The airport association ADV published the traffic figures for the first quarter of 2024 on Friday. According to the data, a total of 39,58 million passengers (arrivals and departures) were handled at German airports from January to March, an increase of 13,2 percent compared to the same period last year. However, this growth is being slowed by strikes, high regulatory location costs and a lack of air transport services in Germany.

Demand rose primarily due to the early Easter holidays, but this masked the overall weak traffic development. With a recovery rate of 77,9 percent compared to 2019, Germany lags behind other European countries. ADV Managing Director Ralph Beisel explained that the high regulatory location costs deter many airlines and lead to new routes being opened outside of Germany. This means that private and business travelers do not receive an appropriate offer.

Specifically, the ADV statistics show that 5,08 million passengers flew within Germany (+7,7 percent compared to the previous year), but fell by more than half compared to 2019. There were 25,48 million passengers traveling in Europe (+14,4 percent compared to the previous year, but still 84,5 percent less than in the first quarter of 2019). Demand in intercontinental transport grew by 13,5 percent compared to the previous year, but is still 7,7 percent below the 2019 level.

The air freight volume in the first quarter of 2024 reflects the weakness of the German export economy. While incoming air freight increased by +2,3 percent, exports fell by 2,1 percent.

However, ADV expects increasing passenger numbers for the summer months. The traffic experts forecast almost 2024 million passengers for April to September 118, which corresponds to growth of 5,0 percent compared to the same period last year. Some German locations could even reach or exceed 2019 pre-crisis levels during summer travel. Significant increases are expected, particularly in long-haul traffic to Asia.

The figures illustrate an overall weak traffic development at German airports, which is affected by various factors such as high costs and a lack of availability.