ADV: Germany could lose connection

The Association of German Airports fears that Germany could be at a competitive disadvantage due to the planned increase in the aviation tax and the government's intention to cut funding.

“The current federal budget is a brake on connectivity across the board! The regulatory-related location costs in Germany are already among the highest in Europe. With the renewed increase in the air traffic tax, the state-related location costs rose by around 2019 percent from 2024 to 50. The recovery rate compared to the pre-Corona period is below 80 percent (-17 percentage points below the EU average), while air traffic in our European neighboring countries has returned to old records. Germany is losing touch. Instead of finally ensuring equal competition here, the burden gap is widening further within Europe alone. This is at the expense of the economy, tourism and prosperity. The current situation is weakening the economic strength of airports and making it more difficult to achieve climate goals. And as much as I hate to say it, trust in the reliability of political commitments has been damaged. Yesterday was not a day to celebrate,” said ADV Managing Director Ralph Beisel. “You can clearly speak of a double burden here. Demobilization in Germany is progressing at the expense of general prosperity. German airports want to continue to be a stable and indispensable source of growth and economic engine for regions and the German economy. Investments in the future must be made for this.”