Over a Million Passengers in the Third Quarter

New routes, strong summer travel demand and high seat occupancy rates produced solid passenger growth at Dortmund Airport in the third quarter of 2026. In total, around 1.01 million people used the airport during the months of July, August and September. This means that the passenger numbers rose by 5.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Wizz Air was the strongest driver of this growth: in the third quarter, the Hungarian airline’s passenger numbers experienced a year-on-year rise of around 13 per cent. The summer holidays made a significant contribution as well. With more than 530,000 holidaymakers, the airport welcomed more passengers than ever before during a comparable holiday period. Not only was August – with over 360,000 passengers – the busiest month in the past quarter, but also the one with the highest passenger numbers so far this year.

In total, the airport handled over 2.62 million passengers in the first nine months of 2026, equivalent to an increase of around 179,000 passengers compared with the same period last year. “We have now laid the foundation for a successful final push at the end of the year. Rising figures show that passenger numbers are continuing to grow at a pleasing rate and that we are well on the way to again welcoming more passengers this year than we did last year”, says airport CEO Ludger van Bebber. Aside from growth in passenger numbers, the airport has placed a strong focus on expanding the route network: “We are working consistently to continue developing our flight network in existing markets whilst also opening up new destinations in southern and central Europe. Recent developments indicate that we are making good progress in this area and can offer travellers in the region an even wider selection of attractive routes."

Eight new destinations have already been added to the airport’s route network this year. These include major European cities such as Milan, Palermo and London, which further diversify the range of destinations on offer. Rome, another internationally important city and one of Europe’s most popular holiday destinations, will be added to the list from 25 October.