| History |
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Airport History Everything started with... Airport St. Gallen-Altenrhein's origins go back to the year 1926, when Professor Claude Dornier, took the decision to build his famous "Flying Boat" DO-X in Altenrhein. Extensions In 1927, the original 600 meter long grass runway was constructed. It was used for regularly scheduled flights to Basel, Dübendorf, Innsbruck and Munich until the outbreak of World War II. In the euphoria surrounding the rapidly developing realm of aviation, Altenrhein was seen as a major European aerodrome for aeroplanes, float planes and flying boats. As a result of being granted a federal contract for the development of fighter aircraft, a 1200m long and 30m wide hard surface runway was built by Flug- und Fahrzeugwerk Altenrhein (FFA) in 1954. This runway was then extended to today's length of 1500m in 1979. This extension became necessary because FFA was awarded a further government contract to service Hunter fighter aircraft through to 1993. Maintenance It was foreseeable that the construction and overhaul of military aircraft in Altenrhein would loose its importance. Therefore the focus was switched to the maintenance of civilian aircraft. Daily scheduled flights to Vienna In the second half of the 1980’s Rheintalflug Seewald GmbH approached the Airport about setting up daily scheduled flights to Vienna. The concession for these flights was granted by the federal authority in 1988. An extensive development of infrastructure The expansion of the aircraft maintenance area, as well as the scheduled flight operations required an extensive upgrading of the airport infrastructure. In the years from 1988 to 1990, new hangars and an airport terminal building were built, and an instrument landing system installed. Considerable sums were also invested in safety and security equipment such as, fire fighting vehicles, a weather station, a Skiddometer, X-ray machines for hold baggage and cabin baggage checks and a walk through metal detector for passenger checks. In the spring of 1991, the instrument landing system, in conjunction with the inaugural flight of Rheintalflug Seewald GmbH to Vienna, was put into operation. 2005 saw the installation of Lead-In Lights, a significant improvement by poor visibility. Further expansion The years from 2001 to 2009 have also seen further, important investment: - a new, customer friendly arrivals hall - a new fire department hall - a modern baggage handling system - an increase in parking capacity with a modern payment system - a business lounge - check-in desks - new hangars - taxiway widening - a new fire fighting vehicle - upgrading of the business lounge (Internet, WLAN, TV) - new X-ray machines for both hold and cabin baggage - a new walk through metal detector - renovations to the Cockpit Restaurant - a new ATC Tower - a new tow tractor Company History
Development of Scheduled Flights
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for people. by people