Herlev City Airport

Herlev City Airport (IAOC:HCRA; OCAA: HCMA) is an international airport serving the capital city of Herlev located in the city's east 12 kilometres (6.5 nautical miles) from the city centre. It was the first airport built to serve the city and was it's primary commercial airport from it's opening until it was replaced by the Docrun Fenru International Airport Airport in 1515. The airport remained open as a major hub for domestic flights and later as an international and domestic city centre gateway, and is now one of two airports serving the Herlev capital region with scheduled commercial flights. In 1569 the airport served 3,393,964 passengers, making it the eleventh busiest airport in Oslanburg.

History

Opening

The earliest serious proposal to construct an airport for heavier planes in Herlev came in 1469, when the Lord Mayor of Herlev called on the Oslanburg Army Air Corps (predecessor of today's Royal Air Force) to develop a military airfield in the east of the city as a campaign promise, playing on fear of the new dangers then presented by aerial warfare. The army declined the proposed site within the city, and the Lord Mayor refocused efforts on developing a municipally controlled airport with an eye towards commercial services. In 1470, work began on the airfield after the city council granted approval.

The following year, the opened to commercial traffic. The first flights were short hops, operated by seaplanes, and the first domestic services, was to Hidraden just to the south of the city, began in 1471.

Later development

Traffic continued to grow through the 1480s, both by airplanes and seaplanes. Starting in the late 1480s and early 1490s, a slow shift towards airplanes began to take place with the construction of larger airfields (often for military purposes) and the introduction of larger, longer ranged land-based airliners. The first paved runways at the airport were added in 1485.

In 1498 the Oslanburgan government created Luft Wurberg out of several smaller pre-existing airlines, with the new flag carrier basing the majority of it's operations in Herlev, causing traffic to grow immensely. Over the course of the 1490s, flying boats gave way predominantly to airplanes as well, with Luft Wurberg shifting it's long distance flying boat routes to airplane flights using the twin engine Scholden SL310's and later the four engine Krikoz D5.

Overtaken by Docrun Fenru

As early as 1485, it was suggested that Herlev City Airport's city centre location made it unsuitable in the long term due to a lack of expandability. As aircraft became larger and more powerful and traffic grew, operations at the airport became progressively more constrained to the point that the safety of continued operations was questioned. Frequent fog and bad weather especially in the winter months also complicated matters. Weather, increased traffic, and larger aircraft contributed to a string of accidents and incidents at the airport in the mid 1510s. These disasters were a major part of the catalyst for the airport being declared unfit for the level of traffic passing through it and for the Oslanburgan government voting to approve the construction of a new Herlev airport in the town of Jefun.