Thanks to intensive preparations by the industry, the start of the vacation season was successful without any major disruptions or waiting times, explained the Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry (BDL) on Tuesday. Although employment is on the rise again after the lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis in the aviation industry, there are still staff shortages. Recruitment is difficult in a labor market close to full employment, said BDL Managing Director Matthias von Randow. Higher salaries alone would not solve this. "We need to recognize that Germany is a country of immigration." It therefore makes sense for the federal government to facilitate the immigration of skilled workers.

At Frankfurt airport operator Fraport, too, a lack of staff in handling is one of the factors slowing down a return to pre-crisis levels. Last year, many travelers suffered from flight cancellations and delays as well as long waiting times at check-in, security checks and baggage carousels. This was because the increase in flight operations staff had not kept pace with the sharp rise in supply after the end of the pandemic.

Punctuality had improved by almost a fifth, with over 60 percent of flights taking off with a delay of less than 15 minutes, explained the BDL. This reflected massive problems at the new airline Marabu. A punctuality rate of at least 80 percent is considered normal in the industry.

GERMANY TAKES OFF MORE SLOWLY

In the first half of the year, German airports counted almost 88 million passengers. This was 28% more than in the same period last year, when travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic slowed down flight operations in the spring. Compared to the pre-crisis year of 2019, Germany reached a level of 74%, with this figure set to rise to 85% in the second half of the year. In Europe as a whole, passenger volumes already reached 90% in the first half of the year.

The strongest recovery in Germany was seen in long-haul traffic to North America. Growth is lower for European and domestic flights. One reason for this is the reduced German offering of the low-cost airlines Ryanair and Easyjet, which are complaining about excessively high taxes and fees in Germany. "While the supply of these airlines in Europe as a whole already exceeds the 2019 level at 103 percent, it is only 63 percent in Germany," explained the BDL.

On the other hand, Lufthansa is reducing the number of domestic flights by replacing feeder flights to the Frankfurt hub with train connections, for example. The BDL believes that domestic flights will not return to pre-crisis levels as the shift to rail is being deliberately promoted, particularly in terms of climate protection.

LOCATION TOO EXPENSIVE?

The aviation industry is concerned about the shift in passenger flows to hubs outside the EU such as Istanbul, Dubai or Doha - especially for Asian flights. Thanks to state subsidies, these could offer cheaper flights. Their share of transfer passengers from Europe has risen from 38 to 55 percent between 2019 and 2023. Burdens on air traffic in Germany and Europe would have given airlines and hubs outside the EU an advantage. This is an undesirable development that urgently needs to be corrected, demanded von Randow. As part of EU climate protection legislation, the association is advocating the levying of a tax on non-European competitors that do not have to meet comparable climate requirements.

The industry is also pressing the German government for relief. Air traffic control charges have almost doubled in the past two years because Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) has to recoup a good billion in losses from the coronavirus period through higher charges for airlines. In an interview with Reuters, DFS CEO Arndt Schoenemann explained that this is due to EU regulation, but that there is room for maneuver at national level. According to the BDL, other countries in Europe are compensating for these losses. DFS is also lobbying the German government for relief, said Schoenemann. "We have a common interest. I see it as my responsibility to strengthen our location," he added.

(Report by Ilona Wissenbach. Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact the editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)