Aviation industry warns of high costs and loss of location in Germany
A joint report from BDL and DLR shows a doubling of ticket prices and a relocation of hubs to non-EU countries.
Quick Look
- The BDL and DLR report that flight ticket prices in Germany have doubled since 2010.
- Rising government taxes and operating costs are causing passenger flows to increasingly switch to hubs outside the EU, which is weakening Germany as a location.
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Why It Matters
The report is the first joint analysis by BDL and DLR on the state of the German aviation industry. It compares data from 2010 to 2024.
The aviation industry is warning about the effects of higher costs in German air traffic. Flying to and from Germany has become massively more expensive in recent years. The average ticket price has roughly doubled between 2010 and 2024 from just under 150 euros to around 300 euros, explained the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in a first joint report on the situation in the industry.
In addition to sharp increases in government taxes such as air traffic taxes, aviation security levies and air traffic control fees, the reasons are also higher personnel and operating costs. Ticket prices in Europe have increased on average from almost 250 euros to almost 340 euros.
“The report shows a gradual decoupling of Germany from international air traffic,” said BDL Managing Director Joachim Lang. "Connections are being lost, passengers and freight are switching to hubs outside Europe." This is a serious location problem for an export nation.
Hubs are moving to countries outside the EU
According to the report, there have been significant shifts in transfer patterns and hubs in intercontinental air traffic since 2010. Passenger flows in long-haul traffic are increasingly shifting to hubs outside the European Union, particularly in Turkey and the Gulf region.
According to the report, the proportion of connections between Germany and the Far East and Southeast Asia that went through non-EU hubs rose from 34 to 54 percent. At the same time, the proportion of connecting connections via German hubs fell from 56 to 36 percent. Similar developments occurred in air traffic to Africa.
According to DLR forecasts, the global number of air travelers will rise to 154 percent of the pre-Corona level of 2019 by 2034 - also thanks to larger and more efficient aircraft. The connections between Germany and Europe have not yet returned to the level before the corona pandemic.
According to the report, around 536,900 jobs were directly or indirectly related to aviation in 2024. The aviation industry and aviation industry in Germany created gross value added of 58.4 billion euros. The industry thus contributed around 1.3 percent to Germany's gross domestic product.
Open Questions
- What specific political measures is the government planning to provide relief?
- How will airlines respond to competitive pressure in the long term?
