As well as enjoying the last of this winter’s gingerbread and mulled wine, we spent last week at NUE reviewing the past year and preparing for the new one.

3.93 million passengers travelled via NUE last year. This means that we only need to increase by another 4 % to reach our 2019 level. Up until November, the German average recovery vs. 2019 was close to 80%.

50,400 departures and arrivals brought 5.1 million seats to and from Nuremberg, which is  82% and 89% of the 2019 levels respectively. Accordingly, the size of aircraft at NUE has increased in 2023, while at the same time seat occupancy has also improved: the total SLF in 2023 was at an all-time high 81%, while the corresponding SLF in 2019 was 75%.

In 2023, NUE Airport and Ryanair celebrated the 10th anniversary of operations in NUE. Ryanair was the largest airline by passengers in 2023, offering a total of 32 destinations. The airline has also opened its maintenance base at NUE, resulting in significant investment and a large number of jobs in the region.

The year 2023 also marked the 50th anniversary of Turkish Airlines: the airline operated its first NUE flight in 1973. Two newcomers had their inaugural flights in 2023: NUE welcomed Dan Air with flights to Brasov and Etihad Holidays (operated by Smartwings) to Abu Dhabi.

With the switch to the winter schedule 23/24, Austrian and SWISS have discontinued their services from/to NUE, which constitutes one of our main challenges for 2024: working together with our airline partners to improve connectivity to and from the region.

One of our team's personal highlights was welcoming you to Nuremberg for our second edition of the Christmas Rendezvous: it was the perfect opportunity to ring in the end of the year by networking with you and showing you our beautiful city.