Berlin — The German Air Transport Association (BDL) expects passenger numbers to have declined more steeply in the first half of this year, compared to the drop seen last year while the pandemic was just breaking out.

"The decline in passenger numbers at German airports for the first half of 2021 compared to 2019 will be well over 80 per cent, so even greater than in the first half of 2020, where the decline was 66 per cent," a spokesperson said on Sunday.

There were two and a half months of regular travel during the first half of 2020, the spokesperson said, while there was massive pressure on demand throughout the first half of 2021.

June saw a limited recovery that the spokesperson said was due to the beginning of holiday travel, falling case numbers in Europe and the progress of vaccination campaigns to combat Covid-19.

At the end of July, there were 5.5 million guests at the 28 airports covered by airports association ADV, a significant rise of more than 260 per cent compared to the same month last year. Nonetheless, the figure was less than a quarter of the number of passengers in June 2019.

In contrast to passenger travel, figures are improving on the global cargo market, BDL said, "despite continued tight capacity due to the lack of additional loading capacity on passenger flights."

The positive global trend in air freight is also evident at German airports, where more freight was loaded than in 2019 and 2020, according to the organization.

The group plans to publish detailed half-year figures on August 10.

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