Air transportation in Germany is not safe from the current economic crisis. The Federal Association of German Air Carriers (BDF) confirmed in an industry event that both, earnings from cargo transportation and the number of passengers have declined significantly in early 2009.

„At the moment, we are facing two-digit declines in demand for both, cargo and passenger transportation“, said President of BDF, Ralf Teckentrup. The air transportation industry is facing a very difficult year, with the airlines reacting with capacity adjustments and even leaving aircraft on the ground.

According to the association, the stoppage of a single aircraft of German airlines is comparable to the stoppage of a middle-class enterprise. On average, one aircraft of a BDF airline generates annual revenues of 39 million euros and directly employs 170 people. Should a recovery of demand fail to take place, more aircraft will have to stay on the ground, making personnel cuts a probability, says the association.

In early 2009, the BDF had projected a decrease of 3 percent in the passenger numbers for Germany, but is now considering a stronger decline of 5 percent for the whole of year 2009 a possibility, given a continuation of the negative trend and further decreases in demand. This would make further capacity cuts for the summer flight plan highly likely.

The BDF represents the interests of German air carriers in the scheduled flight, charter flight and low cost segments in the face of economy and politics. The members of the association are among the most secure airlines in the world. They transport nearly 120 million passengers each year, utilizing more than 700 modern aircraft. The companies generate annual earnings of around 27 billion euros. In total, the BDF air carriers provide almost 120,000 jobs.