Private 5G at Paderborn Lippstadt Airport Shows What Is Possible Beyond Major Hubs

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Paderborn Lippstadt Airport is a regional international airport serving the Ostwestfalen-Lippe area in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Despite its name, the airport is not located in Paderborn itself but near the town of Büren, around 18 kilometres from the city centre. With just under one million passengers per year and around 37,000 flights annually, it sits firmly in the category of a medium-sized regional airport rather than a major European hub.

Yet Paderborn Lippstadt Airport has become an interesting reference point for how advanced digital infrastructure can be deployed outside the largest and busiest airports. Like many regional airports, it faces the same operational pressures as larger hubs, including safety, efficiency, cost control and environmental impact, but without the scale that traditionally justified early adoption of new technologies. This makes its approach to automation and connectivity particularly relevant to other airports of a similar size.

One of the key challenges at airports is the automation of ground operations. Processes such as aircraft towing, docking and apron logistics involve heavy equipment, strict safety requirements and little tolerance for failure. Reliable wireless connectivity is essential, especially as airports begin to introduce autonomous or remotely controlled vehicles. At Paderborn, ambitions to deploy innovations such as autonomous towing vehicles quickly exposed the limitations of the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure.

Wi-Fi struggled to deliver the level of reliability required for mission-critical operations. Coverage gaps around terminals and across the apron, unstable connections during pushback and docking, and the need for a very high number of access points all created unacceptable risks. In an environment where aircraft can weigh tens of tonnes and operations take place in close proximity to people and infrastructure, even short connectivity interruptions are not acceptable.

To address these challenges, Paderborn Lippstadt Airport opted to deploy a Private 5G network. Unlike Wi-Fi, Private 5G operates on licensed spectrum and is fully dedicated to the airport’s operational needs. The network is isolated from public mobile networks, giving the airport full control over performance, security and availability. This makes it particularly suitable for applications where predictable behaviour and low latency are essential.

The Private 5G network at Paderborn was implemented through a collaboration between Firecell and Triopt, with Geuzenet working alongside Firecell on similar Private 5G deployments in the Netherlands. The solution provides consistent coverage across the airport using a relatively small number of radio units, reducing infrastructure complexity compared to large-scale Wi-Fi deployments. Latency is kept in the millisecond range, allowing real-time control of vehicles and rapid response to sensor data and video feeds.

A central use case enabled by the network is the AEM-Speedport project, which focuses on autonomous aircraft towing. Self-driving tug vehicles are used to move aircraft between the gate and the runway without running the aircraft’s own engines. These vehicles rely on continuous, stable connectivity to transmit sensor data and live video while receiving control commands. Even at speeds of up to 20 kilometres per hour, the connection must remain reliable to ensure safe operation.

The impact of automating these processes with Private 5G is measurable. Airports deploying similar solutions report aircraft being ready for departure up to 25 per cent faster, driven by reduced turnaround times on the apron. Incident rates during ground operations are also reported to fall by up to 15 per cent, reflecting improved situational awareness and more consistent control of equipment. There are also environmental benefits, including reduced fuel consumption, lower CO2 emissions and less noise at the terminal due to engines remaining switched off during towing.

While autonomous towing is one of the most visible applications, Private 5G at airports supports a broader range of use cases. These include automated boarding bridges that position themselves using sensors and AI, visual docking systems that guide aircraft precisely to the gate using 3D scanning, autonomous vehicles for baggage handling, and high-quality remote video for aircraft inspections. All of these applications share common requirements around low latency, reliability and seamless mobility, which are difficult to achieve with traditional wireless technologies.

What makes the Paderborn deployment particularly notable is that it demonstrates Private 5G is not limited to major international airports such as Frankfurt or Brussels. The scale of Paderborn Lippstadt Airport shows that medium-sized and regional airports can also justify and benefit from Private 5G when automation and safety are strategic priorities. The same principles apply beyond aviation, in environments such as warehouses, manufacturing sites, logistics centres and ports, where autonomous vehicles and real-time control are becoming increasingly common.

Through its collaboration with Firecell, Geuzenet is applying lessons from the Paderborn project to similar Private 5G deployments in the Netherlands. The focus is on delivering end-to-end networks that are designed around the physical environment and operational requirements of each site, from initial coverage planning through to ongoing network management.

The Private 5G network at Paderborn Lippstadt Airport provides a practical example of how next-generation wireless infrastructure can support safer, more efficient and more sustainable operations, even outside the world’s largest hubs. For regional airports facing growing pressure to modernise while maintaining strict safety standards, it offers a clear indication of what is already achievable today.

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