1945 to 1960: A new start for civil aviation

After World War II, the Red Army used the airfield as a training ground for 10 years, before it became available for commercial flights again. Between 1955 and 1957, the airport was modernised and expanded, a 2,500 m long and 80 m wide runway was built. Regular commercial flights in East Germany started again in February 1956, and from 16 June 1957 Dresden was re-connected by air with Berlin and Barth, a holiday resort at the Baltic Sea.

The airport in Klotzsche was barely furnished at the beginning, passenger handling was improvised. A building near the main station, in the city centre, served as a terminal for passenger clearance. From there, passengers were taken directly to their aeroplanes on the runway by bus. It was only in 1960 that some rooms were made available for passenger clearance at the Hansa House, the pre-war terminal building.

It was on 22 May 1959 that Dresden became directly connected with international destinations again. The Hungarian airline Malév took tourists to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, and back. With its freshly-built runway, Dresden Airport was for some time much better equipped than any other GDR airport, and so all jet engines and turboprop machines landed in Dresden instead of Berlin. It was a sensation for the city on the River Elbe when a twin-jet Tu-104 arrived at Dresden-Klotzsche for the first time on 2 February 1958.