The Finkenwerder aircraft works and associated airfield were established in 1939 by the aircraft arm of manufacturer Blohm & Voss. They were substantially undamaged during World War II and when the company, revived as HFB, re-established itself there about 15 years later, the facilities began a long series of progressive expansions and modernizations. In 1964 both the HFB 320 Hansa Jet and the third prototype Transall C-160 made their first flights from the airport. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, HFB and its Finkenwerder facility eventually became part of Airbus. Between April 2006 and July 2007, the runway was extended at the southern end, increasing its length from 2,684 m to 3,183 m, in order to accommodate the planned freight version of the Airbus A380. The foundations of the Fink II submarine pen are extant just east of the north end of the runway.
Manufacturing
The Airbus site at Finkenwerder is the main operations centre for Airbus Operations GmbH and employs around 15,000 people. The Hamburg factory manufactures and equips the forward and rear fuselage sections of the A330 and A350 XWB, as well as carrying out structural assembly and equipment fitting-out of the forward and complete rear fuselage sections for the A380. These sections are then shipped to France on a specially built ferry, for final assembly in Toulouse. Final assembly is carried out for all models of the A320 family, and both the A320 and A380 are fitted with their cabin interiors and painted for final delivery. A large global spares centre is also maintained, holding some 120,000 parts, as well as A320 series maintenance training facilities. Finished A380s for customers in Europe and the Middle East are returned to Finkenwerder for final acceptance and delivery. The airport forms an integral part of these manufacturing operations.
Airport flights
There are no public scheduled services at Finkenwerder. The airport handles around 10 to 15 aircraft movements per day. Most are transfer, freight, and test flights for Airbus manufacturing. The twice-daily corporate shuttle service to the Airbus plant in Toulouse is operated by the Spanish operator Volotea since 4 November 2019 on a five year contract. Previously the service was operated by Germania.
Incidents and accidents
In 1967 the pilot of a SpantaxConvair 990 Coronado mistook the 1360 m long runway of Finkenwerder for the 3000 m long runway of Hamburg Airport in Fuhlsbüttel, and only just brought the aircraft to a stop before the end of the runway.
