# 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

Tactical Air Wing 33 of the German Air Force flies from Büchel (ICAO: ETSB), the Eifel base widely reported to store around 20 American B61 bombs under NATO nuclear sharing — the last nuclear weapons on German soil. The wing's Tornado jets are to be replaced by 35 F-35A Lightning II fighters, with the first operational F-35A expected at Büchel from the second half of 2027 as the site undergoes a roughly €10 billion infrastructure overhaul. Sitting at about 480 metres in Rhineland-Palatinate, the airfield is entirely closed to civil aviation. No air freight is handled; the nearest cargo options are Cologne Bonn (IATA: CGN, approx. 100 km) and Frankfurt (IATA: FRA, approx. 130 km).

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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)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/buechel-air-base-airport-etsb](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/buechel-air-base-airport-etsb)*

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