The history of aircraft construction in Hamburg

For Walther Blohm (1887-1963) the trend was obvious at the end of the 1920s: overseas air traffic was on the rise. He made targeted contact with aviation experts and founded Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmbH (HFB) on the Finkenwerder site in 1933 as part of Blohm & Voss as a subsidiary of the shipyard. Due to its success, it was incorporated into the aircraft construction department of the Blohm & Voss shipyard in 1937.

The accelerated development of the German Air Force in the 1930s contributed to the rapid success of aircraft construction. With the help of Dr. Ing. Richard Vogt succeeded in constructing an all-metal aircraft whose characteristic feature was the “tubular spar wing,” which could also be used as a fuel cell. This is how the HA 136 B was created. This was followed by the BV 138 flying boat, a three-engine reconnaissance aircraft. With further in-house and licensed construction, the Hamburg aircraft manufacturer was able to take a leading position in the construction of seaplanes by 1945. There was no runway; it was available in Wenzendorf, south of Hamburg. However, Walther Blohm's stated goal was to build large aircraft for civil transatlantic traffic.

New beginning in 1954

After the end of the Second World War, the halls in Finkenwerder were largely dismantled and destroyed by the English occupying forces.

However, with tenacity and idealism, Walther Blohm was able to create a new beginning. Under his leadership, Flugzeugbau Nord GmbH was founded in 1954; HFB was also involved, producing the Noratlas transport machines as a German-French joint project, among other things. should be manufactured under license for the Bundeswehr. This was later followed by participation in the successor model, the Transall C-160. Without subsidies from the city of Hamburg, which showed no interest in aircraft construction as an enrichment of Hamburg's industrial location, HFB built the necessary first runway in Finkenwerder in 1956.

“Hansa Jet” HFB 320: a self-developed passenger aircraft

In the 1960s, the small twin-engine touring aircraft “Hansa Jet” HFB 320 was developed and built in small numbers. Before its first flight, Walther Blohm died in 1963. With this aircraft, the HFB construction team gained important experience for their later participation in the German Airbus GmbH, founded in 1967, which included five German companies.

From Hamburg aircraft construction to EADS

First, in 1968, Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmbH merged with Messerschmitt AG and Bölkow GmbH to form Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH (MBB) under the leadership of Ludwig Bölkow. In 1989, this merged with other German aircraft factories to form DASA (German Aerospace AG 1989-2000), as a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG, later Daimler-Chrysler. Since 2000, the former Hamburg aircraft manufacturer has been part of the European aerospace group EADS as part of Airbus Industries.

Construction of the Airbus family up to the A380 and A350

Some of Airbus' individual locations have historical reasons. The distribution of work was initially based on the national ownership shares in Airbus, which were distributed between France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Hamburg is the largest location in Germany with currently 12,000 jobs. In recent years, shares have become more widely distributed across countries based on capabilities and price levels. However, national interests still play a role.

The A300 made its first flight in 1972. The following table shows the current status of the Airbus family with its first flight dates. The first flights of the A318 and A321 took place in Hamburg.

As a result of increasing globalization, Airbus has also increasingly shifted development and production shares in recent years. Combined with efficiency programs like Power8 and the development delays on the A380 and A400M, this has brought big changes to the workforce. Nevertheless, the location in Finkenwerder has continued to grow and is now the third largest location in the world for civil aircraft construction (after Seattle and Toulouse).

Production in Hamburg Finkenwerder

Final assembly for the A318, A319, A320 and A321 takes place in three production lines at the Hamburg plant. For the A330 and A350, the section assembly of the front and rear fuselage parts takes place in Hamburg. For the A380, Hamburg carries out the section assembly of several fuselage sections as well as the cabin equipment and painting and delivers them to the customer.