Dynamic Traffic Growth Paves Way Out of Crisis at Munich Airport
In fiscal year 2021, traffic development at Munich Airport was still heavily influenced by the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. At 12.5 million, the number of passengers at the airport increased by more than twelve percent compared to the previous year, but remained well below the record figure of approximately 48 million in 2019. As the management of Flughafen München GmbH (FMG) explained at the annual press conference on Tuesday, April 26, a significant recovery in traffic development is emerging this year. With a total of around 13,000 flights, for example, traffic volume at Munich Airport during the recent Easter holidays already came to around 70 percent of the comparative figure from 2019.
“We expect a significant increase in aircraft movements and passengers in 2022 as a whole. In our estimation, Munich Airport can be expected to make a full return to pre-crisis levels in 2024,” said Chief Executive Officer Jost Lammers.
FMG’s Group-wide revenue amounted to EUR 601 million in the past year. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR –286 million, an improvement of nearly EUR 120 million on the previous year. FMG posted earnings after taxes (EAT) of EUR –261 million, an improvement of around EUR 60 million or 19 percent on the previous year’s loss. In addition to the growth in traffic compared to the first year of the pandemic, the measures taken by FMG to counter the crisis also contributed to this earnings improvement.
As Nathalie Leroy, FMG’s Chief Financial Officer and Director of Infrastructure, highlighted, these efforts made it possible to limit the airport’s losses and permanently maintain its liquidity and future viability. Leroy continued, “We are therefore well equipped for the challenges we are facing to re-establish our Munich Airport as a premium hub for international aviation.”
In line with the increase in traffic volume, Flughafen München GmbH is also currently seeing a significant upward trend in its end customer business. The range of stores and restaurants represented at the airport has changed since the time before the crisis. On the one hand, not all providers in the retail and restaurant sector survived the long economic dry spell. On the other hand, new renowned companies have been added.
“The engagement of these brands shows that the market continues to find our airport highly attractive as an important location for stores and restaurants, which is also attracting business models that were not represented at the airport before,” said Jan-Henrik Andersson, FMG’s Managing Director for Commercial and Security.
