Munich Airport is by far and away the biggest airport in the region and offers the widest scope of scheduled flights. The growth of low-cost carriers has also made it a popular rival to the mainly ski charter airports of Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Munich is located conveniently for business flights for the city and its northern neighbours. For ski holidays, however, the distance between the city and the airport to the northeast (minimum 30 minutes driving or 40 minutes with the S-Bahn) makes it a slightly unattractive choice.
Furthermore, the motorway connecting to the south can often be extremely crowded at busy periods as Germans flock to the ski resorts of Bavaria, Austria and Italy.
For skiers flying in to visit German ski resorts, however, the motorway connections are excellent to all resorts, as one would expect.
Car drivers will find the airport 35km north of the city centre on the A92 motorway near Freising. The A92 joins onto the main motorway south to from Nuremburg to Munich and eventually reaches the ring road around the city.
Most of the major junctions relevant to ski resorts are well-signposted - visitors heading for resorts to the north of Innsbruck should be careful to take the Garmisch route and not follow the directions to Innsbruck, which take the driver into Austria via Kufstein.
Munich Airport has the stringent security checks of any major airports - even checking footwear - and sufficient time should be allowed for check-in procedures at busy periods.
Non-drivers can reach the airport with the S-Bahn regional train service from the centre of the city direct to the dedicated airport rail station. S-Bahn services run as a network similar to the Munich Underground and are available from many railway stations and underground stations.
There is a busy hotel at the airport and numerous other chain hotels in the towns in the vicinity of the airport, as well as those in the centre of the Munich.
Airport taxis are available from outside the arrival terminals - another meeting point for transfer operators is often in the central shopping "Z" area.
Car hire is available at Munich Airport from all major car hire companies.
Our travel fulfilment partners Booking.com have a good selection of hotels near the airport for those who are looking to overnight at the beginning or end of their stay.