A military airfield was built at Memmingerberg in 1935. Starting March 1937, it housed the third group of Kampfgeschwader 255, later renamed Kampfgeschwader 51, flying Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111H-20 during World War II. The airport was destroyed during an attack in March 1944 and bombed again in July 1944 and April 1945. After World War II, the former airport served as a refugee camp. In 1954, the US allied forces declared it as a training ground. From 1955, the runway, halls and buildings were rebuilt, and the US Air Force used it for training flights from 1956 onward. From 1959 to 2003, it was the home base of German Air Force Jagdbombergeschwader 34 ("Allgäu"). The JaboG 34 first flew the F-84F Thunderstreak, from 1964 onward the F-104 Starfighter and from 1987 the PA 200 Tornado. The squadron had a conventional and a nuclear mission, as part of NATOs nuclear deterrence: The "S" security squadron was required to guard the nuclear weapons depot and the ready-to-take-off, loaded alarm aircraft in the Quick Reaction Alert. The 7261st munitions squadron of the USAF was responsible for the weapons with over 100 soldiers stationed in their own barracks, housing estate, with their own care facilities and school. In light of post-Cold War reduction of troop sizes and military infrastructure, it was decided to close the military airfield end of 2000. On 31 December 2002, operations were officially suspended, in June 2003 it was decommissioned and on 31 March 2004 it was closed. It was decided as a part of the proposed peace dividend to convert it to civilian uses. On 28 June 2007, TUIfly started offering domestic flights to Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne, and also flights to holiday destinations such as Palma de Mallorca, Heraklion, Naples, Rome, Venice, and Antalya. In March 2009, Ryanair announced seven new routes serving Memmingen starting May 2009. From May 2010, Ryanair operated 14 routes to and from Memmingen. Wizz Air also started serving Memmingen and has established eight routes since then. On 24 October 2013, Ryanair announced a new seasonal service to Shannon, while Palermo was added as a destination from the summer season of 2015. On 5 June 2014, the airport welcomed its five-millionth passenger. In December 2014, InterSky announced that it would be taking over the domestic flights from Memmingen to Berlin and Hamburg by 1 March 2015, as Germanwings had announced that it would cease the same services just a few days earlier. In earlier years, these routes had already been unsuccessfully served by TUIfly, Air Berlin, and Avanti Air. In May 2015, InterSky announced that it would have a presence at Memmingen Airport by October 2015 consisting of one aircraft, adding a new route to Cologne and increasing frequencies on the already existing services to Berlin and Hamburg. Later, that plan was changed to a triangular route of Friedrichshafen – Memmingen – Cologne/Bonn was to be established instead of basing an aircraft in Memmingen. However, on 6 November 2015, InterSky ceased all operations due to financial difficulties, leaving Memmingen again without any domestic connections. For the 2015 summer schedule, Wizz Air announced that it would expand its commitment and serve the cities of Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bulgarian city of Sofia and the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. In March 2017, Ryanair announced plans to establish its second Bavarian base (after Nuremberg Airport) in Memmingen from October 2017 consisting of one aircraft and seven additional routes. On 31 March 2019, another Ryanair aircraft was stationed in Memmingen and the workforce was increased to 70 employees. In December 2017, Memmingen Airport received its safety certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency. 2017 has been announced the first business year in which the airport achieved a profit at year end since the start of public services.