Billund Lufthavn

Facts sheet April 2008 (750 kb PDF)

SAS Metropolitan on the apron in front of the original control tower and the first passenger terminal		In the beginning of the sixties it was decided to build an airport in Billund. Billund Airport cooperative society with limited liability was founded, in order to take charge of the establishment and the daily operation. A.M. Wamberg the county governor in Vejle, was appointed chairman of the board. The other members of the board were elected from the ownership´s city council and the parish council . The construction work was carried out during 1964 and when the airport opened on the first of November, it could present: a runway with a length of 1660 meters and a width of 45 meters, a small apron and a control tower for the air traffic control officer.
		The LEGO hangar was used as a temporary terminal for the passengers, until the first terminal building was finished in spring 1966.
Concorde at Billund Airport 1985		SAS carried out Domestic flights between Copenhagen and Billund on a daily basis. The first charter flight had already taken-off from Billund already before Christmas 1964. This flight took sailors to a harbour in Northern Italy, where they were to sign on to a ship. In spring 1966, multiple charter flights to tourist resorts started out. Shortly after the first air freighters took- off from Billund and soon the airport was involved with transportation of breeding animals from the agricultural sector. In the following years, it became necessary to make extensions of the airport in order to keep up with the increasing traffic. After several extensions of the runway, in 1971 it reached its present length of 3100 metres, now with Instrument Landing Systems CAT III. The buildings have been extended over the years and the technology used in Billund Airport is now of the highest standards.
		The apron around 1994
		It was not until the EEC decided to liberalize the air traffic, that it became possible to establish direct International scheduled flights to and from Billund. In 1984, Maersk Air started out with a flight to Southend in England. Since then, the route network has expanded to the major European airports serving capitals and financial and commercial centres. Charter traffic shows a status quo these years, around one million passengers a year. This does not however reflect the true situation for leisure flights, because more and more leisure flights are now offered on the scheduled services. On the other hand more and more "seat only" tickets are sold on the traditional charter flights. The two kinds of flight are converging. As the traffic grew the need for better and larger facilities, passenger terminal and apron space, became evident. A project to improve these facilities was put to work. At the end of May 2002 a new passenger terminal capable to serve 3.5 million passengers a year was opened north of the runway. A new apron, taxiways and other faclilities were constructed. Altogether this forms the first step of the future expansion plan of Billund Airport. Air freight activities remain in its facilities south of the runway, and even profits form space which has become vacant in the previous passenger terminal, when the new passenger terminal was taken into use. There are now plenty of space ready to serve handling of air freight at the Cargo Centre Billund - CCB. Also general aviation remain to be served from the south apron, now from a newly established Business and General Aviation Centre, located in the far west end of the previous passenger terminal. Meanwhile the airport has become a private limited company; Billund Airport Ltd. The former members of the co-operative society Vejle county and the local authorities of Vejle, Kolding, Grindsted, Billund and Give are now stockholders. The airport employs approx. 800 people and added to the approx. 800 employees from the other companies in the airport, it gives a total of approx. 1600 people working at the airport.

		The new passenger terminal and apron May 2002
		Air freight activities remain in its facilities south of the runway, and even profits form space which has become vacant in the previous passenger terminal, when the new passenger terminal was taken into use. There are now plenty of space ready to serve handling of air freight at the Cargo Centre Billund - CCB.
		Antonov AN 124, October 2007
		2007- Parking spaces has been increased to 8,500 and a budget airport hotel opened
		The planes ready for passengers to come on board, summer 2007

Billund Airport Ltd.
P.O Box 10
DK-7190 Billund

Tel.:	+45 7650 5050
Fax:	+45 7650 5076
	+45 7650 5076 The administration office
	+45 7650 5204 Traffic handling
	+45 7535 3974 Airport office/briefing
	+45 7535 3475 Air freight centre
	+45 7650 5239 The Information
E-mail:	info@bll.dk