Some targets almost at pre-crisis level
The winter flight schedule will apply from Sunday: More flights, but gaps in Germany and to Asia
From November onwards, Lufthansa has also increased the number of flights to the USA
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With the time change next weekend, the new winter flight schedule will also come into force. The airlines have closed numerous corona gaps, as the current evaluation by the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry shows.
The aviation industry in Germany is slowly overcoming the corona crisis. In the winter flight schedule of the airports, which will apply from Sunday (October 31), 68 percent of the flight program from the pre-crisis period has been restored, according to an evaluation by the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL). Last winter, the airlines reduced their offer significantly due to the corona pandemic and the associated travel restrictions.
Particularly large gaps compared to the status of 2019/2020 can still be found in domestic German connections and in traffic to the Asia-Pacific region. There are still high entry barriers here. “Here there is an urgent need for practicable regulations for the entry regulations that are based on the actual pandemic,” said BDL General Manager Matthias von Randow. In the case of intercontinental flights, on the other hand, the Middle East and North America are showing strong comebacks, each around 80 percent of the pre-crisis level.
German airports are currently planning nine percent more flights to Turkey than two years ago. Greece, Portugal and Spain are also almost approaching the pre-crisis level because a comparatively large number of tourists are expected here over the winter. A good 307,000 planned European flights correspond to 72 percent of the volume from winter 2019/2020. Last winter there were only 87,000 European flights from Germany.
From November 8th: USA lifts entry ban for vaccinated EU citizens
Passengers to North America can use an offer of 80 percent of the pre-crisis level, where the USA intends to reopen its borders for vaccinated Europeans from November 8th. Canada and Mexico are also picking up again. The 14,624 flights on offer go to 27 destinations, so that only Fort Myers and Puerto Rico are missing on the continent. In contrast, only 7,839 flights are offered in the Asia-Pacific region, which corresponds to 54 percent of the 2019 volume.
The number of German domestic flights will increase from just under 17,000 to a good 44,000 over the course of the year. But domestic German traffic shows a resumption rate of 50 percent in the current winter flight schedule. There are many reasons for the disproportionate development. These include a changed mode of transport for people who are increasingly using cars and trains, further progress in the intermodal linking of rail and air transport, the withdrawal of the provider easyJet from the domestic German market and the elimination of travel reasons, for example due to canceled trade fairs and events.
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