The Regional Aerodrome Bern-Belp (IATA: BRN, ICAO: LSZB / LSMB), marketed as Bern Airport,[a] officially referred to as Regionalflugplatz Bern-Belp in German, is a regional aerodrome serving Bern, the de facto capital of Switzerland. The aerodrome is located within the town limits of Belp,[1] and used to feature scheduled flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations. It handled 183,319 passengers in 2016, a decrease of 3.5 percent over 2015.[2]
It was the home base of now defunct SkyWork Airlines whose grounding caused the aerodrome to lose more than 1/3 of its turnover. Currently the charter operator Helvetic Airways and Peoples Airways offer a limited number of flights during the holiday season, the Swiss Federal Government's air transport service Lufttransportdienst des Bundes have based two business jets at the aerodrome, the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service operator REGA has one of its bases at Belp and two helicopter transport companies as well as two flying schools (one motorised, one for gliders) operate at the aerodrome.
The aerodrome was established in 1929 by Alpar, a private airline that operated within Switzerland until the outbreak of World War II. After the war, Alpar remained in business as the aerodrome's operator, supported by subsidies of the cantonal and city government.[3] A planned expansion in 1947 did not pass in a popular referendum, and it was not until 1950 that the first concrete airstrip was built. In 2014, Alpar was renamed to Flughafen Bern AG.
Multiple attempts to build an international airport in or around Bern instead of the small regional aerodrome at Belpmoos failed. In 1945, the national parliament decided to build the first international airport, now Zurich Airport, at Kloten near Zürich instead of in Utzensdorf near Bern, though plans for development there were retained as an inter-urban airport which would require less space and thus placate local opposition by farming interests.[4] A 1963 airport project near Herrenschwanden was abandoned because of strong popular opposition, notably by farmers, as was a 1966 project in Rosshäusern and a 1970 project Kallnach.[5]
In December 2016, bmi regional ceased its flights from Munich Airport to Bern after two years which it served in direct competition with SkyWork Airlines.[6] In May 2018, RUAG announced that it would close its operation at the aerodrome in September 2018, citing declining business.[7]
In August 2018, the aerodrome's largest carrier SkyWork Airlines declared bankruptcy and ceased all operations[8] leaving Helvetic Airways as the sole Swiss airline serving the aerodrome with 84 percent less traffic.[9] Since then however, Chair Airlines, also a Swiss Airline, has begun offering services to the airport.[10]
Facilities
The aerodrome has multiple touchdown areas, a paved runway (14/32 of 1,730 metres (5,676 ft), a grass runway (32L/14R of 650 metres (2,133 ft, as of 2017 inoperable), a heli-square, and a glider area. Runway 14 has an ILS approach and an NDB approach (for training use only, will be decommissioned in 2019). The existing terminal was expanded to better accommodate flights to the non-Schengen area in 2011.
The aircraft of the air transport service of the Swiss Air Force are stationed at Bern Regional Aerodrome. These are two jets and two turboprops. The former ones are mainly used for VIP transport and particularly the transport of members of the Federal Council. They are also used for other purposes, for example deportations or to support international peacekeeping measures. The two turboprop DHC-6 Twin Otter and Beechcraft King Air are not usually used for VIP flights, but for the passenger transport as well as for the country's topography service.[14] The Beechcraft 1900 is also used by the country's topography service for the same tasks. The two jets are a Dassault Falcon 900[15] and a Cessna Citation Excel.
Annual passenger traffic at BRN airport. See Wikidata query.
Year
Passengers
Change
2010
85,981
09.6%
2011
169,288
096.9%
2012
258,543
052.7%
2013
244,699
05.4%
2014
177,539
027.5%
2015
190,032
07.0%
2016
183,319
03.5%
2017
182,917
00.2%
2018
151,621
017.1%
Ground transportation
Two bus lines serve the airport: the AirportBus Bern (line 334) connects the terminal every half-hour with Belp railway station where passengers can connect to frequent S-Bahn trains S3, S4, S31 and S44 to Bern main station. The journey time to Bern city center is 30 minutes. The bus line 160 connects the airport with Belp, Rubigen and Münsingen (connection to S-Bahn trains S1).
^"Ortsplan August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine." Town of Belp. Retrieved on 8 December 2010.
^"Bern Airport - Flughafen Bern AG | Verwaltungsrat und Geschäftsleitung". Flughafenbern.ch. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
^Benedikt Meyer: Im Flug. Schweizer Airlines und ihre Passagiere, 1919-2002. Chronos, Zürich 2014, ISBN978-3-0340-1238-6
^Bell, E. A. (10 May 1945). "Swiss Planning". Flight and Aircraft Engineer. Royal Aero Club. XLVII (1898): 501. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
^"Das Grounding aller Berner Flughafenpläne". Berner Zeitung. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
^"Skywork-Konkurrenz: BMI Regional kehrt Bern wieder den Rücken". aeroTELEGRAPH. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
^Forrester, Charles (May 29, 2018). "RUAG feels pinch in Aviation, Defence". Jane's Information Group. According to the company in a statement on 28 May, "insufficient capacity utilisation and expiring maintenance contracts" had caused RUAG Aviation to decide to close its operation at Bern-Belp Regional Aerodrome at the end of September.
^"Skywork Airlines ist pleite – 11'000 Passagiere mit wertlosen Tickets". Der Bund.
^"Bern-Belp base 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine." Heliswiss. Retrieved on 25 February 2011. "Heliswiss is an international helicopter company based at Bern-Belp Airport."
^"." SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. "SkyWork Flughafen Bern-Belp Terminal Nord CH 3123 Bern-Belp."
^"Terms and conditions 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine." SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. ""We", "our" "ourselves" and "us" means Sky Work Airlines Ltd., domiciled in Bern-Belp, Switzerland."
^. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
^ (in German). Swiss Air Force. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
^bernairport.ch - Destinationen retrieved 14 November 2021
^"Helvetic will operated from Bern, Sion and Zurich in summer 2023".
^ ab"Lübeck Air und SFS Swiss Flight Services fliegen Charter ab Bern". aeroTELEGRAPH. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
bern, airport, regional, aerodrome, bern, belp, iata, icao, lszb, lsmb, marketed, officially, referred, regionalflugplatz, bern, belp, german, regional, aerodrome, serving, bern, facto, capital, switzerland, aerodrome, located, within, town, limits, belp, used. The Regional Aerodrome Bern Belp IATA BRN ICAO LSZB LSMB marketed as Bern Airport a officially referred to as Regionalflugplatz Bern Belp in German is a regional aerodrome serving Bern the de facto capital of Switzerland The aerodrome is located within the town limits of Belp 1 and used to feature scheduled flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations It handled 183 319 passengers in 2016 a decrease of 3 5 percent over 2015 2 Regional Aerodrome Bern BelpIATA BRNICAO LSZB LSMBSummaryAirport typePublic Regional AerodromeOperatorFlughafen Bern AGServesBern SwitzerlandLocationBelpElevation AMSL1 673 ft 510 mCoordinates46 54 44 N 07 29 57 E 46 91222 N 7 49917 E 46 91222 7 49917 Coordinates 46 54 44 N 07 29 57 E 46 91222 N 7 49917 E 46 91222 7 49917Websitewww wbr flughafenbern wbr chMapBRN LSZBLocation of the airport in SwitzerlandShow map of SwitzerlandBRN LSZBBRN LSZB Bern Show map of BernRunwaysDirection Length Surfacem ft14 32 1 730 5 676 Asphalt14L 32R 650 2 133 GrassStatistics 2018 Passengers151 621Aircraft movements44 706Source Swiss AIP at EUROCONTROLIt was the home base of now defunct SkyWork Airlines whose grounding caused the aerodrome to lose more than 1 3 of its turnover Currently the charter operator Helvetic Airways and Peoples Airways offer a limited number of flights during the holiday season the Swiss Federal Government s air transport service Lufttransportdienst des Bundes have based two business jets at the aerodrome the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service operator REGA has one of its bases at Belp and two helicopter transport companies as well as two flying schools one motorised one for gliders operate at the aerodrome Contents 1 History 2 Facilities 3 Other usage 4 Airlines and destinations 5 Statistics 6 Ground transportation 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Notes 9 External linksHistory EditThe aerodrome was established in 1929 by Alpar a private airline that operated within Switzerland until the outbreak of World War II After the war Alpar remained in business as the aerodrome s operator supported by subsidies of the cantonal and city government 3 A planned expansion in 1947 did not pass in a popular referendum and it was not until 1950 that the first concrete airstrip was built In 2014 Alpar was renamed to Flughafen Bern AG Multiple attempts to build an international airport in or around Bern instead of the small regional aerodrome at Belpmoos failed In 1945 the national parliament decided to build the first international airport now Zurich Airport at Kloten near Zurich instead of in Utzensdorf near Bern though plans for development there were retained as an inter urban airport which would require less space and thus placate local opposition by farming interests 4 A 1963 airport project near Herrenschwanden was abandoned because of strong popular opposition notably by farmers as was a 1966 project in Rosshausern and a 1970 project Kallnach 5 In December 2016 bmi regional ceased its flights from Munich Airport to Bern after two years which it served in direct competition with SkyWork Airlines 6 In May 2018 RUAG announced that it would close its operation at the aerodrome in September 2018 citing declining business 7 In August 2018 the aerodrome s largest carrier SkyWork Airlines declared bankruptcy and ceased all operations 8 leaving Helvetic Airways as the sole Swiss airline serving the aerodrome with 84 percent less traffic 9 Since then however Chair Airlines also a Swiss Airline has begun offering services to the airport 10 Facilities EditThe aerodrome has multiple touchdown areas a paved runway 14 32 of 1 730 metres 5 676 ft a grass runway 32L 14R of 650 metres 2 133 ft as of 2017 inoperable a heli square and a glider area Runway 14 has an ILS approach and an NDB approach for training use only will be decommissioned in 2019 The existing terminal was expanded to better accommodate flights to the non Schengen area in 2011 The Biderhangar one of the aerodrome s hangars built by Swiss aviation pioneer Oskar Bider is listed as a heritage site of national significance The aerodrome also houses the head office of Heliswiss 11 Previously the North Terminal housed the head office of SkyWork Airlines 12 13 Other usage EditThe aircraft of the air transport service of the Swiss Air Force are stationed at Bern Regional Aerodrome These are two jets and two turboprops The former ones are mainly used for VIP transport and particularly the transport of members of the Federal Council They are also used for other purposes for example deportations or to support international peacekeeping measures The two turboprop DHC 6 Twin Otter and Beechcraft King Air are not usually used for VIP flights but for the passenger transport as well as for the country s topography service 14 The Beechcraft 1900 is also used by the country s topography service for the same tasks The two jets are a Dassault Falcon 900 15 and a Cessna Citation Excel Additionally Bern Regional Aerodrome serves as the homebase of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation A base of the air rescue organization Rega is also located at the Airport using a Eurocopter EC 145 Airlines and destinations EditThe following airlines currently offer seasonal and seasonal charter flights at Bern Airport 16 AirlinesDestinationsHelvetic Airways 17 Seasonal Antalya Heraklion Kos Larnaca Palma de Mallorca RhodesLubeck AirSeasonal Jerez de la Frontera 18 Lubeck Olbia 19 Swiss Flight ServicesSeasonal charter Elba 18 Statistics Edit Aerial view of Bern Aerodrome Annual passenger traffic at BRN airport See Wikidata query Year Passengers Change2010 85 981 0 9 6 2011 169 288 0 96 9 2012 258 543 0 52 7 2013 244 699 0 5 4 2014 177 539 0 27 5 2015 190 032 0 7 0 2016 183 319 0 3 5 2017 182 917 0 0 2 2018 151 621 0 17 1 Ground transportation EditTwo bus lines serve the airport the AirportBus Bern line 334 connects the terminal every half hour with Belp railway station where passengers can connect to frequent S Bahn trains S3 S4 S31 and S44 to Bern main station The journey time to Bern city center is 30 minutes The bus line 160 connects the airport with Belp Rubigen and Munsingen connection to S Bahn trains S1 See also EditTransport in Switzerland List of the busiest airports in SwitzerlandReferences Edit Ortsplan Archived August 13 2009 at the Wayback Machine Town of Belp Retrieved on 8 December 2010 Bern Airport Flughafen Bern AG Verwaltungsrat und Geschaftsleitung Flughafenbern ch Retrieved 2022 04 17 Benedikt Meyer Im Flug Schweizer Airlines und ihre Passagiere 1919 2002 Chronos Zurich 2014 ISBN 978 3 0340 1238 6 Bell E A 10 May 1945 Swiss Planning Flight and Aircraft Engineer Royal Aero Club XLVII 1898 501 Retrieved 5 July 2016 Das Grounding aller Berner Flughafenplane Berner Zeitung 22 November 2015 Retrieved 22 November 2015 Skywork Konkurrenz BMI Regional kehrt Bern wieder den Rucken aeroTELEGRAPH 1970 01 01 Retrieved 2022 04 17 Forrester Charles May 29 2018 RUAG feels pinch in Aviation Defence Jane s Information Group According to the company in a statement on 28 May insufficient capacity utilisation and expiring maintenance contracts had caused RUAG Aviation to decide to close its operation at Bern Belp Regional Aerodrome at the end of September Skywork Airlines ist pleite 11 000 Passagiere mit wertlosen Tickets Der Bund Schweizer Skywork Airlines stellt Betrieb ein Destination Bern Belp base Archived 2011 07 11 at the Wayback Machine Heliswiss Retrieved on 25 February 2011 Heliswiss is an international helicopter company based at Bern Belp Airport Contact SkyWork Airlines Retrieved on 8 December 2010 SkyWork Flughafen Bern Belp Terminal Nord CH 3123 Bern Belp Terms and conditions Archived 2010 12 27 at the Wayback Machine SkyWork Airlines Retrieved on 8 December 2010 We our ourselves and us means Sky Work Airlines Ltd domiciled in Bern Belp Switzerland Lufttransportdienst des Bundes LTDB auf admin ch Archived from the original on 14 August 2011 Retrieved 29 October 2010 Mittel Flugzeuge Helikopter Flab in German Swiss Air Force Archived from the original on 24 June 2010 Retrieved 14 July 2009 bernairport ch Destinationen retrieved 14 November 2021 Helvetic will operated from Bern Sion and Zurich in summer 2023 a b Lubeck Air und SFS Swiss Flight Services fliegen Charter ab Bern aeroTELEGRAPH 1970 01 01 Retrieved 2022 04 17 Bern Airport Destination Bernairport ch Retrieved 2022 04 17 Notes Edit German Flughafen Bern French Aeroport de Berne Italian Aeroporto di Berna Romansh Eroport da BernaExternal links Edit Media related to Bern Belp Airport at Wikimedia Commons Official website Accident history for BRN at Aviation Safety Network Classification of airports and airfields in Switzerland Biderhangar websitePortals Switzerland Aviation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bern Airport amp oldid 1133414097, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
