Freising rejects return terminal at Munich Airport!

Freising rejects return terminal at Munich Airport!

In Freising, the planned construction of a return terminal at Munich Airport ensures heated debates. The concerns about nature and environmental protection are great. The city's construction and planning committee has clearly spoken out against the project. According to BR , the application for the construction of the terminal was already made by Flughafen München GmbH in early June 2025. This facility should serve to accommodate refugees whose asylum application was rejected, as well as for asylum procedures in the air.

The airport provides five possible locations, one of them would be in the territory of Freising, where the city registers concerns. Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher emphasizes that there are equivalent alternatives and raises nature conservation concerns. In addition, the city recommends placing the terminal within the existing airport area, in the immediate vicinity of the Bavarian State Office for Asylum and Return.

practical aspects of storage

The planned new return facility should be designed for up to 100 people every day. A comparison shows that in 2024 there were only nine people in Dutchy at Munich Airport, which questions the need for such a big terminal. According to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, around 24,700 people in Bavaria lived at the end of May 2025, while the total number in Germany was around 260,000. Merkur indicates that the situation at the Munich airport, such as Leipzig a deportation freight with 43 refugees took place, is still comparatively unobtrusive.

The tender for the terminal also stipulates that the returns have to be centralized and more efficiently processed. For this it is also necessary for part of the building to be in the security area. Up to 100 vehicles with employees and people to be deprived of people are expected at the new terminal.

public participation and decision

Another concern of the city of Freising is that there must be a major public participation if the terminal is actually built in its urban area. However, the decision on the final expansion of the airport area lies with the government of Upper Bavaria.

The construction of the return terminal is scheduled to begin in June 2026 and will be completed by the end of 2027 at the latest. The existing combined transit and deportation device (KTA) is currently available for a maximum of 29 people at Munich Airport, which was opened in 2022. Criminal or rejected asylum seekers should be accommodated here, which are currently still being accommodated at the airport in a group.

The discussion about the new return terminal already shows that the cooperation between the airport, the city and the Freising Helfer district will not be easy for refugees. The skepticism is high and it remains to be seen how the plans will develop and whether all concerns will be seriously incorporated into the decision -making process.