Frankfurt

The airport opened on 8 July 1936. After the Second World War the south side of the field became Rhein-Main Air Base, a major United States base from 1947 and one of the airfields of the Berlin Airlift.

The Americans stayed until the base closed on 31 December 2005, and the ground they left is where Frankfurt's newest terminal now stands.

Frankfurt has four runways. Three run east-west (07L/25R, 07C/25C and 07R/25L) and Runway 18 runs north-south. The longest are 13,000 ft.

The newest, the Northwest Runway, went into operation on 20 October 2011; an aircraft carrying Chancellor Angela Merkel made the first landing the next day. Its separation from the existing north runway allows simultaneous instrument landings on both, raising the airport's capacity from 83 to 126 movements an hour.

The same month, a court ruled that night flights between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. were no longer allowed once the new runway was in service; Germany's administrative court confirmed the ban on 4 April 2012.

Terminal 1 is the main building and Lufthansa's home. Pier A was extended by 500 metres in 2000, and on 10 October 2012 the 800-metre Pier A-Plus opened for Lufthansa's long-haul flights, with stands for four Airbus A380s at once.

Terminal 2 opened in 1994 with concourses D and E. It closed on 9 June 2026 for a refurbishment expected to last until the mid-2030s.

The SkyLine people mover links the terminals, with three stops in Terminal 1 and one each in Terminals 2 and 3.

Terminal 3, decided in 2009 and built on the grounds of the former Rhein-Main Air Base, opened on 22 April 2026 and began operating the next day; the airlines of Terminal 2 moved into it.