Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport

Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport (IATA: FKB, ICAO: EDSB) (German: Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden)^[3] is the international airport of Karlsruhe, the third-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also serves the spa town of Baden-Baden. It is the state's second-largest airport after Stuttgart Airport, and the 15th-largest in Germany with 1,800,355 passengers as of 2024^[4] and mostly serves low-cost and leisure flights.

Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden
IATA: FKB ICAO: EDSB
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Baden-Airpark GmbH
Serves	Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden
Location	Rheinmünster, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Focus city for	Ryanair
Elevation AMSL	408 ft / 124 m
Coordinates	48°46′46″N 008°04′50″E
Website	Official website
Map
FKB Show map of Baden-Württemberg FKB Show map of Germany
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 03/21 3,060 10,040 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface m ft H1 Asphalt
Statistics (2024)
Passengers 1,800,355 +4,0% Aircraft movements 0,041,969 00+2,5% Cargo (metric tons) 0,001,531 0-16,2%
Sources: Statistics at ADV.[1], AIP at German air traffic control.[2]

The airport itself is part of Baden Airpark, a business park with numerous other tenants.^[5] It is located in Rheinmünster, 40 km (25 mi) south of Karlsruhe, 12 km (7.5 mi) west^[2] of Baden-Baden, 25 km (16 mi) east of Haguenau and 25 km (16 mi) north of Strasbourg, France.

History

Early years as a military airport

The construction of a military airfield began in December 1951 in the Upper Rhine Plain between the Black Forest and the Rhine River under the supervision of the French Air Force. The runway and associated facilities were completed by June 1952. The airfield was granted to Canadian forces and became a military base, RCAF Station Baden–Soellingen, later renamed CFB Baden–Soellingen, from 1953 until 1994.^[6]

The newly founded Baden Airpark GmbH took over the former military airfield to develop it into a regional airport and business park.^[6] Technically, the airport itself today is part of the Baden Airpark, which also includes business facilities.^[5]

Public operations

The first commercial flight from Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUI fly Deutschland) took place in April 2001 with service to Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza. In 2008 the airport counted over one million passengers within a year for the first time.^[6]

On 25 October 2011, Ryanair announced it would open its 47th base at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden in March 2012 with two based aircraft and 20 routes. In addition to Ryanair's then existing 12 routes Ryanair opened seven additional routes to Faro, Málaga, Palma, Riga, Thessaloniki, Vilnius and Zadar.^[7] In July 2018, TUI fly Deutschland announced that it would terminate its operations at the airport, cancelling seven year-round and seasonal leisure routes to the Canaries and the Mediterranean.^[8]

Since March 2025, Ryanair has stationed a fourth aircraft at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airport.^[9]

Facilities

Terminal

Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport consists of one passenger terminal building equipped with 20 check-in counters and eight departure gates as well as some shops and restaurants.^[10]

Runway

The apron features eight aircraft stands of which most can be used by mid-sized aircraft such as the Boeing 737. Due to the location of the terminal building walk stands and buses are used for boarding. Due to its extensive runway and facilities, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport is frequently used by major airlines for training flights.^[11]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport:^[12]

Airlines	Destinations
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya[13]
Enter Air	Seasonal charter: Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Kos, Palma de Mallorca,[14] Rhodos[14]
Eurowings	Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca[15]
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya[16]
Ryanair[17]	Agadir, Alicante,[18] Banja Luka,[19] Bari,[18] Faro,[18] Fès,[18] Girona,[20] Gran Canaria,[21] London–Stansted,[22] Málaga,[18] Palma de Mallorca,[18] Porto,[23] Sarajevo,[24] Seville,[18] Sofia,[18] Stockholm–Arlanda,[18] Tangier,[25] Tel Aviv,[26] Tenerife–South,[27] Thessaloniki,[28] Valencia,[18] Zagreb[29] Seasonal: Bergamo,[30][31] Cagliari,[18] Corfu,[18] Dubrovnik,[32] Lamezia Terme,[18] Palermo,[18] Trapani,[18] Zadar[33]
Wizz Air	Belgrade, Chișinău (begins 27 October 2025),[34] Sibiu, Skopje, Timișoara, Tirana

The closest other international airport is Strasbourg Airport in France, located approximately 40 km (25 mi) to the southwest.

Statistics

Landside area inside the terminal

Apron overview

	Passengers
2008	1,141,070
2009	1,087,909
2010	1,177,201
2011	1,114,535
2012	1,287,382
2013	1,059,227
2014	983,451
2015	1,051,435
2016	1,105,103
2017	1,240,551
2018	1,246,969
2019	1,335,957
2020	401,000[35]
2021	609,459
2022	1,301,002
2023	1,731,055
2024	1,800,355
Source: ADV[4]

Ground transportation

The airport can be reached via motorway A5 which leads from Hesse to Basel (Exit Baden-Baden). There are local bus connections to Baden-Baden and Rastatt as well as their respective train stations.^[36]

See also

• Transport in Germany
• List of airports in Germany