Germany's major regional airports are looking back on a solid first half of 2025 and are preparing for an eventful summer season. Despite the cancellation or reduction of some flight connections, passenger numbers increased in Dortmund and Berlin-Brandenburg. Cologne/Bonn Airport, in particular, is expecting a record wave of travel during the North Rhine-Westphalian summer holidays.
This development reflects the continued desire of Germans to travel and demonstrates the adaptability of airports to changing market conditions, even though the aviation industry continues to struggle with optimizing capacity and coping with high passenger numbers.
Dortmund Airport defies challenges and grows steadily
Dortmund Airport presents a positive balance sheet for the first half of 2025. A total of 1.483.459 passengers the airport in the first six months of the year. This represents an increase of almost 30.000 passengers compared to the previous year, which is a slight but notable increase of around 2,1 percent This growth is particularly remarkable given that the airport had to face new challenges, including the complete discontinuation of Ryanair connections and a reduction in Eurowings routes in the summer schedule.
Airport CEO Ludger van Bebber expressed his satisfaction with the development: "We were able to use the positive momentum from the end of the year for the course of the summer season and thus compensate for the loss of Ryanair and the shortage of Eurowings routes in the summer flight schedule." This was achieved through a strategic adjustment of the flight offering. Increased frequencies from Condor to Palma de Mallorca, one of the most popular holiday destinations for Germans, as well as an increase in the Wizz Air connection to Katowice contributed significantly to offsetting a large part of the lost Ryanair volume. The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air played a crucial role in this. The increased use of the Airbus A321neo in its flight schedule brought a noticeable increase in the number of seats available Capacity boost and was able to further increase the airport’s capacity utilization.
Since the beginning of June, Wizz Air’s new routes to Warsaw and Craiova as well as the connection launched by Pegasus Airlines to AntalyaThese new destinations expand the range of services for travelers from Dortmund and open up new markets. June 2025 stands out in particular: With 293.942 passengers This month was significantly higher than the comparable figure from June 2024 (278.280 passengers), which represents a growth of 5,6 percent and underlines the positive development at the end of the half-year.
Van Bebber expressed confidence for the future: "The growth is keeping us on a good course." He emphasized that intensive work is continuing to expand the flight offering in order to offer guests the travel variety they are used to. Further steps are already being planned: Connections to Poland will soon return. Szymany and Serbian Niš back into the flight plan, and the connection to Yerevan (Armenia) will be served more frequently starting in the fall. This demonstrates Dortmund Airport's clear strategy to establish itself as an important regional transport hub with a diverse range of direct connections.
Cologne/Bonn Airport expects record summer holidays
Cologne/Bonn Airport is preparing for the biggest travel wave of the year, which begins with the start of the North Rhine-Westphalian summer holidays. In the next six and a half weeks, the airport expects impressive 1,76 million travelersThe busiest period is forecast for the fourth holiday weekend in early August, with around 118.000 passengers. The absolute peak is expected on 8 August can be achieved when 41.000 travelers take off and land in Cologne/Bonn.
Thilo Schmid, CEO of Cologne/Bonn Airport, expressed his euphoria: "We are once again pleased with the increase in passenger numbers – this year's forecast even exceeds the successful travel summer of the past two years." This confirms the continued upward trend in German air traffic after the challenges of recent years. Schmid emphasized that many families are traveling to popular sunny destinations in southern Europe.
The airport has prepared for this influx as best as possible and is offering its travelers an improved experience. This includes 15 newly designed cafés, bars, restaurants and shopsthat invite passengers to linger. The modernized terminals feature new furniture, water dispensers, and green and regional design elements that are intended to create a more pleasant atmosphere. Overall, Cologne Bonn Airport aims to improve the quality of stay, comfort, and digital services by 2025. These include, for example, Self-bag drop-off counter and CGNGateWay system for booking time slots for security checks, which is intended to reduce waiting times and make the start of the journey more relaxed. Such investments in the passenger experience are crucial for airports to compete.
Popular destinations and helpful information for passengers
During the summer months, 26 airlines offer flights from Cologne/Bonn Airport to 101 international destinations in 36 countries The most popular holiday destinations are, as in the previous year, Türkiye and Spain, followed by Italy and Greece, Croatia and Portugal. These countries have been established players in German holiday travel for years. The most frequently visited destinations are Antalya and Palma de Mallorca, which are considered classic beach and sun destinations. City trips are preferred to Istanbul, Vienna, London and Barcelona which underlines the continued attractiveness of European metropolises for short trips.
A notable trend is the highest increase in visitors after Egypt: Around 40 percent more tourists than last year are traveling from Cologne/Bonn to the country on the Nile this summer. This indicates a growing popularity of Egyptian beach resorts and cultural treasures.
To ensure the most relaxed start to your journey, Cologne/Bonn Airport provides passengers with some tried-and-tested advice:
- Online check-in to avoid waiting times at the counter.
- Check with the airline about Check-in opening hours and plan enough time.
- For Eurowings bookings the Evening check-in consider.
- Only one piece of hand luggage to speed up the security check.
- Liquids and creams (up to 100 ml per container) in a 1-liter plastic bag.
- Technical devices Do not pack items such as laptops and tablets at the bottom of your hand luggage, as they must be presented separately at the security checkpoint.
- Validity of identification documents and find out about the specific entry requirements of the destination country.
- A free time slot for security check Book via “CGNGateWay”.
- When arriving by car Reserve parking spaces online in advance, as the parking garages can be very busy, especially during the summer holidays.
These guidelines are standard recommendations from airports worldwide to optimize the check-in process and improve the passenger experience.
BER: Growth in the first half of the year, but Ryanair effect noticeable in June
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) also recorded solid growth in the first half of 2025. Overall, 12,1 million passengers the capital airport, which represents an increase of 2 percent compared to the same period last year. By the end of the winter flight schedule on March 31, BER had even recorded a more significant increase of 5,2 percent.
However, since the start of the summer flight schedule, the announced Reduction of Ryanair flights reflected in passenger numbers. In June 2025, just under 2,29 million people via BER, which is around 50.000 fewer passengers than in June 2024. This shows how strongly the loss of a single low-cost airline that offered high frequency in the past can influence the statistics.
The busiest day of the month was 88.034 passengers Friday, June 6, 2025A total of 17.149 aircraft took off and landed at BER last month, compared to 17.980 aircraft in June 2024. The decline in flight movements is a direct result of reduced capacity at some airlines.
In the freight sector, however, BER is showing a very positive development: In June, around 4.329 tons of cargo handled, a considerable increase of 9,3 percent compared to June 2024. In the first half of the year, the airport recorded a significant increase of 16,1 percent compared to the same period last year, with a total of 24.098 tons of cargo handled. This underscores the growing importance of BER as a cargo airport, a segment that is often less volatile than passenger traffic.
German airports in the tension between growth and adaptation
The half-yearly financial statements and summer forecasts for the German regional airports of Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, and Berlin-Brandenburg paint a diverse picture of an aviation industry that will continue to thrive in 2025, but will also have to deal with specific challenges. The overall passenger growth in Dortmund and Cologne/Bonn, fueled by the continued desire to travel and the strategic reorientation of flight offerings, is a positive sign. The impressive expectations for the summer holidays in Cologne/Bonn testify to the high attractiveness of southern destinations and the airports' preparation for the onslaught. Despite the decline in some passenger numbers due to strategic changes by airlines, BER is showing solid overall development and is performing strongly in the cargo sector.
Overall, the situation highlights that airports today, more than ever, need flexible and responsive strategies to compete effectively. This includes not only collaborating with various airlines and developing new routes, but also investing in infrastructure and digital services to continuously improve the travel experience for passengers. The German aviation industry is thus demonstrating its adaptability and ability to achieve positive results even under dynamic market conditions.