Munich Airport (IATAcodeMUC) is an airport 28 km north east of the city Munich, Germany. It is mainly used by Lufthansa and the Star-Alliance, which Lufthansa is in. In 2008, 34.53 million passengers used the airport. After Frankfurt am Main Munich is the second most important airport in Germany. It is the 8th largest in Europe.
History
Munich Airport was opened in 1992. Before that the airport was in Riem. Building was started in 1980.
Because Frankfurt am Main was so busy, Lufthansa began to use Munich for international flights. The Airport was named after Franz-Josef Strauss, a politician who was very interested in aeroplanes. People in Munich usually just call it München Flughafen or der Flughafen.
In 2003 the second airport terminal was opened, for people travelling on Lufthansa and Star-Alliance only.
A third runway is planned, because there is much traffic on Munich Airport, but people who live near the airport do not want it.
Geography
You can use the Munich S-Bahn lines S1 and S8 to go to the city. They both cost €8,80 and take about forty minutes. Taxis to Munich cost €50 and can get stuck because of traffic congestion.
The cities near the airport are Erding and Freising. They can be reached by Bus (~3-4 €) or Taxi (~€18).
The Munich Airport center (MAC) is between the two terminals but it is not so far. It has many shops and restaurants.
There is a Hilton Hotel near the airport and a second hotel is planned.
Terminals
Munich Airport has two terminals. Terminal 2 is newer and larger.
Terminal 1
Terminal 1 is used by the non-Star Alliance airlines. The halls or areas are numbered A-F. It was opened on 17th May 1992 20 million passengers can use it every year. At the moment the terminal is being renovated, giving more room for shops and other things. The first halls have already been finished.
68 Airlines use Terminal One.
Variable Halls
Air Transat (Calgary, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver)
Hapagfly (Antalya, Brindisi, Cairo, Catania, Dalaman, Djerba, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Hanover, Hurghada, Jerez de la Frontera, Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Luxor, Málaga, Marsa Alam, Menorca, Monastir, Palma de Mallorca, Patras, Rhodes, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Sharm el Sheikh, Tel Aviv, Tenerife)
Terminal 2 is used by all Star Alliance flights. It was opened on 29th June 2003 and nearly 20-25 million passengers can use it every year. Many passengers like the terminal because connections are easy and fast. The time needed for a connection inside the terminal is only 25 minutes, the airport and Lufthansa say.
Cirrus Airlines (Brno, Erfurt, Kiel [ends October 27, 2006], London-City)
Condor (Agadir, Antalya, Bangkok, Barcelona, Bourgas, Cancun, Cayo Coco, Dalaman, Faro, Fuerteventura, Fuchal, Hurghada, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, La Romana, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Las Palmas, Madrid, Mahe Island, Málaga, Male, Marsa Alam, Mauritius, Naples, Paphos, Palma de Mallorca, Phuket, Punta Cana, Sanat Cruz de la Palma, Sharm el Sheikh, Taba, Tenerife, Varadero, Venice)
The central area is a shopping-mall that is in between the two terminals; the older part which belongs to terminal 1 is an indoor area. The newer part which was built as the same time as the 2nd terminal is a big outside area.