The airport was built new from the ground up at a location between Halle and Leipzig from 1926 and opened in 1927 as Schkeuditz Airfield (Flugplatz Schkeuditz). In 1928, the airport was renamed Halle/Leipzig Airport (Flughafen Halle/Leipzig), which would later change order of the city names to its current name. The airport structures were expanded in the 1930s, including a restaurant. A new terminal was added in 1936/1937, built in the then-widespread Nazi style. At the beginning of World War II, the airport was the fourth in the country for commercial traffic, with more than 40 takeoffs per day. This ended competely during the war, as the airport was entirely taken by the Luftwaffe and used only for military purposes. On April 16, 1944, it was bombed and mostly destroyed by Allied planes. During the early years of the German Democratic Republic, the airport was rebuilt though used exclusively as an industrial airport. In 1957-1960 a new, 2500 m-long runway was added as part of plans of commercial air traffic in the country, but traffic in Leipzig remained scarce. Starting from 1963, twice a year the airport was used as the seat of the Leipzig Trade Fair, with regular service from the state's flag carrier Interflug; the structures, however, were dismantled after the fair's end, and only in 1968 a more modern terminal was built. In 1972, for the first time, the airport operated for the whole year. On 18 March 1986, Air France flew a Concorde to Leipzig to coincide with the Leipziger Buchmesse (Leipzig book fair) as part of the special Concorde flights to East Germany. Two days later, British Airways flew a Concorde to Leipzig/Halle only once and never again. In the following years, Air France operated Concorde flights from Paris when the trade fair was held in Leipzig. Leipzig remains the only airport in Communist Bloc to be served by Concorde and only in Germany to have frequent Concorde flights (about ten or so times). By 1988, traffic had doubled from 1972, reaching some 550,000 passengers per year. The terminal was enlarged including a new immigration hall, completed in 1984. The following year the departure hall was also upgraded. In 1991, after the German Reunification, the current Terminal A was modernized. In 1992 for the first time annual passenger numbers reached 1,000,000. Construction of Terminal B was completed in 1996, and a new 3,500 m-long runway was added starting from 1998, being completed by 2003. A new control tower was inaugurated in 2000. Despite its name, the airport is located in the town of Schkeuditz, Nordsachsen. A deal between the city of Leipzig and the Landkreis Delitzsch led to a land exchange. In 2007, Leipzig received land outside the airport while ownership of the airport land was transferred to Delitzsch. The District of Delitzsch, which by now has merged to become part of Landkreis Nordsachsen, owns and claims taxes from the grounds and commercial interest from the airport. In early 2008, DHL Aviation moved its European hub from Brussels Airport to Leipzig/Halle, leading to a significant increase in cargo traffic at the airport. Leipzig bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and the airport was modernised as a result, even though London was eventually awarded the games. In spring 2013, Ryanair announced the start of operating six routes from Leipzig/Halle. One year later all of them, except the flights to London–Stansted, were terminated. In February 2015, Etihad Regional announced the immediate termination of all their Leipzig/Halle operations which had started only two years earlier. All three routes were shut down while two newly announced ones did not start. In September 2016, Pakistan International Airlines announced plans to replace Manchester on their Islamabad - Manchester - New York City route with Leipzig/Halle in 2017 to lower operating costs and save time. As the airline holds Fifth Freedom rights, this would have been Leipzig/Halle's first passenger service to the United States.