- Dresden Airport examines plans for smaller terminal
- Existing terminal opened in 2001 considered oversized
- Constructing new smaller terminal preferred over downsizing
- No final decisions made on construction or financing
- Leipzig/Halle Airport also subject to infrastructure changes
Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG is examining plans to construct a smaller terminal building for Dresden Airport in Germany. Under this proposal the airport’s existing passenger terminal which opened 25 years ago in 2001 would be decommissioned and potentially demolished. According to MFAG’s CEO Götz Ahmelmann the current terminal was built on a scale that was significantly too large leading to poor capacity utilisation amid declining passenger numbers.
The operating company has decided that constructing an entirely new smaller terminal is a better path forward than trying to downsize the physical layout of the existing building. Ahmelmann noted that renovating or altering the scale of the current terminal structure would actually be more expensive and is therefore deemed unsuitable.
The project is in its early planning phases. A spokesperson for the German Press Agency confirmed that no final decisions have been made regarding concrete construction, specific financing or an exact location. The infrastructure overhaul also impacts Leipzig/Halle Airport the other facility operated by MFAG. At Leipzig/Halle the operator is planning to simplify operations by removing passenger boarding bridges, moving check-in areas closer to the departure terminal and having passengers walk directly to the aircraft.
