Munich Airport has announced plans to expand Terminal 1. With the construction of a new pier and a central building complex, the terminal will gain capacity for an additional 6 million passengers per year. “The planned expansion is comparable to the construction of an entirely new airport. It will bring Terminal 1 right up to date. The added capacity will be equivalent to the annual traffic of a mid-sized German airport such as Hanover, for example. This will help Bavaria’s gateway to the world remain competitive and keep pace with growth in passenger demand. And after all, Munich Airport’s ability to fulfill its mission will be crucial to Bavaria’s attractiveness as a place to do business in the future,” said Dr. Markus Söder, the Bavarian  finance minister and chairman of Munich Airport’s supervisory Board. Dr. Söder joined Dr. Michael Kerkloh, the airport’s CEO, and Chief Commercial Officer Andrea Gebbeken today to present the initial plans for the expansion project.

The new pier will be linked to the existing A and B modules of Terminal 1 and will extend 320 meters into Munich Airport’s western apron. It will have stands to handle up to 12 aircraft, including two equipped for Airbus A380 superjumbos. The overall architectural design is based on a three-level structure consisting of a core adjoining the existing Terminal 1 and a pier. At the apron level, the baggage claim area and departure gates for non-pierside aircraft will be located. The level will be connected to the existing terminal at Module B. The core building will contain the central security and passport control facilities and a marketplace with high-quality dining and retail offerings. The departure gates, inside the pier, will also be on this level. The level above the departure area will serve to channel arriving passengers, depending on whether they are headed for the security screening for connecting passengers on that level or down to the baggage claim area. This level will also have attractively designed and spacious lounge areas. The expansion project, including the affected arrival areas in the existing Module B, will have a total area of about 80,000 square meters.  The general planning will be carried out by the consortium of engineering firms and architects “SSF Ingenieure AG / Schüßler-Plan Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH / JSK Architkci Sp. z o o, Warschau / sop Architekten GmbH”.

“With the expansion of Terminal 1 we are taking an important step to secure the future of our airport. For the airlines already operating here, we are opening up long-term growth perspectives while creating space for new airlines that want to offer flights to and from Munich in the future,” said airport CEO Michael Kerkloh at the project presentation. After in-depth planning and a decision on the project by the airport’s governing bodies, the first construction work on the apron could begin in 2018. The new pier will go into operation in 2022 at the earliest. According to initial estimates, the project will cost a total of 400 million euros, which Munich Airport will finance with its own resources.