Air Transport : Germany

The strong growth of international air traffic is making heavy demands on the Federal Republic’s airports and air traffic control systems. In 1996, 113.3 million passengers were registered at German airports, plus just under two million tons of air freight. The country’s largest airport is Frankfurt am Main, which is also one of the principal airports in Europe. The other international commercial airports in Germany are Berlin-Tegel, Berlin-Tempelhof, Berlin-Schonefeld, Bremen, Cologne/Bonn, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Erfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich, Munster-Osna-bruck, Nuremberg, Saarbriicken and Stuttgart. There are also a number of regional airports.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa German Airlines) is one of the leading international airlines. In 1996 it carried about 31.8 million passengers using a fleet of about 220 modern aircraft. Lufthansa German Airlines was privatized in 1994. It has considerably increased the number of flights it offers through cooperation agreements with foreign carriers. Every year about 20 million holidaymakers fly with the charter airlines Condor, LTU, Hapag-Lloyd and Aero Lloyd as well as with other smaller charter companies. More than 120 international airlines maintain regular scheduled flights to German airports, from where there are direct connections to roughly 300 destinations in more than 100 countries.