OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2014. Munich Airport stayed on course for growth in the first half of 2014: with 18.7 million passengers, the airport set a new record for the first half of a calendar year.

"We also expect to report a new passenger record for the entire year that will probably come close to the 40 million mark," said Dr. Michael Kerkloh, the President and CEO of FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, at the Munich Press Club today.

The number of aircraft movements, at approximately 185,000, was 1.7 percent below the previous year's figure. This reflects the ongoing fleet upgrade efforts of various airlines that have invested heavily in larger aircraft to boost their profitability. Kerkloh added, however, that this trend cannot continue indefinitely because of the enormous investments involved: "For most airlines, the average operating life of an aircraft is well over 10 years. As a result, an airline cannot continually respond to rising passenger demand by acquiring larger and larger planes."

The one percent increase in passenger numbers in Munich in the first six months mainly resulted from gains in international traffic: With some 2.9 million passengers – a gain of 5 percent – the intercontinental segment showed above-average growth compared with the previous year. The number of travelers using flights between Munich and continental destinations was up 1 percent to more than 11.2 million passengers. By contrast, traffic within Germany was down by approximately 1 percent to 4.5 million passengers.

Compared with the same period a year earlier, the airfreight business at Munich Airport again showed a robust growth trend. The total of 140,000 tons of flown goods represented an increase of about 5 percent as compared with 2013.