Cheap Public Transportation to Dortmund Airport (DTM) in Germany

Getting to Flughafen Dortmund 21 in the German Ruhr area is fast, easy, and cheap by airport express shuttle bus, train, or minibus van transfer services.

Wizzair Plane at Dortmund Airport
© Dortmund Airport / Hans Jürgen Landes

Public transportation is the cheapest way to get to Dortmund Airport (DTM) in Germany. The Airport Express bus provides a direct service to downtown Dortmund Hauptbahnhof main train station. The Dortmund Airport Shuttle bus runs three times per hour to nearby Holzwickede station with German Railways (DB Deutsche Bahn) trains to amongst others Dortmund, Hamm, Münster, Düsseldorf, and Wuppertal giving Dortmund Airport excellent rail connections to most Ruhr area cities

Dortmund Airport (DTM) is only around 10 km to the east of Dortmund making taxis a viable option too. Private airport limousine or shuttle transfers to cities in the region are best reserved in advance. Suntransfers gives online quotations for private airport transfers without first requiring personal details or flight numbers.

Google Map Dortmund Airport

By Car to Dortmund Airport (DTM) in Germany

Dortmund Airport (DTM) is around 10 km to the east of Dortmund in the far eastern parts of the Ruhr area in Germany. The closest motorway exit is Holzwickede / Dortmund Flughafen on the Autobahn A44. The airport is very close to the crossing of the A44 with Autobahn A1.

Car hire firms Avis, Europcar, Hertz, and Sixt have car rental desks in Dortmund Airport. Car hire is best reserved in advance as the number of rental cars available at Dortmund Airport is limited.

By Airport Express Shuttle Bus from Flughafen Dortmund to Hauptbahnhof

The easiest public transportation from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to downtown is the Airport Express shuttle bus that provides a direct service from the airport to Dortmund Hauptbahnhof central main train station. The bus takes around 25 minutes. During major trade shows, the Airport Express bus also stops at the Messe Westfallenhallen show grounds.

The Dortmund Airport Express runs around once per hour from the station from 4:30 am to around 9:30 pm and from the airport to the station from 5 am to 10:30 pm. The bus departs from the arrivals level at the airport and stops in front of Dortmund Hauptbahnhof.

The bus fare for the Dortmund Airport Express is €8.50 for adults, €2 for children under 15 years and free for under 6. Tickets are only available from the driver on the bus – other German rail passes including Rail&Fly are not valid for travel on this bus.

By Train and Airport Shuttle Bus via Holzwickede to Dortmund Airport, Germany

The closest DB Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) station to Dortmund Airport is Holzwickede. The Dortmund Airport Shuttle bus service connects the airport and Holzwickede station three times per hour in six minutes. The fare is €3 (free for children under 6). Tickets for the Dortmund Airport Shuttle are only available from the driver – rail passes are not valid, except for the Rail&Fly Ticket.

German Railways trains from Holzwickede go to amongst others Dortmund (19 minutes), Unna (4 min), Soest (28 min), Hagen (19 min), Hamm (20 min), Münster (45 min), Wuppertal (45 min), Düsseldorf (1h05), Neuss (1h20), Köln / Cologne (1h40), and Mönchengladbach (1h40). The closest railway stations with high-speed Inter-City-Express (ICE) trains to Dortmund Airport are Dortmund Hbf and Hamm Westfalen.

See German Railways / Deutsche Bahn timetables to Dortmund Airport / from Dortmund Airport.

Local Buses (C41 and 440) to Dortmund Airport (DTM)

A few local buses also run past Dortmund Airport. Line C41 runs hourly from the airport to Unna station in 24 minutes. Bus line 440 runs three times per hour from the airport through the southern suburbs of Dortmund to Germania S-Bahn station in 70 minutes. These buses are part of the local public transportation network.

All buses from Dortmund Airport runs according to the timetables and do not wait for delayed flights. All buses depart from level 1 (arrivals) at Flughafen Dortmund 21.

Dortmund Airport (DTM) is a convenient alternative to Düsseldorf, Cologne / Bonn, and Münster Osnabrück Airports for travelers to the eastern Ruhr area in Germany. In recent years, Dortmund Airport has grown in importance and handles more passengers per year than Weeze.

Henk Bekker in armor

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance travel writer with over 20 years of experience writing online. He is particularly interested in history, art, and culture. He has lived most of his adult life in Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark. In addition to European-Traveler.com, he also owns a travel website on the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland and maintains statistical websites on car sales and classic car auction prices. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Development Finance from the University of London.

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