Hamburg set for take-off: European Green Capital 2011 to open the first CO2-free airport

After six years of planning and development, May 4th saw the opening of the world’s first CO2-free airport. “No doubt the new airport will be one of Hamburg’s main attractions – where else can you observe emission-free arrivals and departures of planes”, says Thorsten Kausch, Managing Director of Hamburg Marketing GmbH, with a cheeky glint in his eyes.

“Knuffingen Airport” is one of the exhibition’s major attractions, and it opens just in time for Miniatur Wunderland’s 10th anniversary. Being a one-to-one reproduction of Hamburg Airport, it marks a new era in model construction. More than 150,000 hours of work and around €3.5 million were invested to build this airport. An aircraft catapult assists 40 aircraft models in landing and launching. A specially designed satellite system enables the airplanes to taxi over the runway. The construction of the terminal alone took nearly a year to build, with tens of thousands of miniature details involved.

The exhibition stretches over a total of 1,500 square metres, covering attributes from Scandinavia and the USA, the Hamburg quays as well as the high mountains. “Knuffingen Airport” not just complements this worthwhile exhibition – it will also enrich Hamburg as a tourist destination.