Stuttgart Airport

Summary

Stuttgart Airport (German: Flughafen Stuttgart, formerly Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen) (IATA: STR, ICAO: EDDS) 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,[4] and is the sixth busiest airport in Germany with 11,832,634 passengers having passed through its doors in 2018. The facility covers approximately 400 hectares (1,000 acres), of which 190 hectares are green space.[5]

Stuttgart Airport

Flughafen Stuttgart
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorFlughafen Stuttgart GmbH
ServesStuttgart, Germany
Hub for
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL1,276 ft / 389 m
Coordinates48°41′24″N 009°13′19″E / 48.69000°N 9.22194°E / 48.69000; 9.22194
Websitestuttgart-airport.com
Maps
Map of the airport
Map of the airport
STR is located in Baden-Württemberg
STR
STR
Location within Baden-Württemberg
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 3,345 10,974 Concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
H1 30 98 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers6,986,943 Increase+95,5%
Aircraft movements0,085,822 Increase+38,1%
Cargo (metric tons)0,033,593 Decrease-31,5%
Sources: Statistics at ADV.,[2]
AIP at German air traffic control.[3]

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 13 km (8.1 mi) (10 km (6.2 mi) in a straight line) south[3] of Stuttgart and lies on the boundary between the nearby town of Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Filderstadt and Stuttgart itself. In 2007, the Messe Stuttgart convention center – 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 edit

Early years and World War II edit

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.[citation needed]

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.[6][7] Some of the units operating at Echterdingen were headquartered at nearby Nellingen Kaserne- now closed and redeveloped.[8] 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).[9] 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.

The airport in the 1950s-1990s edit

The airport was expanded after World War II. The runway was extended to 1,800 m (5,906 ft) in 1948, then to 2,250 m (7,382 ft) in 1961 and finally to 3,345 m (10,974 ft) in 1996. Renovation was scheduled for 2020, full closure phase was preponed to be completed in April during the corona lockdown.[10]

The original 1938 terminal was finally replaced in 2004 and there are now 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.[11][12]

Development since 2010 edit

After the death of former mayor Manfred Rommel in November 2013 local politicians proposed renaming the airport after him.[13] This proposal caused public disputes as he was the son of Erwin Rommel but also highly respected for his work on intercultural affairs.[14] In July 2014 it has been announced that the airport will be named Flughafen Stuttgart - Manfred Rommel Flughafen from now on.[15] In September 2016, the airport unveiled new branding and corporate design, changing its official name from Flughafen Stuttgart to Stuttgart Airport.[16]

In September 2014, United Airlines cancelled their route to Stuttgart from Newark due to insufficient demand[17] 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.[18] In December 2014, Ryanair also added Stuttgart as a destination in their network with six weekly flights to Manchester from April 2015.[19]

Air Berlin announced the start of a service to Abu Dhabi from December 2014.[20] On 31 May 2016, Air Berlin ceased its flights to Abu Dhabi.[21] In October 2016, Air Berlin announced it would close its maintenance facilities at the airport due to cost cutting and restructuring measures.[22]

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.[23] In October 2021, Delta Air Lines terminated their service to Atlanta after being suspended since 2020 and nearly 35 years of service,[24] leaving the airport without any scheduled long-haul operations. However this route resumed in March 2023 after a three-year hiatus,[25] albeit reduced to a seasonal service.[26]

Terminals edit

 
Landside view of Terminals 1 to 3.

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.[27]

  • Terminal 1 is the first of two landside main halls and features together with its addition Terminal 1-West 50 check-in counters. It shares the roof with Terminals 2 and 3 and is mainly used by Eurowings and Turkish Airlines.
  • Terminal 2 is a small area featuring nine check-in counters and a security checkpoint. It is located within the shopping area between the main halls of Terminals 1 and 3. It is used by Lufthansa & Star Alliance partners in addition to their counters in Terminal 1.
  • Terminal 3 is the second of the two landside main halls east of Terminal 1 and 2 and features 39 additional check-in counters. It is used by TUIfly and KLM among several other airlines.
  • Terminal 4 is, unlike the other three terminals, a separate and very basic equipped building to the east of Terminals 1 to 3 but also connected to them by a walk way. It features 17 more check-in counters as well as several bus-boarding gates and is used mostly for holiday charter operations. In March 2018, the airport administration announced that Terminal 4 will be entirely rebuilt and expanded in the coming years.[28]

Airlines and destinations edit

Passenger edit

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Stuttgart Airport:[29]

AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens, Thessaloniki
Air Cairo[30][31] Seasonal: Hurghada, Marsa Alam[32]
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Serbia Belgrade
AJet Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Seasonal: Adana (begins 1 June 2024),[33] Antalya, Kayseri (begins 2 June 2024),[33] Samsun (begins 4 June 2024)[33]
Austrian Airlines Vienna
British Airways London–Heathrow
Condor Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–South
Seasonal: Corfu, Funchal, Heraklion, Kos, Lanzarote,[34] Preveza/Lefkada, Rhodes
Seasonal charter: Pristina (begins 12 May 2024)[35]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya,[36] Heraklion (begins 27 April 2024),[37] İzmir[36]
Delta Air Lines Seasonal: Atlanta[38][39][26]
European Air Charter Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna
Eurowings[40] Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin, Bremen, Budapest, Catania, Chișinău (begins 18 May 2024),[41] Edinburgh (begins 1 May 2024),[42] Faro, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, La Palma, Lisbon, London–Heathrow, Málaga, Manchester (begins 6 May 2024),[43] Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Pristina, Rome–Fiumicino, Sarajevo, Split, Stockholm–Arlanda,[44] Thessaloniki, Tirana, Valencia, Vienna, Zagreb
Seasonal: Adana,[45] Antalya, Bari, Bastia, Bilbao, Brindisi, Bucharest–Otopeni, Burgas, Cagliari, Chania, Corfu, Dubai–International,[46] Dubrovnik, Fuerteventura, Funchal,[47] Heraklion, Iași (begins 3 May 2024),[43] Ibiza, İzmir, Kalamata, Kavala, Kos, Kraków, Kütahya[citation needed],[48] Lamezia Terme, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Mykonos, Nice, Olbia, Palermo, Pisa, Porto,[45] Preveza/Lefkada,[49] Pula, Reykjavik–Keflavík (begins 19 May 2024),[43] Rhodes, Rijeka, Santorini, Sofia, Sylt, Tbilisi,[45] Tenerife–South, Timișoara,[50] Tivat,[45] Tunis,[45] Varna, Venice, Zadar, Zakynthos
Seasonal charter: Arvidsjaur[51]
Freebird Airlines[52] Seasonal: Antalya
Israir Airlines Seasonal: Tel Aviv[53]
ITA Airways Milan–Linate[54][55]
KLM Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Nouvelair[56] Seasonal: Djerba, Monastir
Pegasus Airlines Ankara, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, İzmir, Kayseri
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen
Seasonal: Oslo[57]
SkyAlps Bolzano (begins 28 May 2024)[58]
SunExpress Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Gaziantep, İzmir, Kayseri, Samsun
Seasonal: Bodrum, Dalaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Konya, Trabzon
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Tailwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya
TUI fly Deutschland Boa Vista, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Lanzarote, Palma de Mallorca, Sal, Tenerife–South
Seasonal: Corfu, Dalaman, Djerba,[59] Faro, Heraklion, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Menorca, Patras, Rhodes
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Seasonal: Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Elazığ,[60] Gaziantep, İzmir, Kayseri, Ordu–Giresun, Samsun, Trabzon
Volotea Seasonal: Bordeaux[61]
Vueling Barcelona
Wizz Air Budapest (begins 18 June 2024),[62] Tirana (begins 29 October 2024)[63]

Cargo edit

AirlinesDestinations
Atlas Air[64] Birmingham (AL)
DHL Aviation[65] Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle
FedEx Feeder[66] Liège, Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Statistics edit

 
Aerial view of the airport and Stuttgart Trade Fair
 
Apron view
 
Control tower
 
One of the two main halls
 
Departure area

Passengers and movements edit

Annual passenger traffic at STR airport. See Wikidata query.
Passengers Movements
1999 7,688,951 119,904
2000   8,141,020   150,451
2001   7,642,409   146,771
2002   7,284,319   144,208
2003   7,595,286   144,903
2004   8,831,216   156,885
2005   9,413,671   160,405
2006   10,111,346   164,735
2007   10,328,120   164,531
2008   9,932,887   160,243
2009   8,941,990   141,572
2010   9,226,546   135,335
2011   9,591,461   136,580
2012   9,735,087   131,524
2013   9,588,692   124,588
2014   9,728,710   122,818
2015   10,526,920   130,485
2016   10,640,610   129,704
2017   10,975,639   127,981
2018   11,832,634   137,632
2019   12,721,441   -
Source: Stuttgart Airport[67]

Largest airlines edit

Largest airlines by passengers (2017)[68]
Rank Airline %
1   Eurowings 36.2%
2   Air Berlin 7.2%
3   TUIfly 6.6%
4   Lufthansa 5.1%
5   SunExpress and
  SunExpress Deutschland
4.8%
6   Condor 4.7%
7   Turkish Airlines 4.6%
8   Niki 3.0%
9   EasyJet 2.9%
10   KLM 2.4%

Busiest routes edit

Busiest domestic routes out of Stuttgart Airport (2017)  [69]
Rank Destination Passengers
1   Berlin, Tegel Airport   1,037,000
2   Hamburg, Hamburg Airport   689,100
3   Hesse, Frankfurt Airport   370,500
4   Bavaria, Munich Airport   179,600
5   Lower Saxony, Hannover Airport   178,900
6   Bremen, Bremen Airport   163,400
7   North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf Airport   119,700
8   Saxony, Dresden Airport   102,100
Busiest international routes out of Stuttgart Airport (2016)[69]
Rank Destination Passengers
1   Spain, Palma de Mallorca Airport   730,700
2   Turkey, Istanbul (Atatürk Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport)   643,500
3   United Kingdom, London (Heathrow Airport, Stansted Airport and Gatwick Airport)   520,200
4   Austria, Vienna International Airport   367,100
5   Turkey, Antalya Airport   363,900
6   Netherlands, Amsterdam Airport   311,600
7   Spain, Barcelona Airport   239,800
8   Switzerland, Zurich Airport   193,800
9   Greece, Athens Airport, Thessaloniki Airport   180,000
10   France, Paris Paris–Charles de Gaulle Airport   178,700

Ground transportation edit

 
The motorway leading to the airport with a large car park across it
 
Stuttgart Flughafen/Messe station

Car edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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. As of 2019, the airport connection is planned to commence operation in late 2025,[70] versus an initial estimate of 2019 (made in 2010).

Accidents and incidents edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Flightradar24 data, SunExpress routes".
  2. ^ "ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2022" (PDF; 919 KB). adv.aero (in German). Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b "AIP VFR online". dfs.de. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Namenserweiterung in Manfred Rommel Flughafen" (Press release) (in German). Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH. 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Stuttgart Airport Facts and Figures". stuttgart-airport.com. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Stuttgart Airport - Page 1". mil-airfields.de.
  7. ^ "USAREUR Units & Kasernes, 1945 - 1989".
  8. ^ "Der Domainname billybils.de steht zum Verkauf".
  9. ^ Isby and Kamps, Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's, 1985, 375.
  10. ^ "Partial renewal of the runway". Stuttgart Airport. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  11. ^ Flughafen bekommt keine zweite Startbahn Archived 16 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Stuttgarter Zeitung online vom 25. Juni 2008 (in German).
  12. ^ Das Versprechen gilt nur auf "absehbare Zeit" Archived 26 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Stuttgarter Zeitung online vom 25. Juni 2008 (in German).
  13. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany (9 November 2013). "Manfred-Rommel-Flughafen?: CDU will Stuttgarter Flughafen umbenennen - Stuttgart - Stuttgarter Nachrichten". Retrieved 4 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart, Germany (15 July 2014). "Manfred-Rommel-Flughafen: Flughafen Stuttgart mit neuem Namen - Stuttgart - Stuttgarter Zeitung". stuttgarter-zeitung.de. Retrieved 4 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "aero.de - Luftfahrt-Nachrichten und -Community". aero.de. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  16. ^ "Aus Flughafen Stuttgart wird Stuttgart Airport". 28 September 2016.
  17. ^ FVW Medien GmbH. "United Airlines: Aus für Stuttgart–New York". biztravel.de. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  18. ^ FVW Medien GmbH. "Easyjet: Noch drei Deutschland-Routen". biztravel.de. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Ryanair fliegt Flughafen Stuttgart an". airliners.de.
  20. ^ "airberlin presse – airberlin plant Flüge von Stuttgart nach Abu Dhabi". Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  21. ^ airberlingroup.com - airberlin withdraws from Stuttgart - Abu Dhabi route 18 March 2016
  22. ^ rbb-online.de - "Air Berlin wants to cancel nearly 500 staff nationwide" (German) 14 October 2016
  23. ^ swr.de (German) 17 July 2020
  24. ^ reisetopia.de (German) 23 October 2021
  25. ^ flugrevue.de (German) 27 September 2022
  26. ^ a b reisetopia.de (German) 1 April 2023
  27. ^ "Terminal guide". Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Interview - "Wir brauchen dringend mehr Platz"".
  29. ^ "Flugplan". Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  30. ^ "Flight plan". sunexpress.com.
  31. ^ "Egypt's Air Cairo, SunExpress ink cooperation agreement". ch-aviation.com. 8 March 2021.
  32. ^ "AIR CAIRO NS23 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 13OCT22". aeroroutes.com. 14 October 2022.
  33. ^ a b c https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240402-vfns24de
  34. ^ "Condor Expands Lanzarote Network in NW23". AeroRoutes.
  35. ^ "Condor Adds Stuttgart – Prishtina in NS24".
  36. ^ a b "CORENDON AIRLINES NW22 SCHEDULED SERVICE ADJUSTMENT – 20OCT22". aeroroutes.com. 20 October 2022.
  37. ^ "Summer 2024: Corendon takes on Stuttgart-Herkalion". 25 October 2023.
  38. ^ "Delta adds 9 transatlantic routes, 2 new destinations for next summer". 23 September 2022. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  39. ^ "Delta NW23 Intercontinental Routes Removal – 26MAR23".
  40. ^ "Eurowings flight plan". eurowings.com. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  41. ^ "Eurowings NS24 Network Additions – 30NOV23". AeroRoutes. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  42. ^ "Eurowings NS24 Network Changes – 18DEC23".
  43. ^ a b c "Eurowings NS24 Network Additions – 30NOV23".
  44. ^ "New Routes and Destinations". 6 December 2022.
  45. ^ a b c d e "Eurowings flies to more destinations in summer 2022 than ever before". Eurowings.
  46. ^ Frommberg, Laura (24 April 2023). "Eurowings fliegt ab Berlin und Stuttgart mit Airbus A321 Neo nach Dubai". Aero Telegraph (in German). Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  47. ^ "Our flight routes". Eurowings.
  48. ^ "Eurowings Adds New Turkish Routes in NS23".
  49. ^ "Eurowings flies to more destinations in summer 2022 than ever before". 20 December 2021.
  50. ^ "Eurowings Resumes Stuttgart – Timisoara Service in NS23".
  51. ^ "Service".
  52. ^ "Flight list". freebirdairlines.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  53. ^ "Israir Resumes Tel Aviv – Stuttgart Service in 3Q23". AeroRoutes.
  54. ^ ita-airways.com - Network retrieved 18 November 2022
  55. ^ aviation.direct - "ITA Airways connects Stuttgart to Milan-Linate (German) 16 September 2022
  56. ^ "Cheap flight tickets Tunisia : Private airline companie Nouvelair".
  57. ^ "SAS NS23 EUROPEAN NETWORK ADDITIONS". Aeroroutes. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  58. ^ "Sky Alps Adds Bolzano – Stuttgart from late-May 2024".
  59. ^ "TUIfly Adds Stuttgart – Djerba Route in NS23". AeroRoutes.
  60. ^ "Turkish Airlines NS22 European Network Expansion Update - 08APR22".
  61. ^ "Volotea verbindet Stuttgart mit Bordeaux und Nantes".
  62. ^ https://dailynewshungary.com/wizz-air-launches-six-new-flights-budapest/
  63. ^ https://www.aerotelegraph.com/wizz-air-verbindet-stuttgart-mit-tirana
  64. ^ aerotelegraph.com (German) 2 April 2023
  65. ^ "PRESSEMITTEILUNGEN" (in German). Stuttgart Airport. 22 September 2017.
  66. ^ aerotelegraph.com - "FedEx expands in Stuttgart" (German) 28 February 2023
  67. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  68. ^ "Statistischer Jahresbericht 2017" (PDF). Stuttgart Airport (in German).
  69. ^ a b "Statistisches Bundesamt: Luftverkehr auf Hauptverkehrsflughäfen Publikation 2017" (PDF). Destatis. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  70. ^ "Projektstatus" (in German). Bahnprojekt Stuttgart-Ulm. 28 October 2019.
  71. ^ "Accident: BinAir SW4 at Stuttgart on Jan 19th 2010, right main gear collapsed on landing". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2010.

External links edit

  Media related to Stuttgart Airport at Wikimedia Commons