Positive developments at Airport
At the final Supervisory Board meeting of Flughafen Dortmund GmbH for 2024, the focus was on the preliminary traffic figures for the ongoing year. Another key aspect was the economic and financial plan for the upcoming year, which was presented to and approved by the Board members.
Airport Managing Director Ludger van Bebber initially presented the passenger volume development for the year 2024 to the Supervisory Board. The year began largely as planned until the start of the summer season. After solid growth in traffic figures during the first quarter, there was a slight decline in the second quarter compared to the previous year due to necessary maintenance on Wizz Air fleet's Pratt & Whitney engines. Nonetheless, the airport closed the first half of the year with moderate growth of 1.8% and maintained the high traffic numbers from the previous year. Since September, traffic development has once again been on an upward trend. Repaired aircraft are returning, allowing Wizz Air to gradually expand its previously reduced services, with passenger numbers now significantly above last year's levels. With 321,164 travellers, the airport saw its busiest month ever in October.
Just before the year's end, another highlight was reached: On Monday, 16 December 2024, the airport welcomed its 3-millionth passenger at check-in for her flight to Istanbul. “We reflect on a turbulent but overall very successful year. Throughout the year, despite many challenges, the airport surpassed the 3 million passenger threshold for the first time in its history. This surpasses the previous record of 2.93 million passengers set in 2023. We anticipate a total annual passenger volume of 3.1 million travellers,” notes Ludger van Bebber.
On 10 October, Ryanair announced a significant reduction in operations in Germany due to high government burdens. Part of this decision included ceasing Ryanair's operations in Dortmund. Simultaneously, Eurowings announced a reduction in its route offerings in Dortmund. In recent days, the airport has announced extensive increases in frequencies and new routes to offset the reductions by Ryanair and Eurowings in the coming year. Ludger van Bebber: “Our very ambitious goal is to achieve the passenger volume of 2024 in 2025.”
As part of various modernisation efforts, the Supervisory Board approved the conversion of the passenger bridges at positions 3 and 4 today. Of the airport's 13 apron positions, only positions 3 and 4 have passenger bridges offering direct access to aircraft without needing to traverse the tarmac. Currently, only the front cabin door is used for boarding and disembarking at these positions, resulting in longer boarding times, which many airlines find unacceptable. In future, passengers will be able to use both cabin doors via a staircase at the end of the passenger bridge.
Additionally, the airport is continuing its sustainability programme with further investments in electric handling equipment. This includes the planned conversion of all apron lighting to LED technology.