Return of the desire to travel: Nuremberg Airport is growing again

3,277,996 passengers took off and landed at Albrecht Dürer Airport in 2022 to enjoy their vacations, visit friends and relatives or go on business trips (2021: 1,063,153). This represents a threefold increase in traffic compared to the previous year, and Nuremberg Airport reached nearly 80 percent of its pre-pandemic 2019 level, far more than most other German airports (averaging around 58 percent). Forecasts for this year also look good.

In 2022, a total of 71 destinations were served, compared with 39 in 2021. The largest airline in Nuremberg is currently Ryanair, followed by holiday airline Corendon Airlines. Mallorca proved to be the most popular destination, with just under half a million passengers, followed by Turkey's Antalya (420,000 passengers) and Istanbul (195,000). The Lufthansa hub in Frankfurt (143,000) was also very busy again recently.

Passenger numbers are expected to increase further in 2023. The summer flight schedule currently includes 63 nonstop destinations - more could follow. The tourist focus is on Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey. "Next summer, the number of flights on offer will return to pre-pandemic levels, and in some cases even exceed them," announces Dr. Michael Hupe, Managing Director at Nuremberg Airport. "Thanks to optimized processes and more staff in passenger and terminal operations, passengers should be able to take off relaxed."

Attractive Spain program

The Spain program is particularly extensive: in addition to Mallorca, with several flights daily, the smaller Balearic island of Ibiza is also easily accessible. Mallorca itself is served by several airlines: Ryanair, Corendon Airlines, Eurowings and Condor. On the Spanish mainland, Alicante, Barcelona (with Vueling), Girona, Malaga, Seville and Valencia are attractive destinations. The Canary Islands are also included: Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife.

Larger aircraft, fewer aircraft movements

Network airlines will see a particularly strong increase in traffic to their respective hubs, which had suffered greatly during the pandemic and only gradually returned last year. These are particularly dependent on business travelers and trade shows. With the return of SWISS for the flight schedule change at the end of March 2023, seven international hubs will again be connected to Nuremberg. Newcomer British Airways is optimizing flight times to London Heathrow and thus providing better transfer services to North America.

The trend toward larger and at the same time better-utilized aircraft will result in fewer flight movements with the same number of seats.