Following the moderate growth achieved during the last operating year, Munich Airport showed a decline in air traffic figures in the first six months of this year as a result of the global economic crisis.
In the first half of 2009 the airport handled 15.4 million passengers, which represents a decline of some 9 percent as compared with the same period a year earlier. The slowdown in demand in Munich is in line with the industry-wide trend. On average, Europe's airports saw a 10.1 percent decrease in total passengers in the first five months of this year. The number of take-offs and landings at Munich Airport was also down approximately 9 percent to just under 200,000.
With the current traffic results Munich is between the 2006 and 2007 figures in terms of passenger traffic. "That shows that despite the decreases, which are certainly significant, we are still at the high levels of those high-growth years, and are benefiting from the 'cushion' we built up with our dynamic development in the recent past," said Munich Airport's CEO Dr Michael Kerkloh, on hand today to present the airport's half-year figures at the Munich Press Club.
The declines in intercontinental traffic to and from Munich were moderate, with the total number of passengers in this segment down by just 4 percent. On flights to and from Asia, passenger figures actually increased.
The impact of the crisis on freight turnover was particularly heavy. With slightly less than 109,000 tons of cargo, the airport saw an 18 percent decrease in flown airfreight and airmail as compared with the previous year.
As the head of Munich Airport explained at the press conference, the full-year results are also expected to show the effects of the economic crisis. However, said Kerkloh, "This will be to a lesser extent than the half-year figures, and from today's standpoint we expect moderate traffic growth in 2010 followed in 2011 by a return to the growth dynamic we have been accustomed to in recent years."
source: Munich Airport