Wien-Schwechat International Airport

Geschichte

Vienna International Airport is the international airport of Vienna, the capital of Austria, located in Schwechat, 18km southeast of central Vienna and 57 km west of Bratislava. It is the country's biggest airport and serves as the hub for Austrian Airlines and a base for Eurowings and Niki. It is capable of handling wide-body aircraft up to the Airbus A380. The airport features a dense network of European destinations as well as long-haul flights to Asia, North America and Africa. During 2016, the airport handled 23.4 million passengers, a 2.5% increase compared to 2015.HistoryEarly yearsOriginally built as a military airport in 1938, and used during World War II as the Heinkel firm's southern military aircraft design and production complex, or Heinkel-Süd facility, it was taken over by the British in 1945 and became RAF Schwechat under the occupation of the country. In 1954, the Betriebsgesellschaft was founded, and the airport replaced Aspern as Vienna's (and Austria's) principal aerodrome. There was just one runway, which in 1959 was expanded to measure 3000m. The erection of the new airport building starting in 1959.