Aarhus Airport (IATA: AAR, ICAO: EKAH) is a civilian airport located in Tirstrup, Denmark, which is 19.4 nautical miles (35.9 km; 22.3 mi) northeast of Aarhus.
The airport was built in 1943 by German occupying forces (but not ultimately used) and was used as a Cold War military base for the Danish and other allied airforces until the 1990s. The airport still contains a small military depot and plays host to occasional training exercises; the last NATO exercise was in 2007.
The current passenger terminal dates from 1981 with renovations performed between 2007 and 2009. Since 1946 the airport has carried civilian traffic and has been 'temporarily' the primary one for Aarhus, despite being nearly 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the city centre and relatively inaccessible until recent road construction, such as the Djursland motorway. A plan to build a new airport closer to the city was rejected in 2003 and is a matter of ongoing debate for local authorities.
The airport carried 591,355 passengers in 2011. Many travellers to or from Aarhus use the larger Billund Airport instead, located 96 km (60 miles) away by road.
Read more about Aarhus Airport: Facilities, Transportation
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)