At almost 111 years of age, Hamburg Airport is not only the oldest international commercial airport at the original location - due to its long history, Hamburg Airport also includes agricultural land, high-quality nature reserves and over 7,5 million square meters of forest near Kaltenkirchen in Schleswig-Holstein. The airport has been committed to the sustainable use and upgrading of these areas for many decades. Now another 50 hectares are being planted with new forest in three sections.

Michael Eggenschwiler, Chairman of the Management Board at Hamburg Airport, together with Andreas Rieckhof, State Councilor of the Hamburg Authority for Economics and Innovation, and Tobias Goldschmidt, State Secretary in the Environment Ministry of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, broke ground today for the first 20 hectares. The airport is the only airport in Germany that cultivates and develops such a large forest area on its own land. 180.000 trees were planted there by 2010 alone for the Hamburg Airport Klimawald; in the past 20 years there have been almost a million trees as part of sustainable forest conversion. Hamburg Airport is now creating a further 2021 hectares of new forest in three steps from 2023 to 50.

“We are very pleased that we can plant the next trees for another climate-resistant forest area on our site here in Kaltenkirchen today. In doing so, we continue to assume responsibility for the region and continue our long-term commitment to biodiversity and climate protection on site. This investment in sustainable, regional forest development is also a building block for CO₂-neutral airport operations, which Hamburg Airport will reach by the end of 2021 ”, says Michael Eggenschwiler, Chairman of the Management Board at Hamburg Airport.