50 years Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport - Part II

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport will celebrate its 50th anniversary year in 2019. Before the large fair at the home port takes place on June 15 and 16, 2019, the airport looks back to the years 1983 to 2000 in the second part of the four-part series.

After the start of the second expansion phase in 1983, in which the large runway and apron was built, it was finally 1984: The regional airfield was officially declared the airport of Paderborn / Lippstadt. To date, the airport is the home port of the region and brings its guests almost from the front door in and far away destinations worldwide.  

The first flights were initially domestic German to Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart and from 1985 to Berlin. After the completion of a new aircraft hangar and the expansion of the parking areas, the extension of the runway to a length of 2,180 meters was finally completed in 1988. Now the airport was open for international tourism charter traffic. The first sun destinations included Palma de Mallorca and Gran Canaria.

With the reunification in 1990, the connection to the east and the airports Leipzig and Dresden were included in the flight plan. In order to best serve the numerous passengers, drafts for the construction of a new passenger building were put out to tender in an architectural competition. Already a year later, the execution began.

In October 1990 Dr. Friedrich Siebecke took over the management and succeeded Dr. Heribert Wesche. His first official acts included a reorganization of the shares and the inclusion of the city of Bielefeld as shareholder. In 1991, the company was renamed "Flughafen Paderborn / Lippstadt GmbH" and the registered office was relocated from Paderborn to Büren-Ahden. Meanwhile, passenger numbers and demand for new destinations continued to increase. In the same year the tourism charter air traffic started to Turkey and the first winter flight program to the Canary Islands was carried out.

Between 1992 and 1994, the airport invested large sums in order to expand further parts, acquire adjacent forest and arable land. These offered space for further aircraft and new winter service halls as well as additional parking spaces. With the opening of the new Terminal A and the widening of the runway to 45 meters in 1993, Paderborn / Lippstadt Airport became increasingly attractive for national and international airlines. A highlight in the mid-nineties was the stationing of a Boeing 737-400 from Air Berlin at the home port.

The Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport was now one of the five departure airports of Air Berlin in Germany. From 1995, the long-time operations manager Fritz Henze joined the management and continued the planning and construction work on the twin round halls for small aircraft and the construction of the second aircraft hangar. For the first time, a profit for the year was achieved and it gave the green light for further construction measures and the expansion of air traffic.

From 1996,  Eurowings started from Paderborn-Lippstadt for the first time to the international hub at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. In 1998, the expansion of the passenger building was completed and the apron expanded. The offer was extended by further charter flights and a regular Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. Hapag-Lloyd also stationed a Boeing 737 at the airport. A landing pad had now become an international airport.

How the new millennium was rung in with the completion of the new arrival terminal and the pier facility, you will experience in the third part of the series 50 Years Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport.

For further media enquiries, please contact:

Stefan Hensel
Head of Corporate Communications
Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport
hensel-s@airport-pad.com

Image : Widening of the runway in 1992 (Source: Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport)