Munich Airport remains on course for strong growth. In the first half of 2008 the airport saw an increase of 1 million in total passengers to a total of 17 million - a 6 percent gain on the previous year. With this growth rate, Munich is once again one of the strongest growth engines among Europe’s 10 busiest airports in terms of passenger volume. Among Europe’s top 10 airports, only Rome reported a faster growth rate. Munich also continues to lead all German airports with the highest absolute increase in passenger traffic in the current operating year. Routes to and from Munich accounted for 22 percent of all gains in total passengers flying within Germany. The number of take-offs and landings increased by 3 percent to a new record of 216,651.

Speaking today at the Munich Press Club on the occasion of the airport’s press conference to announce the half-yearly interim figures, Dr. Michael Kerkloh, Munich Airport’s CEO, stated that the new record figures are actually higher than the results expected at the beginning of the year: "In view of the current trend in oil prices and the turmoil currently affecting some parts of the aviation industry, I regard this as a truly remarkable success by Munich Airport as well as an impressive confirmation of our strategy to systematically develop the airport into a hub at the European level."

One of the main pillars of growth remains intercontinental traffic to and from Munich. During the first half of 2008, the number of passengers flying on long-haul routes was up by 7 percent as compared with the first half of the previous year. In total, more than 2.2 million travelers took advantage of the intercontinental connections available in Munich. Due to the launch of new routes there was a boom in traffic above all to South Korea and India. Double-digit growth in passenger figures was also achieved on routes to the USA. In European traffic, as in the long-haul segment, there was a 7 percent increase. The domestic segment is currently growing at a rate of 4 percent.

Munich Airport has also further bolstered its status as a gateway for flights to Eastern Europe. In the first half of 2008, a total of 1.7 million passengers - 22 percent more than in the same period a year earlier - used Munich Airport to travel to and from Eastern Europe. Munich not only offers the most departures to destinations in the 12 new EU countries. The Bavarian hub is also the only hub in Europe offering non-stop connections to all EU member states.

Also making a major contribution to the increase in passenger traffic at Munich Airport was the once again improved utilization of aircraft capacity. The seat load factor of planes using Munich Airport was up by a further 0.6 percentage points to 72.0 percent. In addition, airlines serving Munich Airport continued their trend toward larger aircraft for their Munich flights.

The airfreight segment at Munich Airport also continues to post increases: The total of nearly 125,000 metric tons of flown airfreight in the first half of 2008 represented a gain of approximately 4 percent over the previous year. Four-fifths of all airfreight at Munich Airport was carried as co-loaded (belly) freight on passenger flights, and 80 percent of that amount was carried on long-haul routes. The highest absolute gains were posted on flights to and from Korea, the USA, Thailand, South Africa, China and Japan.

In his summary, CEO Kerkloh stressed Munich Airport’s role as a "dynamically expanding asset of the German and European aviation industry.“ Despite the difficult operating conditions at present, he does not see any threat to this position: "However we also realize that, in view of the current economic turmoil in the air transportation market and the rising crude oil prices, we may see a temporary slowdown in growth during the coming months. This will have no effect on the excellent long-term development prospects of our airport."