After 52 years and six months, an era of aviation history came to an end at Munich Riem in the night of May 16th to 17th, 1992. From Saturday morning until the wee hours of Sunday, a total of 1,600 trucks, flatbeds and other special vehicles were en route to transport the airport's "inventory" to the new location. Traffic zone dispatchers direct drivers from the 80 freight companies involved in the move to the 130 loading areas. At the same time, flight operations continued on schedule right to the end. "Goodbye, it was nice knowing you in Riem," said Lufthansa pilot Michael Sikora, saying a final farewell on behalf of flight crews everywhere. The last aircraft to depart from Riem is a Lufthansa Boeing 737, which takes off at around 11 p.m. 45 minutes later, the approach beacons are switched off. Aviation has said goodbye to Riem.
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The first passengers to land at the new Munich Airport actually arrive a day before the official start of operations. To facilitate the relocation to the new site, 14 aircraft with some 2,000 arriving passengers are directed to the new airport. Flight UA 918, a United Airlines Boeing 727 arriving from London, is the first passenger plane to arrive at the new airport. It touches down on Saturday at 12:45. Maintenance Hangar Four serves as a temporary passenger handling area. Customs agents and immigration officers set up folding tables, where they await the arriving travelers. Under these conditions, the baggage handling operations are truly carried out by hand. All of the passengers are transported to Riem and the Munich city center by shuttle bus.

One local paper proclaims, "A Battle of the Truckers for Every Spare Second." Another foresees "the biggest move since the barbarian invasions." In contrast to the breathless headlines, however, the logistical feat of relocating the airport's operations actually unfolds in a rather orderly fashion. Some 5000 movers work through the night, with a full moon overhead, to put hoists, baggage carts, aircraft tugs, passenger stairs and other heavy ramp equipment into position at the new site of operations. The heaviest transportation unit, a flatbed truck carrying a tug for towing wide body jets, weighs a total of 110 tons. Just before the day dawns, the organizers can breathe a sigh of relief: The marathon move, the culmination of years of meticulous planning, is completed on time and without a hitch.
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While the heavy cranes continue to unload ramp equipment, aircraft are in position for the first departures on May 17. The Lufthansa planes were "ferried" to the new location with no passengers aboard. It is also Lufthansa that makes the maiden flight at the new airport. With 218 invited guests, a Lufthansa Boeing 747 is the first plane to take off from the new airport at 5.55 a.m. As far as the first landing in concerned, however, the national carrier is the surprise runner-up. Ten minutes before the two Boeing 737s named "Erding" and "Freising" can complete their parallel landing, an AeroLloyd MD 83 from Izmir in Turkey beats them to it – as the very first plane to land at Munich Airport!
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Under the watchful eyes of some 1,200 journalists from all over the world, Munich Airport makes a smooth and punctual start to operations on the morning of May 17. The unanimous assessment of the assembled news media: The relocation is a superb feat of logistics. Experts from Germany and abroad are quick to agree. For the planning and execution of the move, FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, receives two prestigious awards from independent bodies: the Gesellschaft für Organisation e.V. and the leading US aviation journal, Aviation Week & Space and Technology. Ever since its successful launch of operations on May 17, 1992, Munich Airport has really taken off.
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