Stuttgart Airport

Not to be confused with Stuttgart Municipal Airport in Arkansas, USA.

Stuttgart Airport Flughafen Stuttgart
IATA: STR ICAO: EDDS
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH
Serves	Stuttgart Metropolitan Region
Location	Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Filderstadt and Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Opened	1948 (1948)
Operating base for	Condor Eurowings SunExpress TUI fly Deutschland
Built	1939 (1939)
Elevation AMSL	1,276 ft / 389 m
Coordinates	48°41′24″N 009°13′19″E
Website	www.stuttgart-airport.com
Maps
Map of the airport
STR/EDDS 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)
Passengers 6,986,943 +95,5% Aircraft movements 0,085,822 +38,1% Cargo (metric tons) 0,033,593 -31,5%
Sources: Statistics at ADV., AIP at German air traffic control.

Stuttgart Airport (Template:Lang-de) formerly Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen (IATA: STR, ICAO: EDDS) is an international airport serving 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 facility covers approximately 400 hectares (1,000 acres), of which 190 hectares are green space.

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 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

Early 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.

The airport in the 1950s-1990s

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.

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.

Development since 2010

After the death of former mayor Manfred Rommel in November 2013 local politicians proposed renaming the airport after him. This proposal caused public disputes as he was the son of Erwin Rommel but also highly respected for his 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 terminated their service to Atlanta after being suspended since 2020 and nearly 35 years of service, leaving the airport without any scheduled long-haul operations. However this route resumed in March 2023 after a three-year hiatus, albeit reduced to a seasonal service.

Terminals

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.

• 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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

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

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Athens, Thessaloniki
Air Cairo	Seasonal: Hurghada, Marsa Alam
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Serbia	Belgrade
AJet	Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Seasonal: Adana, Antalya, Kayseri, Samsun
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
British Airways	London–Heathrow
Condor	Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Corfu, Funchal, Heraklion, Kos, Lanzarote, Preveza/Lefkada, Rhodes Seasonal charter: Pristina
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya, Heraklion, İzmir
Delta Air Lines	Seasonal: Atlanta
European Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna
Eurowings	Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin, Bremen, Budapest, Catania, Chișinău, Faro, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, La Palma, Lisbon, London–Heathrow, Málaga, Manchester, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Pristina, Rome–Fiumicino, Sarajevo, Split, Stockholm–Arlanda, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Valencia, Vienna, Zagreb Seasonal: Adana, Antalya, Bari, Bastia, Bilbao, Brindisi, Bucharest–Otopeni, Burgas, Cagliari, Chania, Corfu, Dubai–Al Maktoum (begins 30 March 2025), Dubai–International (ends 29 March 2025), Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Heraklion, Iași, Ibiza, İzmir, Kalamata, Kavala, Kos, Kraków, Lamezia Terme, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Mykonos, Nice, Olbia, Palermo, Pisa, Porto, Preveza/Lefkada, Pula, Reykjavik–Keflavík, Rhodes, Rijeka, Santorini, Sofia, Sylt, Tbilisi, Tenerife–South, Timișoara, Tivat, Tunis, Varna, Venice, Zadar, Zakynthos Seasonal charter: Arvidsjaur
Fly Lili	Brasov (suspended),
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya
Israir Airlines	Seasonal: Tel Aviv
ITA Airways	Milan–Linate
KLM	Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich
Nouvelair	Seasonal: Djerba, Monastir
Pegasus Airlines	Ankara, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, İzmir, Kayseri
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen Seasonal: Oslo
SkyAlps	Bolzano
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, Faro, Heraklion, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Menorca, Patras, Rhodes
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul Seasonal: Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Elazığ, Gaziantep, İzmir, Kayseri, Ordu–Giresun, Samsun, Trabzon
Volotea	Seasonal: Bordeaux
Vueling	Barcelona
Wizz Air	Budapest, Tirana (begins 29 October 2024)

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Atlas Air	Birmingham (AL)
DHL Aviation	Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle
FedEx Feeder	Liège, Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Statistics

Aerial view of the airport and Stuttgart Trade Fair

Apron view

Control tower

One of the two main halls

Departure area

Passengers and movements

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

Largest airlines

Largest airlines by passengers (2017)

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

Busiest domestic routes out of Stuttgart Airport (2017)

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)

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

The motorway leading to the airport with a large car park across it

Stuttgart Flughafen/Messe station

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

Accidents and incidents

• On 19 January 2010, Bin Air Swearingen SA-227-C Metro D-CKPP was damaged when the right main undercarriage collapsed on landing.

See also

• Transport in Germany
• List of airports in Germany

External links

Media related to Stuttgart Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for EDDS at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for STR at Aviation Safety Network
• Historical U.S. Army information