Frankfurt — German air travel is still suffering as a result of the coronavirus crisis, with passenger numbers languishing at about a third of pre-crisis levels, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Monday.

Over 73 million people travelled via German airports in 2021, a decrease of 67.6 per cent on the all-time high of 2019, Destatis said on Monday.

Compared to 2020, air passenger numbers increased by 27.3 per cent, the office said.

While flight traffic across Europe recovered considerably over the summer, German domestic timetables were down by 19.3 per cent on the previous year, according to the data.

Despite a slight increase over the year, the number of passengers on intercontinental flights languished below a quarter of the pre-crisis level.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many destinations were subject to tight restrictions or not accessible, meaning the flight offering shrank as demand dropped.

However, the ADV association for German airports still saw the passenger numbers as a success. It welcomed the fact that rising vaccination coverage and additional hygiene measures made flying during the pandemic possible in the first place.

The main obstacles to demand are quarantine regulations and entry bans, the ADV said. At the end of the year, the Omicron variant and tightened travel restrictions prevented many people from travelling.

While passenger numbers were down, the situation was quite different for air freight, which has benefited from problems in global shipping.

The volume handled in Germany, including airmail, rose by 17.5 per cent from the previous year to 5.3 million tonnes.

Despite a lack of loading options in passenger aircraft, the freight volume also exceeded the pre-crisis figure from 2019 by 12.7 per cent.

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