The airport replaced a facility that had been open since 1939.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of Germany's Munich Airport (MUC). Known in the country's native tongue as Flughafen München, the facility has grown to become not just one of the busiest airports in Germany, but also in Europe and even the world as a whole. Let's take a brief look back at its history.
The new airport was named after Franz Josef Strauss, who had served as the Minister-President of the state of Bavaria, where Munich is located, until his death in 1988. The facility's purpose was to replace the older Munich-Riem Airport, which had been operational for more than six decades, having opened in October 1939.
Munich-Riem became an important facility in postwar Germany, as it was the first airport in the country to be used for civil aviation after the conflict. April 1948 marked the first post-war commercial arrival, in the form of a Pan Am Douglas DC-3. Then, after two runway extensions, 1958 saw the airport handle its first jets.
Sadly, 1958 was also a year of tragedy for the airport, as this was when the Munich Air Disaster took place. Simple Flying took a detailed look at this accident, which resulted in 23 deaths, last year. In 1962, passenger numbers exceeded the one million mark, with four million a year being processed nine years later. This rose to 12 million by the early 1990s, and a solution to the congestion was needed.
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Fortunately, German authorities had already foreseen the potential for the congestion issues that would later befall Munich-Riem Airport. Indeed, they reached the decision to construct a new facility as early as August 1969, although the process of building the airport didn't start until more than 11 years later.
This process eventually commenced in November 1980, and required 400 residents of the village of Franzheim to be resettled. It would be more than a decade before scheduled commercial flight operations would commence at the facility. As a result, Munich-Riem Airport subsequently stayed open until May 16th, 1992.
Shortly before midnight on the date in question, the old facility ceased operations, and a quick overnight transfer of operations to the new Franz Josef Strauss Airport followed. This allowed the new hub to open the following day, on May 17th, 1992, at which point it took on Riem's 'MUC' IATA code. But how is the airport faring today?
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Throughout recent history, Munich has consistently been Germany's second-busiest airport, with its passenger figures only exceeded by first-placed Frankfurt Airport. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of people it handled across the year grew from 34.7 million to 47.9 million, before the coronavirus pandemic halted this growth.
In 2020, the figure dropped by nearly 77% to just 11.1 million. Nonetheless, 2021 saw a 12.5% improvement, with the number rising, coincidentally, to just under 12.5 million. The airport is a hub for German flag carrier Lufthansa, as well as its regional brand, Lufthansa CityLine. Meanwhile, airlines such as Air Dolomiti, Condor, Eurowings, and TUI consider Munich to be a focus city.
What do you make of Munich Airport's 30-year-history? Have you ever flown to or from the facility? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Journalist – A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for aviation history, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft even if doing so demands an unorthodox itinerary. A keen amateur photographer, he also recently reached the milestone of flying his 100th sector as a passenger. Based in Norwich, UK.