Stuttgart Airport
Stuttgart Airport (German: "Flughafen Stuttgart", formerly "Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen") is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's former mayor, Manfred Rommel, son of Erwin Rommel, and is the sixth busiest airport in Germany with 11,832,634 passengers having passed through its doors in 2018. The airport is operated by Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH (FSG). It goes back to Luftverkehr Württemberg AG, which was founded in 1924 and initially operated Böblingen Airport. Since 2008, 65% of the operating company is owned by the state of Baden -Württemberg and 35% by the city of Stuttgart. It is located approximately ( in a straight line) south of Stuttgart and lies on the boundary between the nearby town of Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Filderstadt and Stuttgart itself. In 2007, the Stuttgart Trade Fair – the ninth biggest exhibition centre in Germany – moved to grounds directly next to the airport. Additionally, the global headquarters for car parking company APCOA Parking are located here. History. First years and World War II. The airport was built in 1939 to replace Böblingen Airport. In 1945, the United States Army took over the airport until returning it to  German authorities in 1948. For the duration of the Cold War the runway and facilities were shared with the United States Army who operated helicopters, the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk and other fixed wing aircraft as "Echterdingen Army Airfield" on the southern portion of the airfield. Some of the units operating at Echterdingen were headquartered at nearby Nellingen Kaserne- now closed and redeveloped. In 1984–5, the 223rd Aviation Battalion (Combat) of the 11th Aviation Group (Combat) was headquartered at Echterdingen, with three aviation companies assigned (one at Schwäbisch Hall). The U.S. Army still maintains a small helicopter base - "Stuttgart Army Airfield  - on the southern side of the airport, which it shares with the Baden-Württemberg State Police helicopter wing. The police helicopter wing falls under the control of Stuttgart Police Department and has six modern helicopters based at Stuttgart and two in Söllingen. Later development. The airport was expanded after World War II. The runway was extended to in 1948, then to in 1961 and finally to in 1996. Renovation was scheduled for 2020, full closure phase was preponed to be completed in April during the corona lockdown. The original 1938 terminal was finally replaced in 2004 and there are now 	Stuttgart Airport
5103154	four terminals with a maximum capacity of approximately 12 million passengers. Politicians, town planners and nearby residents have been arguing for years about the construction of a second runway. However, on 25 June 2008 Minister-President Günther Oettinger announced that for the next 8–12 years no second runway will be built and that the restrictions for night operations stay in place. After the death of former mayor Manfred Rommel in November 2013 local politicians proposed to rename the airport after him. This proposal caused public disputes as he was the son of Erwin Rommel but also highly respected for his 	Stuttgart Airport
5103155	work on intercultural affairs. In July 2014 it has been announced that the airport will be named Flughafen Stuttgart - Manfred Rommel Flughafen" from now on. In September 2016, the airport unveiled new branding and corporate design, changing its official name from "Flughafen Stuttgart" to "Stuttgart Airport". In September 2014, United Airlines cancelled their route to Stuttgart from Newark due to insufficient demand leaving Stuttgart Airport with only one remaining long-haul connection to Atlanta provided by Delta Air Lines. In October 2014, easyJet announced they would serve Stuttgart as their seventh German destination by March 2015. In December 2014, Ryanair  also added Stuttgart as a destination in their network with six weekly flights to Manchester from April 2015. Air Berlin announced the start of a service to Abu Dhabi from December 2014. On 31 May 2016, Air Berlin ceased its flights to Abu Dhabi. In October 2016, Air Berlin announced it would close its maintenance facilities at the airport due to cost cutting and restructuring measures. In July 2020, Lauda announced the closure of their base at Stuttgart Airport - which has been operated as a wetlease for Ryanair - by October 2020. Prior to this announcement, the base staff rejected a  new labour agreement. In October 2021, Delta Air Lines confirmed the termination of their service to Atlanta, leaving the airport without any scheduled long-haul operations. Terminals. Stuttgart Airport consists of four passenger terminals which have separate check-in facilities and entrances but are directly connected to each other and share a single airside area which features eight Jet bridges as well as about two dozen bus-boarding stands. Airlines and destinations. Passenger. The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Stuttgart Airport: Ground transportation. Car. There are two major highways: Just north of the airport runs the  Bundesautobahn 8 (A8), which connects the cities of Karlsruhe and Stuttgart to Ulm, Augsburg and Munich. The Bundesstraße 27 (B27) leads to downtown Stuttgart, as well as to Tübingen and Reutlingen in the South. Coach. From the regional cities of Esslingen am Neckar, Reutlingen, Tübingen and Kirchheim exists a connection by coach. Additionally, German long-distance coach operators "DeinBus" and Flixbus maintain their stop for Stuttgart on the airport grounds with direct connections to several major cities. Suburban railway. Stuttgart Airport can be easily reached within 30 minutes from the city's main railway station using the Stuttgart suburban railway  S2 or S3 from Stuttgart Flughafen/Messe station. Future long-distance railway. It is planned to connect the airport with the future Stuttgart - Ulm high-speed railway line currently under construction as part of the major Stuttgart 21 railway redevelopment program. Therefore, a new long-distance train station will be built on the airport's grounds near the existing suburban railway station. The new station, which will be served by "ICE" high-speed trains will be connected to the new line by an underground loop track. The Stuttgart-Ulm line is scheduled to be opened in 2020 while the new  airport connection is planned to be inaugurated in 2022.