Munich Airport Leads German Air Hubs with 6.6% Increase in Freight Traffic in 2023

Munich Airport says it was the only German major air hub to increase freight traffic in 2023. The south German gateway registered a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, whereas total airfreight volume in Germany as a whole fell by 7.1, according to German Airports Association figures.

Munich’s freight totalled 284,000 tons, with a significant share attributable to belly cargo, which grew by 11%.

The airport added that direct connections to China, resumed in the middle of last year, a new route to Bangalore in southern India and four weekly flights to Taipei have also been very well received, especially by Bavarian exporters.

This year, new routes will be added to Seattle, Johannesburg, and Vietnam, as well as additional flights to destinations including Beijing and Osaka, the airport authority predicted.

Month on month figures for January and February 2024 were meanwhile up by 6.5% and 10.8% respectively and overall freight at Munich is now back to almost 90% of the pre-pandemic level.

DHL Express is also due to open a new freight building in the summer and there is plenty of space for future expansion in the cargo area, says the airport authority.