Steering Committee

Jens Bischof
Eurowings Aviation GmbH

“The importance of air traffic becomes particularly clear in times of travel restrictions. Safe, reliable and with fair prices – this is how we ensure valuable mobility in Germany and satisfied guests on board with us.”

German airlines are a strong driver of the local economy because they connect our country with Europe and the entire world: safely, reliably and inexpensively. A demand-oriented, functioning infrastructure as well as fair competitive conditions across borders are essential for the future of the  German aviation industry.

Ludger van Bebber
Flughafen Dortmund GmbH

“A polycentric airport system makes a decisive contribution to the economic prosperity of regions and the companies located there.”

 

Germany’s regional airports are not only important employers and economic factors in the regions. They also contribute to the equivalence of living conditions, are indispensable for regional connectivity and fulfil the mobility needs of the population. The decentralised airports must therefore be strengthened in their position and freed from competitive disadvantages.

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Dorothea von Boxberg
Lufthansa Cargo AG
„The past few years have impressively shown how important air freight is in the field of logistics. It is an indispensable building block of global supply chains and plays a crucial role in strengthening Germany as the world’s leading exporter in international competition.”

Germany has the strongest air freight market in Europe with outstanding logistics know-how and a highly qualified workforce. Together, the air transport industry and politicians at state, federal and EU level must maintain and expand the quality of this location. Self-made obstacles to competition must be questioned, e.g. taxes and duties and the design of emissions trading. The future of air freight logistics will also continue to be driven significantly by the issue of sustainability. The industry is already making contributions to climate protection. It is important that regulations on quotas for sustainable aviation fuels are designed to ensure fair competitive conditions so that the German aviation industry has the same opportunities as other market participants.

Michael Eggenschwiler
Flughafen Hamburg GmbH

“The German airports strengthen the performance of the economy and give impetus to Germany due to their many workplaces and the companies that set up in and around the airports.”

Air traffic meets people’s strongly growing desire for mobility and is of great importance for the economy. The industry is environmentally conscious, highly technically innovative and efficient: the airlines transport more and more passengers per flight, so the number of flights increases by significantly less than the number of passengers. The industry has achieved a great deal here in terms of sustainable environmental management.

Thomas Ellerbeck
TUI Group

“If regulation is understood correctly, industrial policy is beneficial for the area and its job market.”

Whoever travels and knows distant countries and cultures sees the world from a different perspective. Already, tourism is the most important economic sector in many countries. And the social and economic potential of tourism continues to grow. As TUI, we are aware of our responsibility for people, countries and the environment. We know that economic and environmental sustainability are two sides of the same coin when it comes to long-term success. Modern, environmentally efficient aircraft are in the interest of our environment, all people and the airlines. Companies want to continue to invest, but need room to maneuver and attractive competitive conditions.

Jost Lammers
President of the BDL
Flughafen München GmbH

“German airports invest many millions to protect people in the vicinity of airports from aircraft noise in the best possible way.”

Where aircraft take off or land, noise is unavoidable, and there’s probably never going to be such a thing as a noiseless airport. But that doesn’t mean we have to resign ourselves to aircraft noise. Noise control is important to German aviation. In recent decades, German airports alone have invested around €500 million in passive noise-mitigation measures such as soundproof windows and ventilation systems. And together with airlines and German air traffic control, we are working on solutions to avoid aircraft noise, especially where it arises – on the aircraft. Our goal is to make flying even quieter.

Dr. Michael Niggemann
Deutsche Lufthansa AG
"Flying connects: German aviation opens up access to the globalized world in the heart of Europe. We offer reliable and modern connectivity for business and society and we secure international supply chains. This makes us indispensable service providers for our country."

To ensure that Germany remains a strong and competitive aviation location in the future, we urgently need a regulatory framework that guarantees fair international competition. We are working on this together.

Aletta von Massenbach
Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH
„The aviation industry is faced with the challenge of managing basic mobility requirements in a CO2-neutral manner.“

It’s a given that increasing digitisation and improved interoperability of processes should make flying smoother and less time-consuming again as well as more sustainable. Offering our customers good service in the future is a core concern of the industry. This requires close and trusting cooperation between all partners involved.

Markus Otto
European Air Transport Leipzig (EAT) GmbH

“Air freight and time-critical express services in particular are important lifelines of the German economy. We connect German companies to international flows of goods and supply chains, thus securing Germany’s position as the world’s number-two champion in exports.”

Only around three percent of German export goods are delivered by air, to Asia, America, Africa and Australia. Much more substantial, however, is their value percentage: measured by value, air cargo makes up about 30 percent of the freight volume of all traffic carriers. Accordingly, air freight is enormously important for the German economy. Economic growth without air cargo? Inconceivable.

Arndt Schoenemann
DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH

“The safe, orderly and expeditious handling of air traffic – this sums up the core task of DFS, the German air navigation service provider. Environmental and climate protection are an integral part of this task, which means that emission control and noise abatement are central to our work. This applies to the planning of flight procedures as well as to air traffic control provided from our towers and control centres.”

 

With up to 11,000 flight movements daily in one of the busiest airspaces in Europe, we are in a leading position in Europe not only in terms of air traffic volume but also with regard to technology. The constant enhancement of our technical infrastructure and operational air traffic control systems guarantees sustainable air traffic in Germany and Europe long into the future. Doing this ensures passengers reach their destinations safely and on time. Every day. Around the clock.

Bild Dr. Stefan Schulte
Dr. Stefan Schulte
President of the German Airports Association ADV
Fraport AG

“Germany thrives on exports – and thus also on air traffic, which secures hundreds of thousands of jobs and incomes in Germany.”

 

Germany is the world’s number-two champion in export. This would be unthinkable without air traffic: Germany’s business people travel the world by plane, and high-quality products are shipped all over the globe by plane. This ensures economic strength, prosperity and countless jobs in Germany – not only in the air transport industry, but also in the many other sectors and companies in Germany that rely on exports.

Raoul Spanger
Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG
“Passengers appreciate the privilege of shopping at the airport or on board an aircraft. It has been part of their travel experience for more than half a century. The best possible and smooth cooperation between German airports, airlines and the companies operating at the airport has a major impact on the satisfaction of our customers.”

The Duty Free and Travel Retail business forms an essential basis for profitable and future-oriented airport operations. The commercial revenues from this particular marketplace make an important contribution to the financing and profitability of airports as well as their infrastructure. In addition, the retail business at German airports with its many thousands of employees is an important job engine for the respective region.

Ralf Teckentrup
President of the German Airlines Association BDF
Condor Flugdienst GmbH

“In the past, flying was only affordable for a few people. Today we all enjoy flying on vacation! We want to keep it that way – and this is why we need fair competitive conditions!”

 

Aviation is not a wealthy sector, as competition is fierce and the burden of taxes and charges is high. In the end, only a few euros of the ticket prices remain for the airlines. To keep air travel affordable, the German aviation sector is fighting for fair competitive conditions. Additional state duties such as the air travel tax are particularly harmful.