Leipzig Airport 1945-1989

After World War II, parts of the aviation industry resumed work at the severely damaged airport. From these beginnings, the state-owned company Maschinen- und Apparatebau Schkeuditz evolved in 1947. At first, they built refrigerating equipment and later on they serviced and repaired small aircraft.

From 1955, the company was part of the GDR's developing aviation industry. Now, ground equipment and aircraft parts were produced there. As a preparation for the planned aircraft development, a 2,500m long and 60m wide runway was built between 1957 and 1960. After its completion, the government stopped aircraft production completely in February 1961. Nothing was heard about the former airport in Schkeuditz for quite some time.

In the early 1960s, the Fair Airport Leipzig-Mockau was falling behind the technical requirements. The Schkeuditz runway came to mind and it was then used twice a year from 1963 as the »Leipzig Fair Airport«. The handling facilities and technical equipment had to be provisionally installed for each season of the Leipzig Fair and were dismantled afterwards. In order to end this impractical situation, a new terminal building was built north of the runway from 1966. However, it had a unique double function: for four weeks it served as an airport terminal, the rest of the year it was used as a motorway service station.

Before long, these provisional arrangements became intolerable. The facilities were gradually extended and air traffic control equipment was permanently installed so that »Leipzig Airport« could commence operation as an all-year commercial airport on 19 May 1972.

The following years were dominated by capacity bottlenecks, low investment volumes and provisional developments. Despite the economic difficulties, the aircraft handling areas were extended, new navigation systems installed and an arrivals terminal built. Between 1972 and 1988 the number of passengers increased tenfold to almost 550,000 per year.

Timetable

• 1983/84: The runway has to be renewed. A concrete layer is applied on top of the existing runway. New lighting systems are installed.
• 18 March 1986: An Air France Concorde lands in Leipzig for the first time.
• Until 1990, the Concorde runs regular flights for each Leipzig Fair.
• 1989: Construction of a building accommodating the air traffic control, airport administration, aircrews, fire station and other services.
• 10 August 1989: As a harbinger of the political changes to come, a Boeing 737 operated by »Deutsche Lufthansa« arrives at Leipzig Airport. With this, a scheduled connection between Leipzig and Frankfurt is established.