EUROPE'S AIRLINES are finalising their plans for maintaining services to Stuttgart Airport, Germany, ahead of the partial closure of the airport at the end of July.
British Aerospace 146s and Avro International Aerospace Avroliners will be the only jet-powered passenger aircraft able to be operated to and from Stuttgart between July 31 and October 4, while most of the airport's main runway is reconstructed. De Havilland Dash 8, Fokker 50 and Saab 340 turboprops will also continue to be operated.
The runway closure will result in a 55% reduction in normal scheduled passenger numbers and a 70% cut in charter passenger numbers. The airport handled 5.5 million passengers in 1994.
During the reconstruction work, a 1,625m (5,500ft)-long and 30m-wide parallel taxiway, equipped with navigation aids and additional lighting, will be used as a temporary runway.
Because of the runway restrictions being imposed by the Stuttgart authorities on jet-powered aircraft, British Airways is wet-leasing a BAe 146-200 from Alpine Aviation for its services from London Heathrow to Stuttgart, while its German subsidiary, Deutsche BA, will use a 146-300 leased from Crossair for domestic flights to Berlin Tegel. Lufthansa will replace Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 flights with Avro RJ85 services operated by its CityLine regional subsidiary.
Under the airport's development project, the runway is also being extended by 795m, to 3,345m, and should be ready for unrestricted operations by August 1996.
Source: Flight International
