Exactly 99.4 million passengers departed from or arrived at German airports in the first half of 2025 – that is 15.8% less compared to the same period in the pre-COVID year of 2019. The latest figure puts Germany in 28th place out of 31 European countries, in terms of the recovery of air traffic following the pandemic. And real improvement is not in sight due to ongoing unfavorable competitive conditions and political inactivity.
The number of aircraft based in Germany has dropped from 190 in 2019 to 130 this year, resulting in an estimated loss of 10,000 jobs and 4 billion euros (US$4.66 billion) in annual economic value added, German Aviation Association BDL warned. “Since 2019, state-imposed costs have more than doubled, and airlines are increasingly avoiding Germany,” stated BDL President Jens Bischof, urging the Berlin government to prioritize post-pandemic recovery in the aviation sector.
The lasting stagnation in air traffic is causing serious disadvantages, as a lack of connectivity and reduced capacity are hampering mobility and air freight transportation, and causing industrial slowdowns. Cargo carriers are increasingly diverting their flights to cheaper airports located in neighboring countries, such as Liège, Amsterdam or Maastricht, to avoid the excessive fees levied by German airports.
U-turn is needed, BARIG!
From these places, many of the imports are trucked to local consumer markets in Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart or Nuremberg and distributed there. In contrast, exports take the opposite route. Starting out from their German production plants, they are trucked to Luxembourg, Paris-CDG, or Brussels to be loaded onto an international flight connection.
In light of this situation, BDL in line with the international airline association, BARIG (Board of Airline Representatives in Germany) are calling for a U-turn in German aviation policy. The Berlin government must ensure that the exorbitant costs are reduced, for example by abolishing the controversial and much disputed aviation tax, once and for all, both associations demand. It was introduced in 2011 and was increased to 20% on 01MAY24.
Exorbitant costs are crippling the local air industry
For a short-haul flight, the state demands an additional EUR 15.53 payable per passenger. The next thresholds are EUR 39.34 for flights from Germany to North Africa or the Middle East, followed by taxes of EUR 70.83 if passengers fly to destinations in America, the Far East or Oceania. To circumvent these additional costs that come on top of the regular air fares, many passengers choose to travel from other airports outside Germany, such as Billund in Denmark, Warsaw in Poland, or Prague in the Czech Republic. The ticket taxes there are significantly lower or – as in Sweden – even non-existent. In the EU, only nine of the 27 member states levy ticket taxes. In comparison, the charges demanded by the German government are among the highest.
Germany EUR 1,481 vs Turkey EUR 72
Cargo flights are also affected by the cost avalanche, as these figures based on B777 freighter operations show:
Frankfurt, Leipzig/Halle, Cologne/Bonn, and Munich all charge EUR 1,481 per Triple Seven departure, while Brussels Zaventem demands carriers to pay EUR 938 per B777F takeoff, which is EUR 543 less, in comparison. Paris-CDG charges EUR 807, while at Milan-Malpensa it is EUR 716, and in Istanbul, B777F operators only must pay a negligible EUR 72 per departure. At Liège, no air traffic control fees are levied at all (figures based on BDL analyses).
Given these sometimes exorbitant cost differences, it is not surprising that air traffic in Germany is still in the doldrums following the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, in almost all other European countries, pre-COVID traffic figures have long been matched or even significantly surpassed. This persistent lag is detrimental to the country’s aviation industry and its entire economy.
Political action is needed
Against this backdrop, it is understandable that Lufthansa wants to further thin out its domestic network for cost reasons, and will increasingly operate intercontinental traffic via Brussels, Vienna, and Rome. This was recently announced by airline CEO, Carsten Spohr during an online conference. Lufthansa has a strong presence at these hubs through subsidiaries such as Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, and ITA.
However, all in all, the blues that have been crippling German aviation for years continue unabated.
BARIG is therefore calling on the German government to significantly reduce the cost burden suffocating the domestic air industry, thereby creating tangible incentives for the economy and growth. International airlines would then intensify their flights to and from Germany again, which would boost exports, create new jobs and ultimately fill the tax coffers of the Berlin coalition. So far, however, the government remains inactive, BARIG complains.
