Munich (dpa / lby) - Munich Airport is seeing a sharp rise in passenger numbers. 23.2 million passengers were counted there in the first three quarters. That was more than three times the value from the same period last year, as the airport announced on Thursday. The number of flight movements rose by 126 percent to 211,890.
"People took the opportunity to finally be able to fly again in very large numbers," said airport boss Jost Lammers. "This is very good news for our entire industry, because it confirms our view that air traffic will continue to play its important role as an indispensable mode of transport for global mobility in the future."
In the particularly busy third quarter, the airport counted 10.2 million passengers. That was 74 percent of the pre-crisis level. In the Corona crisis, the numbers collapsed extremely, since then it has been gradually rising again. If the current development continues, the airport expects more than 30 million passengers by the end of the year. The record from 2019 is 47.9 million passengers.
Since the number of passengers rose much faster than the number of flights, the load factor reached a record level. In the third quarter, 84.5 percent of the seats were filled. The average for the first nine months was 77 percent.
The figures for air freight are also pointing upwards. Including airmail, the volume almost doubled to 200,000 tons.
