Lemwerder Airport

The closure was for economic and strategic reasons related to corporate restructuring. The airport's primary and sole user was the adjacent Airbus plant (formerly Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm and Weser-Flugzeugbau). Airbus decided to consolidate its production and maintenance activities at larger, more modern facilities, primarily in nearby Bremen and Hamburg. The Lemwerder plant and its associated airfield were deemed redundant in this new strategy, leading to the cessation of all operations and the eventual sale of the site.

The former airport site has been completely redeveloped and is now a multi-company industrial and business park named 'Gewerbepark Lemwerder' (Lemwerder Business Park), with a focus on composite materials, marketed as the 'Carbon- und Gewerbepark Lemwerder'. While the runway, taxiways, and aprons are still physically visible on satellite imagery, they are permanently closed to air traffic, often marked with large white 'X's. The large hangars and production halls that once built aircraft have been repurposed and are now occupied by various industrial, logistics, and manufacturing companies.

Lemwerder Airport was a historically significant private factory airfield, not a public airport. Its history is intrinsically linked to German aircraft manufacturing.

1. **Weser-Flugzeugbau (1930s-1945):** The site was established in the 1930s by 'Weser-Flugzeugbau' (Weserflug). During World War II, it was a major production and assembly facility for the Luftwaffe, involved with key aircraft like the Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' dive bomber and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter.

2. **Post-War Era (VFW & MBB):** After the war, the plant was central to the revival of the West German aviation industry. As part of Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) and later Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), it played a crucial role in major European aviation projects. Most notably, it was a final assembly line and flight test center for the C-160 Transall military transport aircraft.

3. **Airbus Era:** As part of DASA and later Airbus, the plant specialized in manufacturing large fuselage sections for various Airbus models, including the A310, A320 family, and most recently, the A380 superjumbo. The airfield was used for transporting these large components via Beluga transport aircraft, as well as for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities.

There are no known plans or realistic prospects for reopening Lemwerder Airport for aviation purposes. The operating license has been permanently revoked, the site has been sold and successfully repurposed into an industrial park, and the original strategic need for the airfield (serving the adjacent aircraft factory) no longer exists. Furthermore, the close proximity of the major international Bremen Airport (EDDW), just across the Weser river, makes any potential reactivation of Lemwerder economically and logistically unviable.