Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach Airport

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Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach Airport Flughafen Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach
IATA: MGL – ICAO: EDLN
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Flughafen Düsseldorf
Location		Mönchengladbach
Elevation AMSL		124 ft / 38 m
Coordinates		51°13′49″N 06°30′16″E / 51.23028, 6.50444
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
13/31	3,937	1,200	Asphalt

Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach Airport (Flughafen Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach) (IATA: MGL, ICAO: EDLN) is an airport near Düsseldorf.

Contents 1 History 2 Present 3 Pros and Cons 4 Future 5 Sources

[edit] History

The airport was founded in 1955 as a small airstrip for gliders. A hangar was built in 1957 and the next year a tower and a building for passengers were constructed. The construction of the 1.200-meter runway, that is still used today, was started in 1970 and completed in 1973.

[edit] Present

Since the last airline, GLOBUS, had left, there were no more scheduled flights in Mönchengladbach. Today, the airport, which is co-owned by the company which also runs Düsseldorf International Airport (70 %) and the local utility company NVV AG (30 %), is dominated by general aviation.

[edit] Pros and Cons

Critical voices say the airport is useless because of sufficient other airports in North Rhine-Westphalia (Cologne Bonn Airport, Düsseldorf International Airport,Weeze Airport etc.).

On the other hand, supporters think the airport can be helpful by easing congestion at nearby Airport Düsseldorf International (DUS). They see it as an important regional airport with many advantages, e.g. a fast check-in and short ways. In addition, they argue that the German airline Air Berlin once had a successful operation here. But they had to shift the flights to DUS due to the inefficiency of the BAe 146 aircraft they used and because of their inability to use more economic planes due to the short runway. Above all, an industrial park in the vicinity of the airport should be built.

[edit] Future

To solve the problem of a short runway, the airport has filed a governmental application to build a longer runway. The runway is to be lengthened to 2.320 meters and the terminal is to be enlarged to serve 3 million passengers a year.

[edit] Sources

1. Official Webpage
2. Airport information for EDLN at World Aero Data
3. Development Association Airport Mönchengladbach
4. Statement by the German green party
5. Air Berlin British Aerospace BAe 146-200 Departing from MGL on RWY13

This article is a translation of the German language article "Flughafen Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach" in the German Wikipedia. (as it was on February 19, 2005)