The number of passengers taking domestic German flights has fallen for the second year in a row. The industry says the drop is not due to environmental concerns despite a Swedish campaign of flight shaming or "flygskam."
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For the second year in a row, the number of passengers on German domestic flights has declined, according to data from the German Airports Association (ADV),as reported by the news service Tagesschau on Saturday.
The number of domestic passengers in 2019 fell by 1.9% from the year before to 47.1 million. In 2018, passenger figures fell by 0.8%
Figures have dropped continually since August last year, the association said.
The number of passengers on domestic flights in 2019 was just 1% greater than the figure from a decade ago.
Meager growth internationally
The number of passengers on international connecting flights was up, though growth has slowed.
Last year, 244.3 million passengers made international connections in Germany, an increase of 1.5% over the year before, the slowest growth in six years.
The ADV said a strike by Germanwings pilots at the end of 2019 was partly responsible for the low figures.
Higher costs and greater competition also played a role, they said. Some airlines, like Easyjet, Ryanair, and Eurowings, reduced the number of flights offered last year.
A slowing global economy and high oil prices also had an effect.
Not due to 'flight shaming'
The ADV said the drop in passengers was not related to increased concern over the link between climate change and CO2 emissions from flying, so-called flight shaming.
"Negative influences are growing," the association had said in December, referring to troubles within the industry and global economic trends.
The German Aviation Association (BDL) told DW there were two reasons for the drop in domestic passenger demand.
"The first is the cooling global economy — declining global trade and trade conflicts. Secondly, the insolvencies of Germania and Air Berlin," BDL said in a statement, adding that excess capacity from both airlines had been withdrawn from the market.
Frankfurt Airport reported the greatest number of total passengers of any German airport last year, serving just over 70 million, followed by the airports in Munich, Dusseldorf, and Berlin's Tegel.
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Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst
Dream destination, but climate nightmare
A return flight from Germany to the Maldives (8,000 km each way; about 5,000 miles) has an effect on the climate equivalent to releasing more than five tons of carbon dioxide per person, Germany's Environment Agency (UBA) says. A mid-range car would release the same amount after driving 25,000 km.
Image: Imago/Zumapress/A. Nekrasov
More than just CO2
Flying at high altitudes releases more than just carbon dioxide. Condensation trails turn into thin and wispy 'cirrostratus' clouds, which, depending on the position of the sun and the earth's surface, can cool or warm the ground beneath it. Nitrogen oxides released from planes into sunlight also contribute to the greenhouse gas ozone, which warms the planet.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/H. Tittel
Eat sausages or fly?
Our daily lives warm the planet. Heating, electricity, clothing and food all form part of our carbon footprints. To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius, UBA recommends each German emits about a ton of carbon dioxide in total — regardless if through flying or eating sausages.
Image: picture-alliance/CTK
Flying low
Air traffic doesn't just hurt the global climate — it also has local effects. The sound of aircrafts flying low overhead makes people more at risk of heart attacks, for example. Children who live near airports struggle to concentrate. And local air quality suffers from pollutants such as nitrogen oxides.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Ossinger
Untaxed fuel
Flying is subsidized more than other modes of transport. Aviation kerosene, which is used as jet fuel, is not taxed in the EU. In Germany, cross-border flights are exempt from value-added tax. Through that, the government waived more than €4.7 billion of tax revenue in 2012, according to the latest data by UBA.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Forra
Government and staff costs
The costs of air travel are often subsidized on the ground. Taxpayers' money is often spent on building new airports, a form of indirect subsidy. And budget airlines such as Ryanair have come under fire for saving money through imposing poor working conditions on their staff.
Image: imago/imagebroker/C. Vandercam
Flying as a new form of imperialism?
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