Large construction site: Munich Airport: space for six million more passengers

One of the largest Bavarian construction projects is approaching: In “A maximum of twelve months”, the 665 million euro expansion of Terminal 1 at Munich Airport is to go into operation, as airport leader Jost Lammers announced. The construction is said to offer space for twelve small or six large aircraft and is designed for six million passengers a year. The major project had been delayed because of the Corona pandemic and should have been completed in 2023 or 2024.

Corona pandemic reduces the construction

Six million passengers a year correspond to the Hanover airport, as Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) said. “We simply build Hanover Airport again into Munich Airport.”

According to project manager Katrin Hennig, the airport company FMG originally estimated the construction costs with less than 500 Miilion euros. Since the construction costs have also increased significantly in the course of the Corona pandemic, it is now becoming considerably more expensive. The calculation adapted to the corona is, according to Hennig, both in terms of time and in the cost plan.

Extra passenger bridge for the A380

The 360 ​​-meter extension is intended, especially for the rapidly growing international air traffic. From June 26th, the Hong Kong Airline Cathay Pacific will also start and land in Munich as the latest new addition. Especially for the world’s largest passenger aircraft A380 used in intercontinental transport, the entry or exit over two floors on three passenger bridges is planned at the same time.

Tests of the technical facility are already underway during the construction phase. Last year 2024, the second largest German airport in Frankfurt counted 41.6 million passengers. That was still significantly less than the previous record of 48 million passengers in 2019.