Air traffic figures on the upswing (12 October)


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Langen, 12 October 2005

Air traffic figures on the upswing - Flights in German airspace increase by six per cent

The volume of air traffic in German airspace has continued to grow this year. In the first nine months of 2005, DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH controlled a total of 2.172 million flights, representing an increase of six per cent over the same period in 2004. Of these flights, military traffic fell from 3.8 to 3.1 per cent. The volume of air traffic around Europe* rose by 4.3 per cent in the first eight months**. The busiest day in Europe was 17 June 2005 with 30,663 flights. In Germany, controllers handled the most traffic on 16 September with 9,484 flights – five per cent more (464 flights) than the busiest day in 2004.

At the international airports in Germany, air traffic increased by 3.3 per cent to reach 1.539 million flights. At Frankfurt Airport, the largest airport in Germany, 1,510 arrivals and departures were recorded on 13 September, the peak traffic day in 2005. Munich had its heaviest workload on 14 April with 1,308 flights. But there was also a rise in traffic at regional airports in Germany. A total of 129,373 arrivals and departures were recorded, representing a 3.7 per cent increase over the same period in 2004.

While air traffic delays in Europe increased, the traffic controlled by DFS was again more punctual than in the previous year despite the rise in the volume. In Europe, the average delay per flight increased from 1.2 to 1.4 minutes. The punctuality rate in Germany improved from 0.64 to 0.56 minutes per flight.

* Refers to the EUROCONTROL Member States: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine,United Kingdom.

** The figures for September are not available yet.

DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH is a State-owned company under private law and has 5,200 employees. DFS ensures the safe and punctual handling of flights. Staff coordinate around 10,000 aircraft movements in German airspace every day, and more than three million movements every year. With this large number of flights, Germany has the highest traffic volume in Europe. DFS operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich. In addition, DFS is represented in the Eurocontrol Centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and in the control towers of the 16 international German airports. DFS provides training and consultancy services around the world and develops and sells air traffic control, surveillance and navigation systems. The company's portfolio also comprises flight-relevant data, aeronautical publications and aeronautical information services. DFS has the following business units: Control Centre, Tower, Aeronautical Solutions and Aeronautical Information Management.


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