Altenrhein airport marks 100 years with three day festival

Altenrhein airport in Switzerland, near the Vorarlberg border, will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a three day festival this weekend, ORF reports. The programme will include flight demonstrations, with the Swiss Air Force aerobatic team Patrouille Suisse scheduled to perform on Saturday.

The airport is about six kilometres by car from the customs office in Gaißau, Austria. Its proximity to Vorarlberg, its flight connection to Vienna and its history have given it close ties to the region.

From water aircraft to airport

Aviation pioneer Claude Dornier is regarded as the airport’s founder, according to the festival website. In the early 20th century, Dornier was a close associate of Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin and was given his own department within the Zeppelin company on the German side of Lake Constance. That department soon developed into Dornier-Werke, one of the major aircraft manufacturers of the time.

The company’s most spectacular early project was the Do X, a flying boat designed to carry 175 people. After the First World War, however, the aircraft could not be built at the company’s headquarters in Friedrichshafen because the Treaty of Versailles banned aircraft construction in Germany.

Dornier found a location on the opposite shore of Lake Constance in Switzerland, where he built production halls and financed an airfield. This marked the beginning of what is now St. Gallen-Altenrhein airport.

Early flights and wartime aircraft production

Construction began in March 1926 on marshy ground. A 600 metre grass runway was built, and the first scheduled flights began in 1927, connecting Altenrhein with Basel, Innsbruck and Munich.

After the Second World War, a 1,200 metre runway was built. For many years, the airfield was used mainly for the construction and overhaul of military aircraft.

Vienna connection brings Vorarlberg closer

The airline Rheintalflug, founded in 1973 by Vorarlberg businessman Rolf Seewald, moved from Hohenems to Altenrhein in 1988.

In 1989, a Rheintalflug scheduled aircraft carrying nine passengers and two pilots crashed into Lake Constance while approaching Altenrhein. All 11 people on board died, including Austria’s then Social Affairs Minister Alfred Dallinger and pilot Brigitte Seewald, Rolf Seewald’s wife at the time.

Soon afterwards, Rheintalflug Seewald GmbH began scheduled flights from Altenrhein to Vienna. The service allowed business people from Vorarlberg and other passengers to travel to the Austrian capital by scheduled flight. Austrian Airlines operated the route from 2001 to 2013.

After several changes of ownership, Vorarlberg native Markus Kopf has been the airport’s sole owner and operator since 2011. He also owns and operates the airline People’s, formerly known as People’s Viennaline, which has connected Altenrhein with Vienna since 2011. Since Austrian Airlines withdrew in 2013, People’s has been the sole provider on the route.

The airline also operates flights to several holiday destinations. Private aircraft and smaller charter planes land at the airport every day.

Festival programme

The anniversary festival will run from Friday to Sunday under the motto “Together for the location: yesterday, today and tomorrow”. The programme is aimed at families and will include flight demonstrations, model aircraft displays, gliders, historic aircraft, hot-air balloons and skydivers.

Patrouille Suisse, the Swiss Air Force’s jet aerobatic team, is due to perform on Saturday afternoon in what is described as one of its final appearances. The source article ends while detailing the aircraft involved in the performance.