Leipzig/Halle Airport
2,571,119 passengers passed through Leipzig/Halle Airport last year – an increase of 8.7 percent over the figure for 2017. This growth process was supported by developments in both scheduled and tourist traffic. The demand for destinations in Egypt, Greece and Turkey developed in a particularly positive manner.
The number of aircraft movements at Leipzig/Halle Airport increased by 13.5 percent to a figure of 79,218 take-offs and landings.
Further significant growth in freight volumes
Freight volumes at Leipzig/Halle Airport, Europe’s fifth largest cargo hub, increased to approx. 1,221,429 tonnes in 2018; this represents growth of 7.3 percent over the figure for the previous year.
Dresden Airport
Passenger numbers at Dresden Airport rose by 3.1 percent in comparison with the previous year’s figure to a figure of 1,762,175. The greater number of tourist flights contributed to this positive development. The level of demand for destinations in Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Spain developed in a particularly positive way.
The number of aircraft movements was 3.6 percent higher than in the previous year with 30,273 take-offs and landings.
Saxony’s Economic Affairs and Transport Minister, Martin Dulig, comments, “The two airport sites in Saxony offer good jobs to more than 12,000 people. Their daily dedication – whether in handling, services or administration – makes a significant contribution to ensuring that our airports attract more passengers and are able to hold their own in a tough competitive environment. I myself worked as a loader at Leipzig/Halle for one day during the spring of 2018 to launch my “Your work, my work” campaign – incognito and without any special benefits as a politician. Loading heavy holiday suitcases in all weathers and working under time pressure is an extremely challenging job physically and deserves my greatest respect.”
Götz Ahmelmann, CEO of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG and Chairman of the Boards at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports notes the following in the light of the way that traffic is developing. “The strong growth in the numbers of passengers in 2018 is based on an increase in tourist traffic at both airports. There was particularly increased demand for Turkish, Egyptian and Greek destinations.”
In the light of the growing volumes of freight, Götz Ahmelmann continues to emphasise the following. “With an increase of more than seven percent, Leipzig/Halle Airport significantly exceeded the German average figure for volumes of air freight in 2018. Overall, the airport handled more than 1.2 million tonnes of cargo – more than ever before in one year. This growth is particularly based on DHL’s express freight business. However, the cargo and special charter services also continued to develop far above average.”