Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Luxembourg-Findel International Airport, sited a few kilometres east of Luxembourg City near Niederanven, is the Grand Duchy's sole international aerodrome and the only one with a paved runway. It combines a busy scheduled and cargo operation, home to Luxair and Cargolux, with a single very long runway that gives it an unusual character for a country of Luxembourg's size, making it a distinctive stop for the simulator pilot flying into the heart of Europe.
Luxembourg-Findel is the principal airport of Luxembourg and the only one in the country equipped with a paved runway. It lies close to the village of Findel, in the commune of Niederanven, a short distance east of Luxembourg City, and serves as the home base of the national carrier Luxair, the major freight operator Cargolux, China Airlines Cargo, and Luxembourg Air Rescue. For the sim pilot it offers a single, exceptionally long hard runway handling a mix of airliners, cargo heavies and business aviation, all within a compact and fully controlled airspace environment.
The airport sits within controlled airspace under Luxembourg Approach and Tower, in the vicinity of Niederanven and Sandweiler, roughly 3.25 nautical miles east of Luxembourg City. As the country's only international airport it forms the focal point of Luxembourg's airspace structure, with all traffic to and from the field routed through the Luxembourg control services.
Luxembourg-Findel has a single physical runway, 06/24, a hard-surfaced strip roughly 13,080 feet long, lit, and equipped with ILS on both directions. This exceptional length, unusual for an airport of this size, reflects the field's role as a major cargo and freight hub as well as a scheduled passenger gateway.
Pilots should expect to work Luxembourg Approach on 120.885 MHz and Luxembourg Tower on 118.105 MHz, with ATIS broadcast on 134.755 MHz. A VDF homer is also available on 118.105 MHz. The runway is equipped with ILS on both 06 and 24, supporting instrument approaches in either direction.
The airfield began life as Sandweiler Airport, opened in the 1930s as a small grass strip with a runway of around 3,400 feet. Neutral Luxembourg was invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940, and from 21 May the Luftwaffe based Jagdgeschwader 53, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter unit, at the airfield to support the Battle of France; Jagdgeschwader 52 also flew Bf 109s from Sandweiler before both units moved on. The field then lay largely unused by the Luftwaffe until September 1944, when a reconnaissance unit flying the Henschel Hs 126 briefly operated from it. United States Army combat engineers arrived in mid-September 1944, carried out minor reconstruction, and opened the site as Advanced Landing Ground A-97 Sandweiler on 18 September 1944; the Ninth Air Force's 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group flew photo-reconnaissance sorties from there until late October before moving east into Germany. The Americans continued to use Sandweiler as a transport and casualty-evacuation airfield for the remainder of the war, before it was returned to Luxembourgish control on 15 August 1945. The airport's first purpose-built terminal, Terminal A, opened in 1975 and remained the only terminal for three decades until Terminal B opened in 2004.
Luxembourg-Findel remains the only international airport in the Grand Duchy and a significant European cargo hub, ranking among the busiest airports in Europe by cargo tonnage. It is the home base for Luxair, Cargolux, China Airlines Cargo and Luxembourg Air Rescue, and handles a high volume of movements, around 92,000 in 2024, on its single runway. The airport operates as a fully controlled international aerodrome with Approach and Tower services throughout its hours of operation.
