Dresden Klotzsche Airport was opened on July 11, 1935, near Dresden, Germany.

Though planned as a comercial airport, its importance to the military increased dramatically during the following years in the third Reich. During World War II it was exclusively used for military purposes

Attempts to destroy buildings and equipment before allied troops could occupy Dresden failed due to the resistance of civil airport employees.

The following years, the airport was used as an education center for the Soviet army.

The airport was reopened for commercial traffic on June 16, 1957. In 1959 international airtraffic resumed, primarily to countries of the eastern block

In the mid 1950s, the east German government decided to develop its own aviation industry. Its center became Dresden and therefore the importance of Klotzsche Airport increased considerably. In 1961, however the government came to the realization that this attempt had failed. Existing plants were now used for maintenance task and minor aviation development and production.

After the German reunification, the airport was expanded and flights to western European capitals were added. Traffic increased seven-fold during the first half of the 1990s and a second terminal was opened in 1995. It was based on an aviation assembly plant. In 2001 the third, and most expansive, terminal was added.

Lufthansa Airport Services Dresden GmbH (LASD), a subsidiary of Lufthansa, provides passenger service at airport.

External links

• The homepage of Dresden Klotzsche Airport (http://www.dresden-airport.de/ger/home/index.html)
• LASD's website (http://www.lasd.de/).