, had to decide whether it should simply re-build the existing facilities or construct a "new" airport on the existing site. The disaster was seen as the opportunity for a new beginning and it was decided to hold an architectural competition, the results of which were announced in January 1997.

In December 1998 the "Airport 2000 plus" consortium of construction companies was contracted to begin work the following month.

The design for the new Düsseldorf airport was developed under considerable time pressure. Nevertheless Düsseldorf has succeeded in what Chief Executive Hans-Joachim Peters describes as ìcombining functionality with a special experienceî. The design of the new terminal and the new Concourse B, according to Peters, makes the passengers the focus of attention.

The architecture reflects this endeavour: glass and steel are the predominant materials used. Over 160,000 cu m of concrete may have flown into the building, but virtually none of this is visible. The atmosphere of the building is characterised by light and openness. Whereas other, similarly constructed terminals often achieve a cold effect, in Düsseldorf the architects have succeeded in designing a building which comes over as ultra-modern but also a little homely. This effect is due in part to the 65,000 sqare m granite floor.

"The airport is a very complex creation that is geared towards service. Everything has been subordinated towards achieving this goal," said Peters at the opening ceremony. Previously, for example, the shops had been viewed simply as a troublesome adjunct, but today they are an essential element of the service concept. The ìairport arcadesî accommodate 32 shops, which can also be accessed land side. The restaurant operations have something to offer for every taste, from fast food through to gourmet cuisine. 5,600m² of floor space are given over to retail trade and food service. A number of restaurants offer their customers a direct view of air side operations.

The old visitorsí terrace in Düsseldorf had been visited by nearly a million people every year. Therefore it was seen as a part of the airport special experience and moved to the roof of the new Concourse B. It is open daily from 6am to 9pm.

Performing the building work was rather like carrying out "open heart surgery" as flying operations continued in parallel to redevelopment of the new airport building. "The biggest problem was having to operate baggage handling in four different locations," said Peters on the occasion of the opening of the new terminal, describing the previous five years.

The new building cost DM 665 million ($297 million). Then on top of this costs were incurred over the past five years on other building work need to tide the airport over until the new terminal would be ready. Matthias C. Tümpel, member of the board of management of Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH with financial responsibility, said that during the construction period a total of 2 billion marks ($900 million) had been invested in the airport. This was approximately four times as much as the average amount previously invested.

The move was timed to take place pre-season. On average 45,000 passengers pass through Düsseldorf airport per day. On the day of the move the figure was 56,000. The first aircraft to take off from Düsseldorf following the move was a Boeing 737 belonging to Air Berlin bound for Arecife, which lifted off with 173 passengers on board at 6.03am.

Despite the awkwardness for passengers, to whom Peters expressed his thanks for their loyalty over the previous five years, Düsseldorf airport has succeeded in gaining some attractive scheduled routes. Its latest coup is a daily service to Dubai with Emirates. The airport is not short of other longhaul routes besides this new addition. Several destinations in the USA (Chicago, Los Angeles and New York) are served with non-stop flights. But the airport companyís desire for a non-stop connection to Japan, which is only too understandable given the strong Japanese presence in the Düsseldorf business community, has so far failed to materialise.

Every airport will always be a building site. Düsseldorf is no exception to this rule. The new central terminal connecting the three concourses A, B and C with each other  may be finished, but the cranes and excavators have not yet disappeared from the airport by any means. A new 90m high air traffic control tower, which will be the tallest in all Germany, is currently under construction. The new central building ñ currently 250m long and 70m wide ñ is to be extended further until by the final stage of the expansion work in 2003 it is a full 400m long.

To ensure that a disastrous fire such as occurred in 1996 cannot be repeated, the airport has developed a new fire concept. Over 7,000 smoke and heat detectors, 330 manual fire alarm buttons and more than 4,700 loudspeakers are intended to help visitors to the airport in the event of fire to reach a safe area by the quickest route. The whole system is computer-controlled. Passive safety ñ automatic fire protection doors, chromium steel grids instead of synthetic ceiling coverings, emergency lighting systems ñ has been significantly improved. In matters of fire protection Düsseldorf is probably the yardstick for other airports to follow.

LTU, Düsseldorfís home carrier will have to wait the longest until its passengers can be processed in a new terminal. LTU is currently still operating out of Module E and will not move until the next phase of the building work is complete at the start of 2003. Passenger capacity at the airport will then rise from 17 million to 22 million per annum.

From FLUG REVUE 09/2001, page 80