EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg - History

History

Plans for the construction of a joint Swiss-French airport started in the 1930s, but were stopped by the Second World War.

In 1946, talks were re-opened and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Blotzheim, France. France would provide the land, and the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt would provide the construction costs. Basel-Stadt's Grand Council agreed to pay the costs for a provisional airport even before the international treaty was signed (which was not until 1949). Construction began on 8 March 1946 and a provisional airport with a 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) runway was officially opened on 8 May of the same year.

Between autumn 1951 and spring 1953, the east-west runway was extended to 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) and the "Zollfreistrasse" (customs-free road) was constructed, allowing access from Basel to the departure terminal without passing through French border controls.

The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the terminals and runways were continually extended. The north-south runway was extended further to 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) in 1972. In 1984, an annual total of 1 million passengers was reached.

In 1987, the official name was changed to "Euro-Airport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg". In 1992, a total of 2 million passengers were served, and, in 1998, 3 million. The decision was made to enlarge the terminals again with a new "Y-finger" dock. The first phase was completed in 2002 and the second phase, in 2005.

The airline Crossair was based at Basel and was its largest airline. Following the Swissair bankruptcy in 2001, and the transformation of Crossair into Swiss International Air Lines, the number of flights from Basel fell and the new terminal was initially underused. In 2004 the low cost carrier EasyJet opened a base at Basel and the passenger totals rose again, reaching 4 million in 2006.