- published: 11 May 2012
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Hamburg ( /ˈhæmbɜrɡ/; German pronunciation: [ˈhambʊɐ̯k], local pronunciation [ˈhambʊɪç]; Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg [ˈhaˑmbɔːx]), officially Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany, the thirteenth largest German state, and the sixth-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and 11th-largest worldwide.
Hamburg's official name, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg), reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.
Hamburg is a major transport hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. In total, there are more than 120,000 enterprises.
Hamburg Airport (IATA: HAM, ICAO: EDDH), also known as Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport (German: Flughafen Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel), is an international airport serving Hamburg, Germany.
It originally covered 440,000 m2 (4,700,000 sq ft). Since then, the site has grown more than tenfold to 5.7 km2 (2.2 sq mi). The main apron covers 320,000 m2 (3,400,000 sq ft). The airport is 8.5 km (5.3 mi) north of the centre of the city of Hamburg in the Fuhlsbüttel quarter. Hamburg airport has 17 jet-ways and 54 apron positions. There are two terminal-buildings with the so-called Plaza-building in the middle of them. The Plaza hosts the central security check as well as shops, restaurants, lounges and other service-facilities. In all buildings level 1 is the departure level, while level 0 is arrivals. Hamburg airport offers 14 baggage claims on the arrival level.
Runways, taxiways and aprons are able to handle the Airbus A380, although there is no scheduled A380-service expected. Hamburg Airport is the diversion airport for Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), the airport of the Airbus plant in Hamburg, where all A380 are being painted and interior fitted.