Memmingen: Everything You Need To Know About Germany's Highest Airport
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Loading... - Mira Farago
- 09 Feb 2023
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The facility is sometimes used as a low-cost alternative to Munich, despite being located a considerable distance away.
Germany is home to a wide variety of airports that serve a huge range of locations and purposes. The likes of Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) rank among its main passenger hubs, while a considerable amount of airfreight is funneled through Leipzig-Halle (LEJ). However, away from these, the highest of them all is Memmingen, which sits some 633 meters (2,077 feet) above sea level.
A brief history of the airport
The facility, which is also known as Allgäu Airport Memmingen (FMM), began its life, like many other commercial airports, as a military base. Having initially been used by German forces during the Second World War, the post-war era saw the US Air Force train there until the mid-1950s. Shortly after, the German military returned.
The German Air Force's presence in Memmingen lasted into the 21st century, with a fighter-bomber wing known as Allgäu (after the region that Memmingen is located in) being housed there until 2003. The following year, the base began a new lease of life as a commercial airport, although it initially saw minimal demand in this regard.
Indeed, it was only once low-cost and leisure carriers began using the airport, sometimes as a budget alternative to Munich, that it began to flourish commercially. The arrivals of TUI and Ryanair helped prompt a 75% increase in passenger numbers, which, according to Merkur, rose from 462,000 in 2008 to 810,000 in 2009. Read More…
