called Flugsteig A-Plus and exclusively used by Lufthansa mainly for their long-haul flights. Flugsteig A-Plus features eight parking positions that are able to handle four Airbus A380s or seven Boeing 747-8/747-400 at once. In November 2016, Ryanair announced the opening of a new base at Frankfurt Airport with four routes to Spain and Portugal. This move by Ryanair was heavily blasted, especially by Lufthansa, as Ryanair was granted high discounts and incentives regarding the airport's fees. On 28 February 2017, Ryanair announced its winter programme for Frankfurt which will see a further 20 new routes being added. 2011 shooting Albanian citizen, Arid Uka, a 21 year old at the time, targeted a United States Air Force bus parked outside the terminal building that was supposed to transport fifteen U.S. airmen to Ramstein Air Base. He reportedly walked up to a waiting airman, asked him for a cigarette, and wanted to know whether the airmen were bound for Afghanistan. When the airman said yes, according to German prosecutor Rainer Griesbaum, Uka waited for the airman to turn away and then shot him in the back of the head, killing him. Shouting "Allahu Akbar!" the attacker then entered the bus, shooting and killing the driver, and continued to fire three shots at two other airmen, wounding them. When he pointed his pistol at the head of another airman and pulled the trigger, the weapon jammed. Uka fled, but was pursued by the civilian airport employee Lamar Joseph Conner and Staff Sergeant Trevor Donald Brewer and shortly afterwards overpowered by two German police officers. He was subsequently arrested. Conner and Brewer later received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in a ceremony on 16 January 2012. Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich presented the decoration, citing their "exemplary courage and action which helped the Federal Police arrest the suspect". Uka was sentenced to Life and will be deported. COVID-19 pandemic Portions of the airport were closed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Northwest Runway and Runway 18 West were closed on March 23 and re-purposed for parking unused aircraft. Terminal 2 was also closed, and all passenger operations were concentrated in Terminal 1. The Northwest Runway re-opened in July to handle summer tourist demand, while Runway 18 West remained closed. With almost no passenger traffic in the spring months, Frankfurt's total passenger volume in 2020 fell to