Dresden Airport equipped for Obama visit
US President Barack Obama is expected at Dresden International Airport on 4 and 5 June as part of his scheduled visit to Germany. With its modern facilities and revamped runway, the airport is very well equipped for the presidential visit.
As things stand at the moment, the arrival and departure of Air Force One will have no impact on regular flights. Scheduled and charter flights are expected to be able to run as per normal, although there may be some slight adjustments to arrival and departure times. The latest flight status updates can be viewed online at www.dresden-airport.de and on MDR videotext (page 720).
The runway was completely renovated and extended by 350 metres to 2850 metres in 2006/07. Since then, aircraft of any size up to the Boeing 767 have been able to take off and land in Dresden with no runway length related payload or range restrictions.
The presidential plane, Air Force One, a Boeing 747-200, will be handled on the ground at Dresden by PortGround GmbH, a subsidiary of Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding, and other handling partners using state-of-the-art equipment.
Dr. Michael Hupe, CEO of Flughafen Dresden GmbH: »President Obama’s planned visit is wonderful publicity for our fascinating city. As an airport we are looking forward to this challenge. After Vladimir Putin’s visit in January, this is a second highlight of the year.«
The presidential plane bears the words "United States of America” and has the official designation “VC-25A”. It is about 71 metres long, 19 metres high and has a wing span of almost 60 metres. It has a range of approximately 15,400 kilometres and a maximum speed of 1120 km/h. Apart from Air Force One, a total of ten cargo planes and one aircraft carrying press and media representatives will also be handled at Dresden during Barack Obama’s visit to Germany.
Contact
Flughafen Dresden GmbH
Press office
- Telefonnummer
- +49-(0)351-8813031
- Faxnummer
- +49-(0)351-8813035
- E-Mail Adresse
- presse@dresden-airport.de
Flughafen Dresden GmbH in brief
Flughafen Dresden GmbH is a subsidiary of the Central German Airports Group. In 2008 Dresden Airport registered 1.86 million passengers and 36,968 aircraft movements.
The current summer schedule, which is valid until 24 October 2009, features 280 departures per week to 46 destinations in 13 countries in South and Central Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Dresden International Airport's catchment area includes Saxony, Southern Brandenburg, Northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Lower Silesia in Poland.
