A massive European airport that accepts flights from around the world is both a multinational building and destination. EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, known primarily as EuroAirport, is an international hub officially based in Saint-Louis, an administrative commune in Alsace, France.
But, as the name suggests, it is not confined just to one country, as it sits in something named a “trinational Eurodistrict”, which combines three nations into one metropolitan area.
The “tripoint” Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel encompasses France at Mulhouse, Germany at Freiburg, and Switzerland at Basel.
When EuroAirport accepts passengers, new arrivals can rapidly travel through two of those three countries – and without customs borders.
While it is rooted in France, the airport is run by its home country and Switzerland, which uses the building as the headquarters of Swiss International Airlines.
All three nations access the airport without significant restrictions, and the building is split into two customs borders.
Passengers can access the French side to the north and the Swiss side to the south, and they can pick their checkpoint of preference after landing.
Approximately four million people mill through the building each year to dozens of destinations inside Europe and beyond.
While the tripartite split makes the airport a unique experience, it can also be confusing.
Given it technically hosts three nations, airlines tend to pick from the list when assigning the airport a designation.
Some airlines may list the destination as BSL for Basel, while those operating from France will list MLH for Mulhouse.
Most passengers travel through the airport en route to other destinations, but the building sits in an area from where they can access three beautiful communities.
Buses and taxis will take people to train stations at Freiberg, Basel or Mulhouse, three historic cities.
Freiberg is a stunning German Black Forest university town Basel boasts a medieval old town that sits on a vast, deep blue river, and Mulhouse is famous for its cars, with auto exhibits having been held locally since 1878.