Airport Graz

Location
Graz-Thalerhof Airport is about 10 km (6.2 miles) south of Graz city centre near the community of Feldkirchen. It is used for military and civil purposes. On the eastern part of the compound there is an Austrian military air force base, with fighter planes and the barracks of the so-called „Nittner Fliegerhorst“.

History
The beginnings of Graz airport date back to 1913, when the then dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary established a military air base on the grass area south of the city. After the First World War civil air traffic was taken up in 1925 when the airfield was integrated into the inner Austrian network with the route Vienna - Graz . In 1937 a terminal building was constructed in Graz. Shortly after this the Second World War broke out and civil use of the airport came to its end. Only as late as in 1951, four years before the complete sovereignty of Austria was air space finally opened and a 1,500 m (4,900 ft) long tarmac runway was built which was extended to 2,000 m (6,551 ft) in 1962. After a surprisingly fast increase in passenger numbers the first plane flew from Graz to Frankfurt am Main in 1966, being the first international connection. One year on the runway was again extended to a total of 2,500 m (8,202 ft) and the then highly modern terminal building was also erected. The first Concorde landing in the year 1981 denoted another highlight in the history of aviation in Graz. The following years of business resulted extremely lucrative and in the year 1994 another building was planned in order to improve check in of almost 750,000 passengers. In 1998 another runway extension took place and the length now measures 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). Now (2007) a total of 900,000 passengers a year make use of the airport.