Air traffic in Germany declines over 50%

The number of registered flights in German airspace declined by more than 50 percent in the first six months of 2020 compared with last year, the German air traffic control (DFS) announced on Friday as reported by Xinhua.

It was the "sharpest decline in the history of DFS," DFS noted, adding "After the sharp slump in spring, air traffic in Germany is recovering, albeit only modestly and at a low level."

At the beginning of the year, air traffic in Germany had been slightly below the record level of the previous year. However, restrictions and travel warnings issued due to COVID-19 pandemic had caused air traffic figures to "collapse" in mid-March, DFS noted.

With less than 36,000 registered flights, April had been the month with the lowest number of flights as flights declined by 87 percent year-on-year. According to DFS, April had only seen half as many flights as were usually recorded in a "normal week."

Since the low in April, air traffic in Germany had slowly picked up again. DFS said a "weak upward trend was already noticeable in May and continued in the following month."

German airports were affected by the decline to various extent. According to DFS, for airports where cargo flights accounted for a large share of traffic, the effects of COVID-19 restrictions were "significantly less severe."

Air traffic figures at Leipzig/Halle airport for example, where logistics service provider DHL established its European hub, remained relatively stable throughout the COVID-19 crisis. In mid-April, Leipzig airport was even "the busiest airport in Europe for one day," DFS noted.