M. R. Štefánik Airport, also called – especially in English – Bratislava Airport, located approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of the city center of Bratislava, spanning over the area of three municipalities. It is the main international airport of Slovakia. Shortly after the independence of Slovakia in 1993, it was named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880–1919), whose aircraft crashed near Bratislava in 1919. The airport is owned and run by Letisko M. R. Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS). As of September 2014 the company is fully owned by the Slovak Republic via the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development.