Munich Airport: Big new terminal, new US route, new hotel

There’s a lot going on at Munich Airport these days. Later this month, officials will cut the ribbon on a big new terminal as Lufthansa expands its second hub. Not long after the opening, the airline plans to add a new U.S. route from Munich. Meanwhile, Marriott has cut the ribbon on a new hotel at MUC, and a European carrier is adding a base of operations there.

April 26 is the scheduled opening date for Munich Airport’s new Terminal 2 Satellite, a standalone facility that will give Lufthansa another 52 gates. Fifty meters wide and longer than three football fields, the T2 Satellite provide travelers with 20 more security checkpoints and 42 new passport stations. Other features of the big new facility include a 7,000 square meter central marketplace, two bars with great views of the airfield, and five new lounges.

Lufthansa started building up a hub at Munich after its original Terminal 2 opened there in 2003, but that facility was designed to handle up to 25 million passengers a year – a limit that the airline said has been exceeded over the past few years. The new satellite will expand Lufthansa’s capacity at Munich by another 11 million annual passengers. It will be linked to Terminal 2 by an automated underground people-mover system that can handle up to 9,000 passengers an hour in each direction. “In order to comply with EU security regulations, the passenger transportation system is conceived so that three different passenger groups can be transported separately according to the country of origin of their flight,” Lufthansa said.

As part of its ongoing expansion at Munich, Lufthansa plans to add a new U.S. route. On May 11, the airline will begin operating five flights a week to Denver International, an airport that it already serves from its Frankfurt hub. Airport officials at DEN said the new Lufthansa service will increase capacity from Denver to Europe by 20 percent.

Related: Berlin’s glitch-plagued Brandenburg Airport won’t open until late 2017

Meanwhile, Marriott has cut the ribbon on a new hotel at Munich Airport – a 252-room property that belongs to the lodging giant’s new Moxy brand. What does the Moxy brand represent? According to Marriott’s brand-speak, the Moxy brand “boldly reinvents the select-service hotel paradigm offering a spirited experience– to fully embrace today’s Next Generation traveler and to show the world what ‘moxie’ really means – fun, spirited and stylish.” Its “bold design and affordable style” include a “living room” that’s a guest hub, with fast free Wi-Fi and lots of USB and power ports. There’s also a library, a fitness center, 24/7 self-service food and beverage. It’s five minutes by shuttle bus from the terminals.

Finally, the European carrier Transavia – a low-cost subsidiary of Air France-KLM – this spring is developing a new base of operations at Munich, putting four 737s there. Transavia’s only existing route from Munich is to Paris Orly, but it plans to add MUC service to 16 more destinations in Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

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