M. R. Štefánik Airport, also called – especially in English – Bratislava Airport, located approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of the city center of Bratislava, spanning over the area of three municipalities. It is the main international airport of Slovakia. Shortly after the independence of Slovakia in 1993, it was named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880–1919), whose aircraft crashed near Bratislava in 1919. The airport is owned and run by Letisko M. R. Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS). As of September 2014 the company is fully owned by the Slovak Republic via the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development.
Bratislava Airport
Departures area
Control tower
Check-in hall
Milan Rastislav Štefánik was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. As one of the leading members of the Czechoslovak National Council, he contributed decisively to the cause of Czechoslovak sovereignty, since the status of Czech- and Slovak-populated territories was one of those in question until shortly before the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1918.
Milan Rastislav Štefánik
Štefánik's statue on Prague's Petřín
Identical statue atop war memorial in Paulhan, France
Statue in Bratislava