Germany's air freight loses ground: Fraport under pressure!

Germany's air freight loses ground: Fraport under pressure!

The air freight industry in Germany faces considerable challenges. After Frankfurt Airport had to submit the title as the largest European freight airport to Istanbul in 2024, the situation becomes increasingly critical. Pierre Dominique Prümm, board member of Fraport, commented on the developments and warned of a "black alarm" that occurs in the industry when only black areas are visible when loading barrels. Because this means that barrels must not be promoted by non -certified senders. In addition, technical alternatives to the examination in Germany have not yet been approved, which makes the processes even more difficult.

The Frankfurt Airport recorded an envelope of almost two million tons in 2024. Despite an increase of 1.8 percent compared to 2023, German growth is far behind the global growth of 11.3 percent. Joachim Lang, General Manager of the Federal Association of German Air Traffic Management (BDL), made it clear that Germany's attractiveness has decreased as a freight location and that the high costs and bureaucracy in Germany endanger competitiveness. In 2024, a total of 4.8 million tons of air freight were unloaded and unloaded at German airports, which corresponds to a level that was reached in 2019. Nevertheless, there is an alarming trend, since more and more German air freight freight forwarders are no longer handling their landings via domestic airports.

competitive pressure and alternative structures

The pressure on German airports is growing, especially in the face of rising competitors such as Leipzig/Halle Airport, which is also under pressure, and Liège Airport, which reached 1.2 million tons of annual envelope in 2024. The fees for landings in Frankfurt are around 1,500 euros, while in Paris only 800 euros are due and Liège even raises no fees. Planning long and Prümm to come to the responsible federal ministries with concrete proposals to improve the situation. This also includes the demand for a reduction in location costs, especially for flight safety fees that have doubled since 2019.

A lot also depends on the sluggish digitization, which further endanger the competitiveness of German airports. The customs authorities are not up to the growing requirements, especially in e-commerce. More and more smaller programs, especially from Asian space, demand new logistics strategies that traditional companies are difficult to afford. Long warned of the takeover of such strategies by larger dealers such as Temu and Shein.

air freight market in the global context

The air freight market promoted less freight in 2023 than in previous years, which is due to the normalization of the flow of goods after pandemic. The international currents are also no longer as dynamic as during the record year 2021. In Germany, especially in Germany, only a small part of the transported goods can be found in air transport, but the value is high. According to Statista, Frankfurt Airport is the largest freight airport in Germany, but a decline in the air freight volume after 2021 can be clearly felt. This makes the challenges in front of which the German airports are facing all the more critical.

In order to remain competitive in international comparison, a fundamental reform in the treatment of customs and security standards is required. The automation of processes and the introduction of a digital system for processing customs documents are just a few of the suggestions that could contribute to increasing efficiency. The continuous night flight bans in Frankfurt could also inhibit freight traffic and restrict competitiveness.

More information about the current trends in air freight traffic can be found on FAZ href = "https://www.verkehrsrundschau.de/nachrichten/transport-logistik/luftfracht-deutsche-flughaefen-verlieren-an-gereutung-3672539"> Verkehrsrundschau and Statista .