In the first quarter of 2024, Munich Airport maintained its trajectory for growth despite numerous strikes, with nearly eight million travellers counted from January to March. This marks an increase of about one million passengers, or approximately 14%, compared to the same period last year. With the current passenger volume, Munich Airport has once again reached 80% of the record volume from the pre-crisis year of 2019, and even 86% in international traffic.
During the first three months of this year, almost 68,300 take-offs and landings were registered, representing a rise of around ten percent compared to the previous year. The sustained strong demand for air travel resulted in another record seat occupancy rate, which increased from 76% in the first quarter of 2023 to 77.6%. In comparison, during the same period in 2019, the aircraft load factor stood at 71.3%.
Cargo handling also saw significant growth, with the total volume of air freight and air mail increasing by almost ten percent to around 73,500 tonnes. Overall, the volume of cargo in Munich has now returned to almost 90% of the pre-corona level.
The availability of additional freight capacity is set to increase further this year. New routes to Seattle, Johannesburg, and Vietnam, as well as additional flight frequencies – including to Beijing and Osaka – offer industrial and logistics companies in Munich Airport’s catchment area more opportunities to load directly via Munich.