# Büchel Air Base

> Alflen, DE · ICAO: ETSB · Medium Airport

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| ICAO | `ETSB` |
| City | Alflen |
| Country | DE |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 478 m |
| Cargo | ❌ |
| GPS | 50.17380, 7.06333 |

## Description

Roughly €1.2 billion originally budgeted and now expected to reach about €2 billion: those are the numbers behind the reconstruction of Büchel Air Base (ICAO: ETSB) in Rhineland-Palatinate, where Germany's Tactical Air Wing 33 is trading its Tornados for 35 F-35A fighters. Acceptance of the first aircraft in the United States is planned from 2026, with the Büchel infrastructure due to support flight operations from 2027; the cost increase is attributed to stringent security requirements and the compressed "fast-track" construction schedule. Büchel is also regarded as the last site of US nuclear weapons in Germany under NATO nuclear sharing — official figures do not exist, though widely cited estimates mention around 20 B61 bombs. The base is closed to civil aviation and handles no commercial cargo whatsoever. Forwarders in the Eifel and Mosel region use Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN, about 45 road kilometres), a dedicated freight airport, Cologne Bonn (CGN, roughly 100 kilometres) with its strong express and night-cargo operation, Luxembourg (LUX) as Cargolux's home base, and Frankfurt (FRA). Military resupply for Büchel moves through Bundeswehr and NATO channels rather than any commercial handling agent.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/buechel-air-base-airport-etsb](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/buechel-air-base-airport-etsb)*

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*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/buechel-air-base-airport-etsb/llm-summary*