Basel Airport

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse Flughafen Basel-Mülhausen
IATA: BSL, MLH, EAP ICAO: LFSB, LSZM
Summary
Airport type	International
Owner	France and Swiss canton of Basel-City
Operator	L'administration de l’Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse
Serves	Basel, Switzerland Mulhouse, France Freiburg, Germany
Location	Saint-Louis, France
Hub for	Belair (ends 25 March 2017) easyJet Switzerland
Elevation AMSL	885 ft / 270 m
Coordinates	47°35′24″N 007°31′45″E / 47.59000°N 7.52917°E / 47.59000; 7.52917Coordinates: 47°35′24″N 007°31′45″E / 47.59000°N 7.52917°E / 47.59000; 7.52917
Website	euroairport.com
Map
BSL/MLH/EAP Location of airport in Alsace region Location of Alsace region in France
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 15/33 3,900 12,795 Concrete 08/26 1,820 5,971 Concrete
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 7,314,269 Freight (tons) 101,050 Aircraft movements 95,542
Sources: French AIP, airport's annual report and French AIP at EUROCONTROL

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (IATA: MLH, BSL, EAP, ICAO: LFSB, LSZM) is an international airport 3.5 km (2.2 mi) northwest of Basel in Switzerland, 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Mulhouse in France, and 46 km (29 mi) south-southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. It is located in France, on the administrative territory of the commune of Saint-Louis near the Swiss and German borders. The airport serves as a base for easyJet Switzerland and Belair, which operates on behalf of Air Berlin, and features mainly flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations.

Plans for the construction of a joint Swiss–French airport started in the 1930s, but were halted by the Second World War. Swiss planners identified Basel as one of the four cities for which a main urban airport would be developed, but recognized that the existing airfield at Sternenfeld in Birsfelden was too small and, due development of the adjacent river port facilities, unsuitable for expansion. The suburb of Allschwil was proposed for a new airport, but this would require being constructed across the Franco-Swiss border, leading to talks with French authorities centered developing a single airport that would serve both countries, enhancing its international airport status.

In 1946 talks resumed and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Blotzheim, France. France would provide the land and the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt would cover the construction costs. Basel-Stadt's Grand Council agreed to pay the costs for a provisional airport even before an international treaty was signed (which was not until 1949). Construction began on 8 March 1946 and a provisional airport with a 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) runway was officially opened on 8 May.