The German Airports Association (ADV) has once again lowered its air traffic forecasts for this fiscal year. According to the latest estimates from the employers' association, the airports in the country will end 2026 with about 217 million passengers, which implies a decrease of 1.4% compared to 2025 and represents an additional cut of five million travelers compared to the forecast published last April.
Even the slight rebound in the summer observed in July has not been enough to alter the negative trend that the sector is experiencing.
In July, 21.75 million users passed through German terminals, a modest increase of 0.9% compared to the same month in 2025, which was accompanied, however, by a decline of 1.8% in the number of commercial operations.
The gap with pre-pandemic data remains considerable: in July, there was a 12.1% decrease in passengers and a 17.5% decrease in flights compared to the same period in 2019.
The cumulative total between January and July 2026 confirms the stagnation of air transport in Germany, with 119.43 million travelers served. This figure implies a decline of 0.5% compared to the previous year and remains 16% below the levels reached in 2019.
In parallel, the supply of commercial flights so far this fiscal year is 3.8% below the 2025 forecast, reaching only 77.9% of the activity recorded before the health crisis.
From the ADV, they attribute this gap compared to the rest of Europe to the fiscal and regulatory pressure exerted by the federal government on the sector.
The general director of the association, Ralph Beisel, considers the new revision of the projections as a serious warning and emphasizes that the high infrastructure fees prevent airlines from expanding their presence in German airports, while other European countries are experiencing a much more solid economic and operational recovery.
The loss of competitiveness of Germany is reflected in the state charges that airlines bear. Although the air traffic tax has been reduced, a flight to a European destination faces an average cost of 4,449 euros in fees in Germany, compared to an average of 2,326 euros across Europe.
In the case of long-haul routes, such as a connection with New York, government costs reach 16,177 euros at German airports, compared to 6,914 euros required at comparable European terminals, a difference that, according to the ADV, limits the international connectivity of the German economy.