Munich Airport Secures Future Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

By Kimberly Krol

As a result of travel restrictions and drastic reductions in flights worldwide, Munich Airport is suffering from decreases in nearly every area of its operations. Take-offs and landings reached a low last week, with traffic plummeting to less than 10 percent of the number year over year. Passenger traffic is at 5 percent of last year’s level.

Some of the airport’s measures to secure the airport’s liquidity include a set of measures to impose tight limits on personnel and material costs and a postponement of planned investment projects. As the airport is deemed critical infrastructure, Munich Airport is continuing to operate to ensure returnees can get home and cargo keeps moving. More than 100 out-of-service aircraft are parked and unneeded infrastructures have been temporarily shut down.

“We are experiencing a crisis in global air transportation on an unprecedented scale, with no end in sight. Protecting the health of the passengers and employees at Munich Airport remains our top priority. Another vital concern is to limit the enormous economic damage for Munich Airport and the people working here by taking all necessary measures to preserve our financial stability,” said Jost Lammers, president and CEO, Munich Airport.

While the future remains uncertain and travelers around the globe eagerly await a return to normalcy, Lammers remains optimistic. “The effects of the coronavirus crisis far exceed the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, or the global financial crisis in 2008. Consequently, it may take significantly longer this time before demand returns to the previous level. Nor can we rule out structural changes in air traffic. But I have no doubt that the global need for mobility will increase in the medium term and that air travel will therefore return to growth once more.”