German frigate Bayern since her commissioning, including deploying in the Adriatic in 1999 during Operation Allied Force, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Between April and November 2005 she served as the flagship for Wolfgang Kalähne, Commander-in-Chief of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. "Bayern" was deployed with the Group in various manoeuvres, and to support Operation Active Endeavour. Between September 2007 to March 2008 "Bayern" was the flagship of Hans-Christian Luther, Commander-in-Chief of the Maritime Task Force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. In late January 2008 "Bayern" came to the assistance of the container ship "Gevo Victory", which was in distress
Central German Metropolitan Region still declining. The region is located at historically and presently important trade corridors in central Europe. The routes of several highways of the International E-road network as well as two major German expressways (A9 Munich-Berlin and A14 Dresden-Wismar) are running through it. Leipzig-Halle is a major railway hub along the Berlin–Palermo railway axis which is part of the Trans-European high-speed rail network. Other railway main lines connect it with Dresden, Frankfurt, Frankfurt Airport or Prague. Leipzig-Halle airport serves as the main airport of the region. It is the second largest fright airport in Germany and a hub of DHL express