Central German airports: far more freight during Q1

April 28, 2022

Following the sharp declines caused by the pandemic during the previous years, both Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports registered significant growth in freight volumes. The number of aircraft movements during the first quarter was 21,658, which was also higher than the figure of 18,037 take-offs and landings in the previous year.

Leipzig/Halle Airport

Freight volumes totalled 385,438 tonnes during the first quarter, an increase of 7.3 percent. Europe’s fourth-largest cargo airport set a new record in 2021 by handling approx. 1.6 million tonnes of freight. The number of aircraft movements rose by 12.9% to 18,352 in 2022.

Dresden Airport

73,611 passengers were registered at Dresden Airport during the first three months of this year. The figure was just 6,535 during the comparable period in the previous year. The number of take-offs and landings rose by 85.8 percent to 3,306.

Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG has three subsidiaries: Leipzig/Halle Airport, Dresden Airport and PortGround.

Leipzig/Halle Airport handled approximately 1.6 million tonnes of air freight in 2021. This makes it Germany’s second-largest cargo airport. The airport is connected to the A9 and A14 motorways and has a railway station that forms an integral part of the central terminal.

PortGround offers ground, freight and other extensive handling services at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports round the clock.

The two airports belonging to Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG registered 90,518 aircraft movements and handled 1,001,270 passengers in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

James Graham

James Graham is an award-winning transport media journalist with a long background in the commercial freight sector, including commercial aviation and the aviation supply chain. He was the initial Air Cargo Week journalist and retuned later for a stint as editor. He continues his association as editor of the monthly supplements. He has reported for the newspaper from global locations as well as the UK.