As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), German airports recorded around 155.2 million passengers in 2022. This represented an increase of 111.0% compared to 2021, which was more heavily impacted by the Corona pandemic.
However, passenger traffic was still far from the pre-crisis level of 2019, when the main airports recorded an all-time high of 226.7 million passengers. The data of 2022 thus represent 31.5% fewer air passengers in Germany.
Following the end of the pandemic-related travel restrictions, traffic with other countries and traffic within Germany developed differently in 2022: At +98.0%, traffic within Germany grew at a below-average rate compared with the previous year.
In contrast, traffic with foreign countries recorded an increase of 111.9%. Compared with the pre-Corona year 2019, domestic air traffic was thus still 59.5% lower and only reached a good two-fifths of its pre-crisis level. By contrast, air traffic with foreign countries was only 28.3% lower than in 2019.
The summer period in 2022 was very chaotic since the rapid growth in passenger numbers pushed the industry around Europe to its limits. The consequences at German airports were delays and cancellations as well as long waiting times, for example at baggage claim and security checks.
For that reason, local airlines including Lufthansa are already getting ready for the summer planning their capacities and securing enough trained staff.