Rostock–Laage Airport

Rostock–Laage Airport Flughafen Rostock–Laage
IATA: RLG – ICAO: ETNL
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Operator	Flughafen Rostock Laage-Güstrow GmbH
Serves	Rostock, Germany
Elevation AMSL	42 m / 138 ft
Coordinates	53°55′06″N 12°16′42″E / 53.91833°N 12.27833°E / 53.91833; 12.27833Coordinates: 53°55′06″N 12°16′42″E / 53.91833°N 12.27833°E / 53.91833; 12.27833
Website	www.rostock-airport.de
Map
RLG Location of Airport in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 2,500 8,202 Paved

Rostock–Laage Airport, often shortened to Rostock Airport (IATA: RLG, ICAO: ETNL), is the airport of Rostock, the largest city in the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and is named after Laage, a town in the Rostock district. It features flights to major cities throughout Germany as well as some leisure routes. In addition to civil activity, Jagdgeschwader 73 of the Luftwaffe is stationed on the military side of the airport.

History

Construction of the airport began in 1979 as a National People's Army facility. It became operational in 1984 with the Fighter Wing JBG 77 and the Navy Fighter Wing 28. It was deactivated by the Bundeswehr in 1990 and was reactivated in 1993 when Jagdgeschwader 73 was posted there. In the same year the Rostock-Laage-Güstrow GmbH begins civilian operations on a 60 hectare section of the airport.

The airport is expected to post losses of €2.8 million for 2013 while the passenger numbers decreased by 12 percent in the same year. As the government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is not willing to give additional financial aid, the airport operator may face bankruptcy in the near future.^[1] In October 2014, Rainer Schwarz, a former general manager of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (which has not yet become operational), was appointed to the same position at Rostock–Laage Airport.^[2]

In May 2015, Germania announced it would to establish a seasonal base at the airport from October 2015, locating an aircraft there.^[3] While Germania already serves Rostock, the base will lead to revised schedules for the current services as well as a new route to Fuerteventura.^[4] In June 2016, Germania announced to upgrade their seasonal base in Rostock to a year-round operation as well as adding new services to Vienna and Zürich by the end of May 2017.^[5]

Facilities

The airport consists of one modern passenger terminal building containing a large check-in hall as well as some shops and restaurants. The building is equipped with two jet bridges and apron positions. Rostock–Laage Airport usually sees traffic by mid-sized aircraft such as the Airbus A320 but is equipped to handle wide-body aircraft up to the Boeing 747-400.^[6] It also has several stands for smaller general aviation planes.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Rostock Airport:^[7]

Additionally, the airport ist frequently used for non-public cruiseship charter flights to and from Southern Europe to carry passengers travelling to and from the nearby port of Warnemünde.^[8] The nearest major international airports are Berlin Tegel Airport 190 kilometres (120 mi) to the south and Hamburg Airport 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the west.

Statistics

Aerial view

Check-in hall

	Passengers
2010	219.489
2011	223,516
2012	203,990
2013	177,464
2014	169,946
2015	190,869
Source: Rostock Airport[9]

Ground transportation

There is a bus connection to Rostock Hauptbahnhof to and from every flight, the distance is 25 km. The A19 motorway (Rostock–Berlin) is nearby.

See also

• Transport in Germany
• List of airports in Germany

References

External links

Media related to Rostock-Laage Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for ETNL at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for RLG at Aviation Safety Network