OREANDA-NEWS. January 24, 2014. In 2013, 38.7 million passengers – about 1 percent more than in 2012 – chose Munich Airport as the arrival or departure point for their journey – a new all-time high.

The airport also set a new record for the average aircraft load factor, which was up 0.7 percentage points over the previous year's level to 75.2 percent. This means that, on average, more than three quarters of aircraft seats at Munich Airport are occupied – the highest level since the airport went into operation in 1992.

Against the backdrop of the current economic slump in Europe and the consolidation programs of many European airlines, Dr. Michael Kerkloh, the CEO of FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, expressed satisfaction with the traffic figures: "It's remarkable that we had yet another record-breaking year for passenger traffic – as in the previous year – despite a shrinking economy within the European Union and the eurozone. This shows the special strength of our Munich hub. Thanks to our global network and the extensive range of routes and services we offer, we always find ways to offset the effects of turbulence in individual target markets."

In scheduled and charter traffic, a total of more than 380,000 take-offs and landings took place in 2013: a decrease of 4 percent from the previous year. As the new traffic figures indicate, again in 2013 the airlines reacted to the rise in passenger demand by operating larger aircraft. For example, Lufthansa and its partner airlines replaced many turboprop aircraft, each with an average of 70 seats, with significantly larger jets such as the Canadair CRJ-900 and Embraer 195, which can carry 90 to 120 passengers.

In the airfreight segment, the results at Munich Airport in 2013 were close to the previous year's levels. Total airfreight turnover amounted to about 270,000 tons. Combined with airmail, the volume of flown airfreight was approximately 288,000 tons.

The increase in passenger figures in Munich in 2013 mainly resulted from gains in international traffic. Services within Europe were used by nearly 23.4 million passengers. This represents a year-on-year gain of over 2 percent. With some 5.8 million passengers, the intercontinental segment showed a nearly 2 percent increase over 2012. By contrast, traffic from Munich to destinations within Germany was down by approximately 3 percent to 9.4 million passengers.

Some of the strongest gains in 2013 were seen on services to Spanish destinations, which carried a total of 2.9 million passengers – 180,000 more than in 2012. At the same time, the number of travelers flying on Russian routes increased by 90,000 and topped the one million mark for the first time ever. Also in heavy demand last year were flights between Munich and North America, which saw a year-on-year rise of more than 100,000 to approximately 2.7 million passengers.