The opening of Terminal 2 at Munich Airport in 2003 marked the start of a joint venture that is still one-of-a-kind in Europe: Munich Airport and Lufthansa jointly assumed entrepreneurial responsibility for a piece of airport infrastructure.
The Terminal 2 operating company is a mutually beneficial partnership. For Lufthansa, it meant having a say in the development of a passenger handling facility tailored to the needs of its customers and its handling processes at an international hub. For Munich Airport, it brought increased capacity while forging long-term ties to Germany's largest airline.
The joint operation of Terminal 2 applies both to the aviation operations, with the usual handling services, and the non-aviation segment, with the many shops and food service businesses in the terminal.
The success story continued in 2016 with the opening of the Terminal 2 satellite terminal, Germany's first midfield terminal.