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Stuttgart Airport takes over passenger security screening from the Federal Police, FraSec keeps the contract
Since 1 November 2026, Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH plans, equips and pays for passenger and baggage screening at Stuttgart Airport. FraSec keeps doing the checks after a Europe-wide tender. The Federal Police stays in charge of the rules.
Published 2 min read
Stuttgart Airport took over the running of its passenger security screening on 1 November 2026. The airport company, Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH, now plans, organises, equips and pays for the checks on passengers and their bags. The German Federal Police did this job before and keeps a supervising role.
The screening itself stays with FraSec Fraport Security Services GmbH. FraSec won the work again in a Europe-wide tender. The company has checked passengers at Stuttgart since 2014. What changes is who gives the orders. From now on the airport manages the contract and the checkpoint technology. Before, FraSec worked for the Federal Police.
The Federal Police remains the aviation security authority at the airport. It sets the screening rules, watches over the process, protects the checkpoints, approves and certifies new screening equipment and clears the staff who do the checks. The change was prepared over several months. The formal hand-over of powers to the airport company came in March 2026.
Stuttgart is not the first German airport to do this. Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne/Bonn already run their own screening under the same model. A change to Germany's Aviation Security Act made it possible. The idea is that an airport can plan staff and lanes around its own flight schedule, and pick equipment such as CT scanners for its own terminal, so queues at peak times get shorter.
Ulrich Heppe, CEO of Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH, said: "Passenger screening is a crucial step in the air travel process." The airport wants to tie screening more closely to the rest of the passenger journey, from check-in to the gate.
Why this matters for security companies
More German airports now buy screening services and equipment themselves, rather than through the Federal Police. That changes who screening providers and scanner makers need to talk to. FraSec, part of the Fraport group, has a company page on The Flying Engineer: FraSec Fraport Security Services. Other screening, equipment and consulting firms are on our aviation security page.
Airport screening technology is a main theme at the AAAE Aviation Security Summit in Arlington, Virginia, on 8 and 9 December 2026, and at Passenger Terminal EXPO 2027 in Amsterdam, 6 to 8 April 2027.
Source: Aviation Industry News, based on the announcement by Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH, with details from Aviation.Direct.
