The German airport Dortmund surprised with high traffic figures, which were achieved during the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia. Company boss Ludger van Bebber has now declared that the Federal Republic of Germany is the airport that has been able to recover the fastest.
“As early as June 2021, the passenger level rose to 64 percent of the 2019 record. In July we made a huge leap to 95 percent! The positive passenger development continued unabated in August. With 98 percent of the record level in the summer holidays of 2021, we were almost able to match the pre-crisis year 2019. This enabled us to offer our passengers a very diverse range of options during the summer holidays. The fact that the passengers took advantage of our offer shows that the desire to travel is unbroken ”, said the Dortmund airport manager.
Dortmund Airport not only managed to build on the record year in the summer months. It is also by far the airport in Germany that has recovered the fastest in percentage terms. The average of German airports in August only had a passenger volume of around 50 percent compared to 2019.
"These figures make us confident, even if we know that autumn and winter are fraught with uncertainties due to the corona pandemic," said the airport boss. Because not only the previous development, but also the basis on which the airport is starting the autumn is correct. “Although Wizz Air will no longer station planes in Dortmund from the end of October, it remains a very strong partner with well over 30 destinations. With the announcement of a new destination, it has impressively demonstrated that the Hungarian airline wants to continue to grow at its Dortmund location in the future, ”concludes van Bebber.
In addition to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, which Wizz Air will be flying to from November 6th, Ryanair has also expanded its offer for autumn and winter. Since the beginning of September, passengers have had the chance to fly from Dortmund to Croatia's capital Zagreb.