Air travel: more passengers in Germany, except on domestic flights

Federal Office of Statistics
The number of air travelers continues to rise after the corona pandemic – but there is a significant decline in domestic flights

In Germany is being flown more again, at least compared to the previous year. However, the number of passengers in 2023 is still significantly below that of the pre-Corona year 2019. This is evident from the current air traffic statistics from the Federal Statistical Office on Monday.

A total of 185.2 million passengers were counted at the 23 main German airports* last year, 19.3 percent more than in the previous year, but 18.3 percent less than in 2019. At that time, a record number of 226.7 million air travelers were counted.

Number of domestic flights significantly below pre-Corona levels

In domestic flights in particular, a significant decline of more than 50 percent was recorded compared to the year before the coronavirus pandemic. The decline in international traffic was only 14.7 percent. “This may also indicate a significantly lower level of passengers on domestic flights in the longer term than before the corona pandemic,” said the Federal Statistical Office.

The authority did not provide any information on possible causes for the drastic decline in domestic flights. In addition to increased ticket prices, the expanded rail services on many main routes could also play a role. According to the Reuters news agency, the International Airport Association (ACI) is also reporting falling demand for business trips.

* Berlin-Brandenburg, Bremen, Dortmund, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Frankfurt, Friedrichshafen, Hahn, Hamburg, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Cologne//Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Memmingen, Munich, Münster/Osnabrück, Lower Rhine, Nuremberg, Paderborn/ Lippstadt, Rostock-Laage, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart

Sources: Federal Office of Statisticsnews agencies DPA and Reuters

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