Refurbishing Luxembourg Airport’s single runway

Continuing operations throughout construction

Luxembourg Airport is the country’s only international airport. From its single runway, it serves more than 110 destinations across the globe and acts as one of the major cargo hubs in Europe. With international business and logistics being key to the country’s economy, lux-Airport has huge ambitions in terms of growth, whilst also needing to ensure convenient and sustainable day-to-day operations to propel the airport into the future.

In 2019, they faced their biggest challenge yet when, after 30 years of continuous maintenance, the single runway needed a total refurbishment.

Our challenge was to find an innovative solution to complete the runway rehabilitation through the night in a way that optimised reliability, safety, and sustainability – all while ensuring that same runway could open for flights to land and take-off at 6am each morning.

Lighting the way – more than a pavement renovation

The scope of our work included a full pavement rebuild of the 4000m runway, reducing the pavement width from 60m to 45m, installing a new storm water drainage network, and upgrading the runway lighting system with the latest LED technology.

Under the cloak of night

For the runway rehabilitation, we engaged in a collaborative effort with clients and stakeholders which resulted in an innovative design, enabling construction to take place nightly during a 7-hour window.

From 23:00-06:00 each night over a 2-year period, the runway turned into a construction site. A team of 300 people and 100 vehicles were mobilised each day to undertake a multiple overlay solution for the pavement, building up the runway layer by layer.

At the same time, the supporting infrastructure was built and connected to the new runway in a phased approach, all while keeping the airport open during the day. Our designs included new storm water drainage networks, together with 1,500 new LED-lights which illuminate the new runway.

Our solution was designed to avoid any disruption to the airport and reduce the impact of nightly closure windows to airline operators – an extremely efficient approach which was executed with precision.

Throughout the process our designs were verified through the involvement of numerous stakeholders – a key element to success in bringing high-profile stakeholders along in the journey.

Renewing the essence of Luxembourg Airport

After two years of work, today the runway stands new, vibrant, and welcoming to travellers from around the world.

NACO’s integrated approach to the Luxembourg airport runway rehabilitation project was innovative and bold – with sustainability integrated throughout. From recycling asphalt to modern LED lighting design and maintenance strategy, this collaboration between NACO and lux-Airport has enabled the airport to be future-ready, with customer experience and sustainability at the heart of its operations.

Throughout construction, no flights noticed the incredible logistical feat which was taking place each night. As such, Luxembourg Airport continues to serve as a reference for airports of a similar size and stature which need to remain operational throughout a development of this nature.

The runway rehabilitation has been crucial to cementing Luxembourg Airport’s reputation as a state-of-the-art airport – and today, it is perfectly prepared for the future.