Even in the winter months, some airlines avoid German airports. Supply is growing slowly and continues to lag behind other European countries.
There will be comparatively little going on at German airports in the coming winter months. According to the industry association BDL, a total of 111.2 million seats will be offered to, from and in Germany from October to March 2025. That is 5 percent more than in the same period last year, but still 16 percent less than before the outbreak of the Corona crisis.
Germany therefore continues to lag behind the overall European development. Without the German market, air traffic on the continent will exceed pre-Corona levels by 8 percent. The BDL and other industry representatives have blamed the high government taxes and fees that place a particular burden on flying in Germany. Customers would be burdened with high ticket prices and low supply.
Domestic German flights canceled
The main decline has been in domestic German traffic, which only accounts for 48 percent of the offer from 2018/2019. More flights than then go to the tourist area of North Africa/Levant (117 percent) and to southern Europe (104 percent). The current offer on intercontinental connections is 97 percent of the pre-crisis level.
When it comes to individual airports, only regional airports that are served by low-cost carriers such as Ryanair are showing significant growth. This is most evident in Memmingen, where the offer is twice as large (206 percent) as before the pandemic. This is followed by Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden with 150 percent and Niederrhein-Weeze with 141 percent. Dresden (45 percent), Stuttgart (66 percent), Berlin and Düsseldorf (both 68 percent) show low occupancy rates.
Source: Stern
