Bern Airport

Bern Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Flughafen Bern AG
Serves Bern, Switzerland
Location Belp
Hub for Helvetic Airways
Elevation AMSL 1,673 ft / 510 m
Coordinates 46°54′44″N 07°29′57″E / 46.91222°N 7.49917°E / 46.91222; 7.49917Coordinates: 46°54′44″N 07°29′57″E / 46.91222°N 7.49917°E / 46.91222; 7.49917
Website www.bernairport.ch
Map
BRN
Location of the airport in Switzerland
BRN
BRN (Bern)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 1,730 5,676 Asphalt
14L/32R 650 2,133 Grass
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 183,319
Source: Swiss AIP at EUROCONTROL

Bern Airport (IATA: BRN, ICAO: LSZB / LSMB), formerly Regionalflugplatz Bern-Belp in German (In English: "Regional Airport Bern-Belp), is an airport serving Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The airport is located within the town limits of Belp,[1] and features flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations. It handled 183,319 passengers in 2016, a decrease of 3.5 percent over 2015.[2] It serves as a base for Helvetic Airways and was the home base of now defunct SkyWork Airlines.

History

The airport was established in 1929 by Alpar, a private airline that operated within Switzerland until the outbreak of World War II. After the war, Alpar remained in business as the airport's operator, supported by subsidies of the cantonal and city government.[3] A planned expansion of the airport in 1947 did not pass in a popular referendum, and it was not until 1950 that the first concrete airstrip was built. In 2014, Alpar was renamed to Flughafen Bern AG - Bern Airport.

Multiple attempts to build an international airport in or around Bern instead of the small regional airport at Belpmoos failed. In 1945, the national parliament decided to build the first international airport, now Zürich Airport, at Kloten near Zürich instead of in Utzensdorf near Bern, though plans for development there were retained as an inter-urban airport which would require less space and thus placate local opposition by farming interests.[4] A 1963 airport project near Herrenschwanden was abandoned because of strong popular opposition, notably by farmers, as was a 1966 project in Rosshäusern and a 1970 project Kallnach.[5]

In December 2016, bmi regional ceased its flights from Munich Airport to Bern after two years which it served in direct competition with SkyWork Airlines.[6] In May 2018, RUAG announced that it would close its operation at the airport in September 2018, citing declining business.[7]

In August 2018, the airport's largest carrier SkyWork Airlines declared bankruptcy and ceased all operations[8] leaving Helvetic Airways as the sole airline serving the airport with 84 percent less traffic.[9]

Facilities

Aerial view of Bern Airport

The airport has multiple touchdown areas, a paved runway (14/32 of 1,730 metres (5,676 ft), a grass runway (32L/14R of 650 metres (2,133 ft), a heli-square, and a glider area. Runway 14 has an ILS approach and an NDB approach. The existing terminal was expanded to better accommodate flights to the non-Schengen area in 2011. Planned development includes new taxiways and a new parking area.

The Biderhangar, one of the airport's hangars built by Swiss aviation pioneer Oskar Bider, is listed as a heritage site of national significance. The airport also houses the head office of Heliswiss.[10] Previously the North Terminal housed the head office of SkyWork Airlines.[11][12]

Other usage

The aircraft of the air transport service of the Swiss Air Force are stationed at Bern Airport. These are two jets and two turboprops. The former ones are mainly used for VIP transport and particularly the transport of members of the Federal Council. They are also used for other purposes, for example deportations or to support international peacekeeping measures. The two turboprop DHC-6 Twin Otter and Beechcraft King Air are not usually used for VIP flights, but for the passenger transport as well as for the country's topography service.[13] The Beechcraft 1900 is also used by the country's topography service for the same tasks. The two jets are a Dassault Falcon 900[14] and a Cessna Citation Excel.

Additionally, Bern Airport serves as the homebase of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation. A base of the air rescue organization Rega is also located at the Airport, using a Eurocopter EC 145.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Bern Airport:[15]

AirlinesDestinations
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Calvi, Heraklion, Jerez, Kos, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes

Statistics

Year Passengers Change
2010 85,981 Decrease9.6%
2011 169,288 Increase96.9%
2012 258,543 Increase52.7%
2013 244,699 Decrease5.4%
2014 177,539 Decrease27.5%
2015 190,032 Increase7.0%
2016 183,319 Decrease3.5%

Ground transportation

Two bus lines serve the airport: the AirportBus Bern (line 334) connects the terminal every half-hour with Belp railway station where passengers can connect to frequent S-Bahn trains S3, S4, S31 and S44 to Bern main station. The journey time to Bern city center is 30 minutes. The bus line 160 connects the airport with Belp, Rubigen and Münsingen (connection to S-Bahn trains S1).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ortsplan Archived August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.." Town of Belp. Retrieved on 8 December 2010.
  2. ↑ http://flughafenbern.ch/de/unternehmen/medien-news/medienmitteilungen
  3. ↑ Benedikt Meyer: Im Flug. Schweizer Airlines und ihre Passagiere, 1919-2002. Chronos, Zürich 2014, ISBN 978-3-0340-1238-6
  4. ↑ Bell, E. A. (10 May 1945). "Swiss Planning". Flight and Aircraft Engineer. Royal Aero Club. XLVII (1898): 501. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Das Grounding aller Berner Flughafenpläne". Berner Zeitung. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. ↑ http://www.aerotelegraph.com/bmi-regional-kehrt-bern-wieder-den-ruecken
  7. ↑ Forrester, Charles (May 29, 2018). "RUAG feels pinch in Aviation, Defence". Jane's Information Group. According to the company in a statement on 28 May, “insufficient capacity utilisation and expiring maintenance contracts” had caused RUAG Aviation to decide to close its operation at Bern-Belp Airport at the end of September.
  8. ↑ https://www.derbund.ch/wirtschaft/unternehmen-und-konjunktur/Skywork-Airlines-ist-pleite--11-000-Passagiere-betroffen/story/24765644
  9. ↑ http://www.airliners.de/schweizer-skywork-airlines-betrieb/46571
  10. ↑ "Bern-Belp base Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine.." Heliswiss. Retrieved on 25 February 2011. "Heliswiss is an international helicopter company based at Bern-Belp Airport."
  11. ↑ "Contact." SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. "SkyWork Flughafen Bern-Belp Terminal Nord CH 3123 Bern-Belp."
  12. ↑ "Terms and conditions Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine.." SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. ""We", "our" "ourselves" and "us" means Sky Work Airlines Ltd., domiciled in Bern-Belp, Switzerland."
  13. ↑ "Lufttransportdienst des Bundes (LTDB) auf admin.ch". Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  14. ↑ "Mittel: Flugzeuge, Helikopter, Flab" (in German). Swiss Air Force. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  15. ↑ http://www.flughafenbern.ch/en/passengers/timetable

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