Munich Airport (MUC)

Bavaria’s main airport is situated just 17.7 miles / 28.5 km northeast of Munich, one of Germany’s most popular tourist destinations. Several well-known carriers such as Star Alliance members and Lufthansa use Munich Airport as their base to fly to routes across Europe and the rest of the world.

Munich Airport is one of the world’s most popular ones and has long been voted among the top ten best airports in the world. As the seventh busiest aviation hub in Europe and the 13th busiest airport in the world, Munich Airport recorded some 34,721,605 million passengers in 2010 coming through its gates, a record number that has steadily been increasing, ever since the rest of the world re-discovered Germany as a holiday destination.

Passengers will find that Terminal 1 deals with all the flights that are not offered by Star Alliance members, meaning that carriers such as Germanwings and Condor operate from Terminal 1. There are two terminals in total, of which Terminal 1 is the older building. Munich Airport’s Terminal 1 is divided into different zones, namely modules A, B, C, D and E. Modules A to D handle departure flights and module E will only deal with arrival passengers.

Flights that are deemed to be of a greater security risk are dealt with in the Central check-In Area, the Zentralbereich, a large open space that is easy to patrol by security personal.

Lufthansa and Air Canada are based at Terminal 2, which started operations in June 2003, when it was clear that Terminal 1 would soon reach its capacity with 25 million passengers. Having also a capacity of 25 million passengers per annum, Terminal 2 is of a different design than the older terminal building. Constructed around a central Plaza, there are two main departures levels on level 04 and 05, but also additional departure operations on 03, for the peak travelling times of the year.

The terminals are well “stocked” with shops, snack bars and restaurants and the airport compound even offers a large choice of recreational areas, making the airport a popular destination for visitors looking for an interesting day out with the family. There is a park, a visitor centre and a cinema just for starters!

The Munich Airport Centre serves as the link between the two terminal buildings and here are most of the shopping facilities, restaurants and cafes located, together with a business centre offering a variety of business services.

At Terminal 1 the Central Area gives passengers access to the metro train station. S-Bahn trains take passengers into Munich city centre and to suburbs in a fast and efficient way. At Terminal 2 passengers can enjoy a stay at the airport Hotel Kempinski and have a stroll through the domed roof and facilities at the Munich Airport Centre Forum, another recreational area.

Outdoors there is the Visitor Hill with wonderful views over the apron and take-off and landing areas and the Visitor Park, where passengers with time to kill before their flight can go to enjoy an hour or so in the sunshine or visitors can watch the comings and goings of planes. Here aviation enthusiasts will discover three historic aircraft on show, giving insight into the development aircraft had to undergo before they became the mode of transport we use today.

There are plenty of taxis, bus and metro train connections from just outside the terminal buildings. Munich’s main train station provides connections to all the major cities in Germany and to the ski resorts in the Alps in winter. Coach services can also take passengers to famous resorts like Berchtesgaden or for a visit across the Austrian border into Salzburg, Mozart’s own home town.

MUC is the official IATA code for Munich Airport. It is otherwise known as is Franz Josef Strauss. It is possible to enter the following GPS coordinates 48.35000, 11.78333 to aid you in your travelling to and from the airport.

You can see below selection of flight time’s destinations and which Airline flies from Munich.

Lufthansa, United Airlines and Lufthansa Cityline are the three busiest Airlines that fly out of the airport; together they cover around 236 routes out of the total of 171. Lufthansa is the most frequent with around 2,684 flights a week out of a total of 10730. Lufthansa covers 25 % of all outbound flights. Frankfurt International Airport, Hamburg Airport, Berlin-tegel / Otto Lilienthal, Düsseldorf International Airport, Schwechat International and Cologne/bonn being the most frequent destinations.

You can see below a selection of nonstop flights with approximate times

When arriving at Franz Josef Strauss airport you will find the most popular car hire companies situated close by. Please bring your valid driving licence and credit card if your require a hire car on your trip. The benefit of getting a FREE Munich car hire quote is that you can compare prices of most of the major car companies at the airport before you travel.