Antwerp Airport

Image - Antwerp Airport

The regional Airport of Antwerp is the property of the Flemish Region and is managed by the Flemish Ministry of Mobility and Public Works as a "Separate Management Service". Its organic rules have been laid down by the Flemish Government Decree of 8 June 1994 (Belgian Official Gazette of 20 October 1994).


This form of management allows the Airport to operate autonomously to a certain extent and to conduct a commercial policy, and at the same provides the Airport with the opportunity to benefit from the integration into the Flemish authorities. Apart from its own aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues, Antwerp Airport also receives an operating allocation and an investment allocation from the Flemish Region.

The history of Antwerp Airport is inextricably linked to the development of the first steps in aviation in Belgium. This “Bird’s eye view of its history” is a concise summary of the most important events.

In 1909, establishment of the "Aéroclub d’Anvers" by the driving force behind it, Baron Pierre de Caters. This club became very well known, with the organization of the “First Flying Week of Antwerp”, from 23 October to 2 November 1909, on the military exercise field of the Kruis Hoek, later the Wilrijkse Plein. This first demonstration of airplanes in Belgium brought aviation to Antwerp.

On 30 December, 1929, the Minister of Traffic and Transport, Maurice Lippens, laid the first stone of the airport building. Antwerp already had links with Paris, Lyon, Geneva, Marseille, Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Basel, Zurich and Hamburg.

On 1 May, 1931, the airport building was completed. Princess Astrid gave the starting signal for the "Baltic Air Express", an airline which flew from London via Antwerp, Düsseldorf, Essen and Hamburg to Malmö and via Copenhagen, Düsseldorf and Antwerp back to London.

In 1963, with the start of the jet age, several flights stopped because the new aircraft required a runway of at least 2500 metres. Because of this decline in activities, the Minister of Traffic and Transport considered closing down the airport. Both the Chamber of Industry of Antwerp and burgomaster Craeybeckx and the port sheriff Leo Delwaide continued to support the airport.

In 1984, growing importance of Antwerp as a regional freight centre. Following KLM, SABENA, Pan Am and Air France, Lufthansa started a daily freight link, so that the Antwerp region was connected to the extensive Frankfurt network. Start of the urgent restoration of the airport, which took several years.

In 1996, Delta Air Transport transferred its technical departments to Zaventem. The large hangar was made available during the course of the year and then leased by Airventure.

Cooperation between the airport management and the Aviation Society of Antwerp led to the publication of Antwerp Approach, a regular free publication containing information on the airport for the general public.

On 20 June, 2006, arrival of Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima at the start of the three-day state visit to Belgium. The Dutch queen was welcomed by King Albert II, Queen Paola, Prince Filip and Princess Mathilde.

In order to promote and develop Antwerp Airport, start-up contribution is granted to airlines that start new routes from the Antwerp airport or increase the frequency on existing routes between this airport and other European airports.

The airport authority has developed a declaration with regard to the safety policy of Antwerp Airport.

Antwerp Airport wishes to maintain and improve the level of safety.

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Location

Antwerp Airport Luchthavenlei z/n
B-2100 Antwerpen
Belgium

Contact Info
Telephone: 
+32-3-285.65.00
Email: 
Contact Form
Web: 
http://www.antwerp-airport.be

Antwerpen / Deurne Weather info
Clear sky

Location of this weather station:
1.2 km North-Northeast
Reported on:
Sun, 2012-02-05 22:20


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