Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport (IATA: MUC, ICAO: EDDM) (German: Flughafen München-Franz Josef Strauß), is located 28.5 km (17.7 mi) northeast of Munich, Germany, and is a hub for Lufthansa and Star Alliance partner airlines. It lies in direct proximity to the old city of Freising and is named in memory of politician Franz Josef Strauss. The airport is located on the territory of three different municipalities: Oberding (location of the terminals; district of Erding), Hallbergmoos and Marzling (district of Freising).   Munich Airport is the second busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic (34.73 million in 2008), behind Frankfurt Airport while it is the world’s 14th busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic, behind Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the 27th busiest airport in the world. In 2009, it was named the 2nd Best Airport in Europe and fifth-best in the world by Skytrax, the air transport research company. The airport commenced operation on 17 May 1992, when operations moved from the former site at Munich-Riem, which was closed down shortly before midnight on the day before. When its construction was started in 1980 a village named Franzheim had to be demolished, its 500 inhabitants having been resettled in other places in the area. As Lufthansa's home base at Frankfurt Airport is heavily saturated with traffic and has capacity limits, cities with large frequencies are served through Munich as well as Frankfurt. The airport was named after Franz Josef Strauß, who played an important role in German politics. Among other Strauß was a long-time First Minister (Governor) of Bavaria (the state where the airport is located). Under his government, the airport was planned. Strauß, having been a private pilot himself, was said to have a particular interest in the aviation industry and infrastructure. Naming the airport by its full name is quite uncommon, even the airport authority is only named Flughafen M...