Leipzig/Halle Airport (IATA: LEJ, ICAO: EDDP) (German: Flughafen Leipzig/Halle) is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany, and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.

Quick Facts Leipzig/Halle Airport Flughafen Leipzig/Halle, Summary ...

Leipzig/Halle Airport Flughafen Leipzig/Halle
IATA: LEJ ICAO: EDDP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding AG
Operator	Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH
Serves	Leipzig and Halle
Location	Schkeuditz, Germany
Hub for	AeroLogic Amazon Air[1] Antonov Airlines[2][3] DHL Aviation
Focus city for	Condor Volga-Dnepr Airlines[2][3] (suspended)
Elevation AMSL	470 ft / 143 m
Coordinates	51°25′26″N 012°14′11″E
Website	mdf-ag.com
Map
LEJ Location of airport in Saxony
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 08L/26R 3,600 11,811 Concrete 08R/26L 3,600 11,811 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 1,558,602 +133,4% Aircraft movements 0,080,902 00+6,3% Cargo (metric tons) 1,510,575 00-5,1%
Sources: Statistics at ADV.[4], AIP at German air traffic control.[5]

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It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and handled more than 2.61 million passengers in 2019 mainly with flights to European leisure destinations. In terms of cargo traffic, the airport is the fifth-busiest in Europe and the second-busiest in Germany after Frankfurt Airport, having handled 1,238,343 metric tonnes of cargo in 2019. The airport serves as the main European hub for DHL Aviation and the main hub for AeroLogic. Military installations have also been built at the airport for NATO and EU military aircraft.^[6]

The airport was built new from the ground up at a location between Halle and Leipzig from 1926 and opened in 1927.^{[citation needed]}

On 18 March 1986, Air France flew a Concorde to the airport, to coincide with the world-renowned Leipzig trade fair. Two days later British Airways also flew a Concorde to Leipzig/Halle.^{[citation needed]} In the following years, both airlines operated Concorde flights from Paris and London when the trade fair was held in Leipzig.

Despite its name, the airport is located in the town of Schkeuditz, Nordsachsen. A deal between the city of Leipzig and the Landkreis Delitzsch led to a land exchange. In 2007, Leipzig received land outside the airport while ownership of the airport land was transferred to Delitzsch. The District of Delitzsch, which by now has merged to become part of Landkreis Nordsachsen, owns and claims taxes from the grounds and commercial interest from the airport.^{[citation needed]}

DHL Aviation moved its European hub from Brussels Airport to Leipzig/Halle in early 2008, leading to a significant increase in cargo traffic at the airport. Leipzig bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and the airport was modernised as a result, even though London was eventually awarded the games.^{[citation needed]}

In spring 2013, Ryanair announced the start of operations to Leipzig/Halle on six routes. However, one year later all of them except the flights to London–Stansted were terminated.^[7] In February 2015, Etihad Regional announced the immediate termination of all their Leipzig/Halle operations which had started only two years earlier, due to changes to their operational concept. All three routes were shut down while two newly announced ones did not start.^[8]

In September 2016, Pakistan International Airlines announced plans to replace Manchester on their Islamabad - Manchester - New York City route with Leipzig/Halle in 2017 to lower operational costs and save time. As the airline holds Fifth Freedom rights, this would be Leipzig/Halle's first passenger service to the United States.^[9] In October 2017 the airline announced it would end of all routes to the United States, so plans to use Leipzig as a layover to New York-JFK never came to be.^[10]

In October 2016, DHL inaugurated a major expansion to its freight facilities at the airport. Two new cargo terminals increased handling capacity by 50 percent.^[11]

As of April 2018, the largest passenger airline at Leipzig/Halle Airport (measured by weekly departures) is Condor with 55 outgoing flights per week. For this purpose, three Airbus A321 aircraft are stationed at the airport. The second-largest airline was Small Planet Airlines (Germany) with 18 outgoing flights per week. The airline stationed an Airbus A320 aircraft to serve several leisure destinations for TUI Group.^[12] It was followed by SunExpress Deutschland which operated 15 weekly departures and stationed for this a Boeing 737 aircraft at the airport.^[13][14]

In August 2018, DHL announced further expansion of its facilities at the airport. Beside an enlargement of the apron, a new pilot training center was also planned. The number of employees was to increase from 5700 to 6000.^[15] At the same time, EAT Leipzig announced that they would add five used Airbus A330 freighters to their fleet, for a total of 36 aircraft.^[16] Also in August 2018, the Russian Volga-Dnepr Group announced plans to launch a new German freight subsidiary based at the airport.^[17][18]

The airport's facilities have been featured in major films and TV shows during recent years:

• In December 2004, Leipzig/Halle Airport was a filming location for Flightplan starring Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard.^[57] According to the film, Jodie Foster's flight departs from Berlin but all shots showing Berlin's supposed airport were actually taken at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
• In 2010, the check-in area of Leipzig/Halle was a filming location for Unknown starring Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger.^[58]
• The airport's terminal and apron were featured heavily in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's live-action film Captain America: Civil War (2016). Branded equipment featuring the airport's logo was shown several times during the scenes.
• The airport's hallway between the check-in area and the public departure/arrival area was featured in the Netflix series Inventing Anna, which tells the story of Anna Sorokin.^[59] In the series, an American journalist flies to Berlin to conduct research on Anna's upbringing for her next article but all airport scenes were shot at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

• On September 1, 1975, Interflug Flight 1107 crashed on approach to the airport when the Tupolev TU-134 descended too quickly, not following the proper approach path, while the crew failed to monitor their altitude, leading to a CFIT. 27 of the 34 people on board perished.

• Transport in Germany
• List of airports in Germany
• Kursdorf, a ghost village located between the airport's runways