History
In 1913 the first plane took off from the Wahner Heide military training area on an artillery reconnaissance flight. In 1939 an airfield was built for the German Luftwaffe.
After World War II the British military took over and expanded the airport. A 1,866 m runway was built in this period. In 1951 the airport was opened for civilian air traffic, superseding the former Cologne Butzweilerhof Airport.
During the 50s and 60s two more runways and a new terminal were constructed. On 1 November 1970 a Boeing 747 took off for New York City for the first time.
In 1986 Cologne/Bonn Airport was chosen by United Parcel Service (UPS) as the location for their European hub.
In the late 1990s the Airport started an expansion program. Several new parking lots and a second terminal were built, and in 2004 a new long-distance railway station was opened.
In 2006 the Brazilian airline BRA provided a twice a week connection to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, which was discontinued in April 2007 due to problems with the airline. Also in 2006 a daily transatlantic flight to New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport by Continental Airlines was established, operating with a Boeing 757-200. This route was discontinued on September 4, 2008 because of a reduction in passenger numbers. Currently there are five long distance flights from Cologne/Bonn; to Teheran-Imam Khomeini, Sal (Cape Verde), Boa Vista (Cape Verde), Luxor and Marsa Alam. Additionally there are several long haul freight flight, e.g. to Hong Kong, Delhi, Chicago-O'Hare, New York-JFK, Dubai, Shanghai-Pudong, Mumbai or Philadelphia.
Read more about this topic: Cologne Bonn Airport
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