Munich - Munich's bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games now has wings, thanks to their national sponsor Lufthansa's new A380 aircraft, which has been christened 'Munich' in a ceremony at the city's airport today.

The name is a gesture to mark the Bavarian capital's 850th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, 'Munich's' maiden voyage was a flight over the potential sports venues for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The Munich Alps route crosses over the Ice Park at Olympiapark, the Snow Parks in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the sliding centre at Königssee.

Munich's bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018 has been significantly strengthened by the positive outcome of today's high-level meetings, with key stakeholders voting unanimously in favour of increasing the bid budget by 10%, to €33 million.

Following the fruitful discussions at this morning's Supervisory Board meeting and the stakeholder meeting this afternoon, spirits are high in the Munich 2018 camp, with the bid team confident it is on the right track for achieving success in the crucial Candidate City phase.

The ‘Fitness First Winterstars' will play German national champions FC Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena on 8 August to raise awareness of Munich's bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The Fitness First Winterstars' lineup features several Winter Olympic champions, as well as representatives from Fitness First. The team will be coached by Willy Bogner, CEO of Munich 2018's Bid Committee.

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee today paid tribute to Günter Behnisch, the visionary architect of Munich's Olympic Park who died on Monday at the age of 88. He leaves Munich one of its most evocative landmarks, and the Olympic Movement a real and tangible legacy. His Olympic Park is visited by 15,000 people each day, and continues to host over 300 community sports and cultural events every year, making it among the world's most extensively used former Olympic venues, even forty years after its inauguration. The breathtaking sweep of Behnisch's iconic acrylic glass roof crowns the Olympic Stadium and to this day remains an enduring symbol of freedom and democracy.

CEO of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee, Willy Bogner said,

‘I would like to express my sincere condolences to Mrs. Behnisch and the rest of Günter's family on behalf of the entire Bid Committee. The Munich Olympic Park has inspired generations of athletes and has enriched the sporting, social and cultural life of our city. We will do all we can to honour Günter Behnisch's memory and celebrate his life by bringing another Olympic Games here.'

Chair of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee Katarina Witt will travel to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to support Germany in tomorrow's FIFA World Cup third place playoff against Uruguay, before she has the honour of joining recently elected German Head of State Christian Wulff at Sunday's final.

Witt has been overwhelmed by the inimitable enthusiasm German sports fans have demonstrated in recent weeks and believes this reflects the good health of German sport as a whole. She praised the excellent performances of the national team, and the wonderfully passionate responses they have produced all over Germany. Witt claimed that the fact that up to 40 million people were watching the team's matches at any given time, be it in private, at big parties or at public viewing events proves the enormous dedication of German sports fans - the culture of joining together and sharing in the national side's success does not exist to the same extent anywhere else in the world.

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee has today announced its new Board of Directors with the enhanced team set to build on the IOC Working Group's positive report last month and launch Munich's international campaign as a Candidate City.

The Board is comprised of the Bid Committee's six departmental directors: Steffi Klein (Sports), Jochen Färber (Communications), Andreas Weinberger (Finance), Katrin Merkel (International Relations), Jürgen Bühl (Planning) and Stefan Bruckner (Marketing).

Tens of millions of German sports fans are hoping for a Durban Double as the South African city hosts Germany's FIFA World Cup semi-final with Spain tonight, precisely a year before Durban also hosts the 123rd IOC Session - when all of Germany hopes Munich will be elected as host city for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

With so many German hopes and dreams centred on Durban, it is fitting that the Munich 2018 bid team is kicking-off the critical countdown at the Munich Olympic stadium to watch tonight's match alongside 35,000 passionate Bavarian fans. The iconic 1972 Olympic Games venue is an integral part of Munich 2018's innovative concept and, coincidentally, was the scene of West Germany's FIFA World Cup final victory over the Netherlands 36 years ago to the day.

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee today named Schwaiganger Ranch as the new venue for the Olympic and Paralympic biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions after successful negotiations with the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture, as the policy of dynamic review and development continues to strengthen the city's Olympic concept.

CEO of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee Willy Bogner stressed the importance of ensuring plans for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018 are dynamic and flexible, so that Munich can guarantee the optimal experience for athletes and the Olympic family:

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee today named Norton Rose LLP as their official legal advisors, with the globally-renowned firm set to provide world-class support on the international stage for Munich's bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games during the crucial Candidate City phase.

CEO of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee Willy Bogner and Munich 2018 Ambassadors of Sport Martina Ertl-Renz and Anna Schaffelhuber were present at this morning's press conference at the practice's offices in Munich. The Norton Rose partners emphasised their total commitment to supporting Munich's bid on legal and organisational issues, and pledged to contribute to the Bavarian capital's bid.

Two days of Olympic celebrations in Munich came to a spectacular climax last night when over 30,000 sports fans joined the Munich 2018 team at the city's Olympic Stadium to mark Olympic Day and watch the crucial Germany v Ghana FIFA World Cup match live on a giant screen.

The event at the 1972 Games' most iconic venue followed Tuesday's jubilant festivities on the Marienplatz, when thousands of German sports fans gathered in the historic city centre to celebrate the IOC's decision to name Munich an official Candidate City for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Lausanne, 22 June 2010: Thousands of people gathered in Munich's Marienplatz and tens of millions across Germany today celebrated the news that Munich has been named an official Candidate City for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games after scoring exceptionally highly in the IOC Candidature Acceptance Working Group's report.

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee left the IOC Vancouver debrief in Sochi today armed with invaluable lessons that will strengthen their bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee, including CEO Willy Bogner and Managing Director Bernhard Schwank, has spent the last week learning best practice from the Organising Committees of Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 on the successful execution of Olympic Bids and the Games themselves. Willy Bogner said the experience had been "extremely constructive" for him and the team:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared her unequivocal support for Munich's bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as the Bid Committee arrived at the IOC debrief in Sochi.

Speaking at a reception at the Federal Chancellery to celebrate Germany's outstanding performance at the Vancouver Winter Games, where they came second in the medals table with 10 gold, 13 silver and 7 bronze medals, Merkel said:

'We will work together to bring the Games to Germany, and will continue to do all we can to support the German application.'

The Munich 2018 Bid Committee this morning officially unveiled their latest national sponsor, BayWa AG, the energy, agriculture and construction group with strong ties to Bavaria and a global reputation for expertise in sustainability and renewable energies.

Members of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee were the first to congratulate their Chair, Katarina Witt, as the two-time Olympic champion figure skater was awarded The Golden Pyramid, Germany's highest sporting accolade.

She joins German sports luminaries, including Franz Beckenbauer and Max Schmelling, to become the 11th winner of the award, which recognises not only sporting achievement but also social commitment and engagement. At the same time, Witt has become the 45th member of the Hall of Fame of German Sports.

Munich 2018 CEO Willy Bogner applauded the award jury's decision and believes that Katarina Witt embodies everything The Golden Pyramid represents.

The General Assembly of Stakeholders for Munich's bid for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games met today and agreed on some key next steps that will 'set the course for the upcoming Candidate City Phase' according to Thomas Bach, the President of the Stakeholders and President of the DOSB.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Horst Seehofer yesterday welcomed Bavarian members of Germany's successful Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games teams to a celebratory reception in Munich, proclaiming them to be fantastic ambassadors for the Munich 2018 bid.

The athletes who attended the reception included Maria Riesch (double Gold Medallist in Vancouver, Ladies Super Combined Downhill and Ladies Slalom), Anja Huber (Vancouver Bronze Medallist, Ladies Skeleton) and Gerd Gradwohl (Paralympics Bronze Medallist, Men's Downhill Visually Impaired).

Munich 2018 has demonstrated the depth of business support for its bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games by announcing the first Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to sign as Friends of the Bid.

The first group of businesses - APA Group (advertising), Autobus Oberbayern (transport), Drees & Sommer (property), the Munich and Upper Bavaria Chamber of Trade and Industry and Sporthaus Schuster (sports retail) - will provide financial support for the Munich 2018 bid.

Munich's Bid to stage an environmentally positive and sustainable Olympic Winter Games in 2018 has been reinforced by the approval and endorsement of the draft environmental and sustainability concept.

The Munich bid is founded on solid ecological principles and members of the Bid Committee's Technical Commission for the Environment were unanimous in their approval of a concept which prioritises protection of nature, climate protection, development of sustainable sports and regional development and sustainable education programmes.

Germany has added to its excellent 2010 Olympic Winter Games results by winning the most gold medals at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, thereby strengthening Munich's bid to host the 2018 Winter Games.

Germany secured 13 Paralympic gold medals and finished first in the overall medal table with 24 medals, and a senior team of Munich 2018 executives - led by bid CEO Willy Bogner - were on hand to join in the celebrations. They have been in Vancouver to support the German Paralympians as well as to participate in the official Observer Programme.