Germany’s border airport Weeze has had a good 2023. Compared to 2022, the first year after the pandemic without travel restrictions, the number of passengers increased by more than half (54 percent). Weeze Airport had almost 1.6 million passengers in 2023. In 2022, there were around 1 million. The number of passengers is also higher than in the pre-corona year of 2019, when the airport had 1.3 million passengers. At the same time, the load factor of the aircraft rose to almost 85 percent. Drivers of growth are Ryanair, Air Arabia and Sky Express. The latter airline flies on behalf of the Dutch company Sunweb. The airport is signalling a high demand for holiday travel as well as private travel and family visits. The strong demand for leisure travel was not only visible in the peak period from June to August 2023. December turned out to be the strongest growth month compared to previous years. Compared to 2019, the last year before corona, the number of passengers increased by more than 60 percent in December. Last year, Weeze Airport had significantly more take-offs and landings: 19,464. That is a quarter more than in 2022 (15,533 take-offs and landings). For 2024, Weeze expects approximately 1.8 million passengers. That is based on the 45 destinations that can be booked. This makes Weeze the second fastest recovering commercial airport in Germany, according to figures from the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL). The association bases its figures on the plans of airlines and tour operators. Compared to 2019, Weeze expects 40 percent more passengers. Palma de Mallorca (PMI) continues to be the route with the highest frequency, with several daily departures in some cases. New routes can already be booked, including the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, which will be accessible from the airport for the first time. (Photo Airport Weeze).
