# M. R. Štefánik Airport (BTS)

> Bratislava, SK · IATA: BTS · ICAO: LZIB · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `BTS` |
| ICAO | `LZIB` |
| City | Bratislava |
| Country | SK |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 133 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| Cargo Rank | #1 |
| GPS | 48.17020, 17.21270 |

## Description

Up 70 percent in a single year: 18,929 tonnes moved through Bratislava's M. R. Štefánik Airport (IATA: BTS, ICAO: LZIB) in 2025, against 11,136 tonnes in 2024, making it Central Europe's quiet cargo surprise. The engine is DHL — European Air Transport Leipzig operates the express flights and handles roughly 95 percent of the volume, running once or twice on weekdays between Leipzig and Bratislava, and a P3-built hub facility has more than doubled DHL Express's capacity on site, letting Bratislava serve Austria and the Czech Republic and act as a transit point towards the Balkans. Freight for the region's industry, above all the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, adds to the mix. The airport's namesake has a darkly fitting story: Milan Rastislav Štefánik, astronomer, general and co-founder of Czechoslovakia, died in 1919 when his aircraft crashed on approach near Bratislava. On the passenger side BTS set a record of about 2.44 million travellers in 2025 yet stays deliberately in Vienna's shadow — Schwechat is barely 50 kilometres away via the A6/D4 motorway, which is why much Slovak airfreight moves as road feeder service via VIE. The field itself lies 9 kilometres northeast of the city centre on the D1/D4 motorway ring linking Slovakia with Hungary, Austria and Czechia. For express cargo into Central and Eastern Europe, BTS is a shortcut worth knowing: short distances, fast turnarounds, 24-hour operations.

---

*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/m-r-stefanik-airport-bts](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/m-r-stefanik-airport-bts)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/m-r-stefanik-airport-bts](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/m-r-stefanik-airport-bts)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/m-r-stefanik-airport-bts/llm-summary*