Hamburg Airport expects eleven million passengers this year

Traffic at Hamburg Airport is growing again, but problems remain, especially with the issue of incoming luggage and the processing of departing passengers. "We are assuming eleven million passengers this year," said Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of the Hamburg Airport operator, on Thursday evening at the Club of Hamburg Business Journalists. "And we will finish with a loss of just under 40 million euros."

For comparison: Last year, which was significantly more affected by the consequences of the pandemic than this year, Hamburg Airport closed with around 5.3 million passengers and a loss of 94 million euros. However, the loss was reduced by a federal grant from the city of Hamburg. The city owns 51 percent of Hamburg Airport, 49 percent is held by Hamburg Airport Partners. In 2019, the last year before the start of the pandemic, Hamburg Airport reported around 17 million passengers and a profit of around 32 million euros. Hamburg Airport aims to break even in 2023 and to make a profit again in 2024.

Long delays and traffic jams at baggage claim caused great frustration among passengers during the summer travel months. Eggenschwiler said that Hamburg Airport can only alleviate this problem to a limited extent: "We are not the cause of this, we are only the last link in the chain, because many travelers change planes before they ultimately fly to Hamburg." If at the major air hubs If the baggage handling does not work, the baggage will inevitably be brought to Hamburg too late, in case of doubt with later aircraft: "Amounts of baggage still arrive in Hamburg completely unannounced."

Hamburg Airport is doing everything it can to reduce delays at baggage claim. Short-time work for the workforce ended in July. However, there is now a lack of staff in some positions that need to be filled. “The manual post-processing of the cases takes time. After all, we have already managed to get the baggage processing going a little faster." "We will check all processes in which we are involved and, if necessary, update personnel." Passengers are also increasingly supported by Hamburg Airport employees on departure, for example at the baggage check-in machines.

Eggenschwiler believes that short-term relief, for example through seasonal workers from Turkey at German airports, is not very effective. The necessary qualification of the employees, for example in the apron service, is very time-consuming and complicated: "It's not necessarily worthwhile for a work stay of a few weeks or months." to focus on Turkey. At the end of June, the federal government promised quick residence and work permits for personnel from Turkey in order to relieve the German airports.

Eggenschwiler said Hamburg Airport is in intensive dialogue with the airlines to alleviate the problem of flight delays and also that of luggage transport. Around 40 percent of all flights are currently delayed, and around 50 percent during the summer vacation weeks. “The industry has to get back to its old handling quality. My concern is that we bring a high level of stability back into the system.”

Flight delays are so prevalent in flight schedules that many airlines are still taking off and landing in Hamburg at night. Regular flight operations last from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Airlines have to pay penalties for later take-offs and landings. In July there were 160 flight movements after 11 p.m., said Eggenschwiler, 135 take-offs and 25 landings. So far, 60 flight movements after 11 p.m. have been registered for August. A dedicated team at Hamburg Airport is working closely with the airlines to reduce these delays.

Eggenschwiler expects that Hamburg Airport will again reach 80 percent of the passengers from 2019 in 2024 and 85 percent in 2025: "I'm sure the aviation industry will find its way back to its old strength." More stopped. However, the airport is still working on reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases in its own operations. The airport is now “CO2-neutral”, but this includes compensatory measures such as afforestation. By 2035, operations at Hamburg Airport should be effectively "CO2-free".