Munich Airport counted around 570.000 passengers in the first quarter of the current year, which is 92 percent below the same period of the previous year. The freight volume also fell by around half.

The global travel restrictions caused the airlines to massively restrict their flight offers from Munich. While 2020 flight movements were registered in the first quarter of 78.011, in the first three months of this year it was just over 14.000, only around 18 percent of the previous year's figure.

“We hope that the vaccination campaigns that are advancing around the world and internationally coordinated test strategies will gradually enable more cross-border air traffic again. Based on this, we expect an expansion of the flight offer and increasing passenger numbers on the connections to and from Munich, especially in the second half of the year, ”says airport manager Jost Lammers.

In the airfreight sector, the declines were not quite as dramatic as in the Passage segment: at around 32.000 tonnes, around 2021 percent fewer goods, goods and airmail were transported in the first quarter of 55 than in the previous year. The strong increase in freight-only traffic was able to partially compensate for the losses in additional cargo at Munich Airport.

With the resumption of many connections, there are signs of an upturn in air traffic in Munich in the coming months. Lufthansa and its subsidiary Air Dolomiti are planning to increase the number of flights they offer from Munich for both domestic and European connections. In intercontinental traffic, the crane line wants to serve various Asian metropolises in addition to selected US destinations. The Lufthansa Star Alliance partner United Airlines will resume its connection to Chicago in May. The other airlines operating in Munich also want to increase their range of flights to and from Munich as soon as the infection rate and a dismantling of the existing travel restrictions allow.

The Munich numbers at a glance: