Germany industry body on Wednesday said half of the 1.1 million jobs in Germany’s aviation industry were under acute threat as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The BDL aviation industry association said international passenger traffic abruptly collapsed in mid-March following the introduction of sweeping restrictions on people’s movement, and the situation has only been slightly improving since then.
It noted that air travel came to an almost complete halt in April and May.
The organisation estimates that German airports were missing about 66 per cent of passengers in the first half of 2020, while ticket prices for the remaining flights were 9 per cent lower than
same period in 2019.
The fallout on cargo operations was less severe, although capacity for transporting goods on passenger planes fell.
The BDL added that the volume transported fell by 15 per cent globally.
Germany’s major cargo airports in Frankfurt, Leipzig, and Cologne performed better, with a drop of only 10 per cent.
However, a number of struggling airlines worldwide, including Germany’s flagship Lufthansa carrier, have been forced to rely on state bailouts for survival.
