History
During the Cold War Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was a frontline NATO facility known as Hahn Air Base. Hahn Air Base was the home of the United States Air Force 50th Fighter Wing (in various designations) for most of those years as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany (Zweibrücken, Ramstein, Sembach, Bitburg, Spangdahlem, and Rhein-Main) all within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of each other. Beyond their location in the heart of US troop concentrations, these air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean region.
On 30 September 1993, most of Hahn Air Base was turned over to civil German authorities, the USAF retaining a small portion as a communications site. It is also frequently used for military charters, these flights being operated by, amongst others, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
The German government decided to turn the former airfield into a civil airport. One of the main investors in the development of the new Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was Fraport AG, which primarily runs Frankfurt International Airport, the aim being to reduce the amount of traffic using that airport. In 2009 Fraport AG sold its 65% Frankfurt-Hahn shares for €1 including debt of €120 million to the federal state Rhineland-Palatinate.
Hahn charges its airline operators less due to its remote location. This has made the airport popular with low-cost carriers, especially Ryanair which uses the airport as a major base. Hahn also serves as a major cargo airport, the fifth largest in Germany. The world record for heaviest single-piece of air cargo, a 189.98 metric tonne generator for a gas power plant in Armenia, was set on a cargo flight departing from Hahn in 2009 using an Antonov 225.
Although its scheduled traffic is almost exclusively international flights, Hahn Airport does not carry the word "International" as part of its name.
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