Over the course of the year, fewer aircraft fly over Germany. However, air traffic control is expecting particularly busy travel traffic in the summer – with particular difficulties.
The increasing number of weather events is causing problems for air traffic over Germany. In May alone, twice as many severe weather events were recorded as in the same month last year, said the head of the German Air Traffic Control (DFS), Arndt Schoenemann, in Langen near Frankfurt.
Thunderstorms in particular caused problems and delays when flights had to be diverted or airports had to be closed temporarily. “Climate change is having an impact.”
Air traffic not yet at pre-corona levels
In general, air traffic over Germany has not yet returned to the level before the Corona crisis, which is now only expected for 2027. Last year, air traffic controllers accompanied around 2.83 million flights of larger aircraft under instrument rules. In the current year, almost 3 million such flight movements are expected, again fewer than in 2019 with just over 3.3 million.
Civilian cargo and passenger jets as well as military aircraft fly according to instrument rules. They are monitored and controlled by the controllers of the federally owned German air traffic control in higher-level centers and in the towers of the airports.
Air traffic is showing significantly greater fluctuations than before, said Schoenemann. More extreme peaks can be observed at Easter and in the summer, for example, because tourist traffic has become more important than business flights. This requires more flexible use of staff, but the DFS is prepared for this. No staff were cut during the pandemic and training is continuing at a high level.
Additional challenges for air traffic control
Despite the lower number of flights, air traffic control is facing additional challenges, said Schoenemann. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in large-scale airspace closures in the east and an increase in military air traffic of 15 to 20 percent. In general, air traffic has shifted significantly westward and thus into German airspace.
With the NATO exercise “Tiger Meet” that began on Monday in Schleswig-Holstein and the European Football Championship, two major events are taking place in Germany’s already heavily used airspace. Although it only accounts for 3 percent of European airspace, it accommodates a third of all flights over the continent.
German air traffic continues to lag behind European developments, said Schoenemann. He defended himself against criticism that German air traffic control fees contributed to this. In fact, the route fees are “absolutely on a par” with other countries. The uniform fee for take-offs and landings at all German airports helps the smaller locations, for which much higher amounts would otherwise have to be charged for cost reasons. Ultimately, however, the criticism from direct airlines is directed primarily at the German air traffic tax, the airport costs and the air security fee that is charged for passenger and baggage checks. The pilot costs only make up a very small part of the ticket price.
Source: Stern
