Gelsenkirchen does not have an airport of its own, but, as the map below shows, the region of North Rhine Westphalia has many others. Useful for flying in from abroad to Gelsenkirchen (just above ESS on the map) are the airports at Dortmund (DTM) and Weeze (NRN), plus the major international ones at Düsseldorf (DUS) and Cologne (CGN).

For more information on Dortmund airport, see Dortmund by air. There is a free shuttle bus from there to the nearby Holzwickede railway station, from which you can get a train (via Dortmund main station) to Gelsenkirchen (takes c. 55 mins).

The airport at Weeze, formerly called Düsseldorf Niederrhein, is a regional base for the low-cost airline Ryanair. It is about an hour by car from Gelsenkirchen – but public transport links are very limited.

Fly Ryanir to Weeze?
By far the largest airport nearby is Düsseldorf International, about one hour’s drive away, while a little further south is Cologne/Bonn.

Other airports shown above are: Münster / Osnabruck (FMO), Paderborn / Lippstadt (PAD), Siegerland (SGE), Essen (ESS)and Mönchengladbach (MGL).

Düsseldorf International
This is the major airport in North-West Germany. In terms of internal connections to World Cup destinations, you can get flights from here to Munich (withAir Berlin and DBA), Nuremberg and Stuttgart (withAir Berlin) and Berlin (with DBA). Airlines such as Star Alliance partners Lufthansa and United Airlines provide numerous international links, while Air France also fly here from Paris, KLM from Amsterdam and British Airways from Birmingham, Heathrow and Manchester.

External links
Dortmund airport
German rail
Düsseldorf International
Cologne / Bonn airport
Weeze regional airport

Flying from the UK? Going to the airport by train, coach or car?
If you’re flying from the UK and planning to go to the airport by coach or train, these links to National Express Airport coaches, the thetrainline, Gatwick Express and Heathrow Express let you book your journey to the airport online. If you’re driving, try Purple Parking or BAA airport parking for cheap parking at all major UK airports.