According to Destatis, 23 German airports recorded almost 155.2 million passengers, accounting for a 111 per cent increase compared to 2021 levels, when the COVID-19 pandemic affected the travelling sector severely, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

However, compared to pre-pandemic levels, the number of passengers is falling behind by more than a quarter. More specifically, the number of passengers recorded to German airports in 2019, when no travel restrictions were imposed, reached an all-time high record of 226.7 million passengers.

In addition, intra-German air transport dropped significantly compared to pre-pandemic levels – by 59.5 per cent, which was even larger than decreases recorded in international transport (28.3 per cent).

The positive air traffic rates were especially noticed in the half of the year – a total of 16.3 million passengers were recorded in June of 2022, which is 215.1 per cent higher than in 2021.

“Approximately 16.3 million air passengers arrived at or departed from, the 23 largest commercial airports in Germany in June 2022. Their number has more than tripled (+215.1 per cent) compared with June 2021,” the statement issued by Destatis reads.

Another positive result recorded last year in German air transport is the strong signs of recovery noticed through Hamburg Airport (HAM) in 2022. A total of 11.2 million passengers were recorded in this airport throughout the year, which is two times higher than in 2021 when 5.3 million passengers were recorded.

On the other hand, aircraft movements in 2022 were higher than those recorded in 2021 – from 69,500 movements in 2021 to 91,760 in 2022. However, compared to pre-pandemic levels, when 155,200 aircraft movements were recorded, the discrepancy is evident.

The recovery in traffic in 2022 began during the Easter holiday and continued throughout the summer season. The passenger numbers increased from 682,000 in March to 1.22 million in July while in October, a record 1.23 million passengers left and arrived at the German airport, making this month the most successful since the pandemic started.

HAM was the fifth busiest airport in Germany following Berlin (BER), and Dusseldorf (DUS) in third and fourth positions respectively, while Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) are leading the way for receiving the highest number of travellers.

Despite the positive results, the industry faced a lot of challenges in 2022 as it dealt with staff shortages and a sudden increase in demand which created a chaos at German airports.