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Friday, August 26, 2011

Honey, I shrunk the Flughafen: German builds world’s largest model airport


Last updated at 5:13 PM on 4th May 2011


It took a grand total of six years to build but an incredible new miniature model, called Knuffingen Airport, based on Hamburg's airport, has finally opened to the public.
It's on display at Miniatur Wunderland, in Hamburg, and features 40 aircraft that take off and land and 90 vehicles that trundle around the runways automatically.
Making something this small and perfectly formed doesn't come cheap. It cost 3.5million Euros – but the result is plane-ly amazing.
The opening of the new miniature model Knuffingen Aiport at Miniatur Wunderland
Size doesn't matter: The opening of the new miniature model Knuffingen Aiport at Miniatur Wunderland


The real airport opened in 1911 and remains the oldest operational airport in the world. When it was first built it covered a mere 45 hectares – it's now ten times bigger and measures a whopping 2.2sq miles.

The various vehicles and planes on the model version are able to move around thanks to an innovative 'carsystem', which manoeuvres the vehicles by computer.
The planes even take off thanks to miniature wires that carry them off the end of the runway.
Miniature wonder: Knuffingen Airport
From up here, the planes look like ants: The aircraft are small, but perfectly formed

Knuffingen Airport
The longer you look at it, the more it's obvious why it took so many years to complete

Way to glow: Knuffingen Airport even lights up at night
Way to glow: Knuffingen Airport even lights up at night


The attention to detail is astounding. The planes park themselves and passenger walkways slowly move into place.
The tow trucks even feature little flashing orange lights and the petrol tanks can be seen indicating which way they are about to turn. What's more, the airport lights up spectacularly to create an entrancing night scene.
Watch a YouTube video of the incredible model below:



The airport opened at the 4th of May. Therefore we produced a clip with much more spectacular pictures. We recommend to watch the video about the finsihed airport.
We are also producing a general video about the whole layout these days. It will be published very soon. Follow our youtube-channel and get an information, whenever a new video is published


Im Miniatur Wunderland wird seit einigen Jahren an einem neuen Großprojekt getüftelt. Ein 150m² großer Flughafenabschnitt wird die Anlage erweitern. Der Testbetrieb ist zurzeit in vollem Gange. Noch läuft nicht alles wie es soll, aber hier sehen Sie erste Bilder, die in den letzten Wochen im Miniatur Wunderland entstanden sind.

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