History
The construction of a military airfield began in December 1951 at a location between the Black Forest and the Rhine River under the supervision of 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 1993.
The newly founded Baden Airpark GmbH took over the airport in 1995 and the first commercial flight took place on May 17, 1997, to Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Technically the airport is part of Baden Airpark, which also includes facilities for both business and leisure. The latter includes an 18-hole golf course and an enclosed ice rink (both originally part of the Canadian base).
On 25 October 2011 Ryanair announced it would open its 47th base at Baden-Baden (Karlsruhe) Airport in March 2012 with two based aircraft and 20 routes. In addition to Ryanair’s existing 12 Baden-Baden routes Ryanair will open 7 new routes to Faro, Malaga, Palma, Riga, Thessaloniki, Vilnius and Zadar.
Read more about this topic: Baden Airpark
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