The number of passengers that travelled through Cologne Bonn Airport in 2022 was more than double those that used the regional hub in 2021. Passenger traffic rose to 8.8 million last year with cargo volumes reaching more than 971,000 tonnes.
Thilo Schmid, President and CEO of Flughafen Köln/ Bonn described the numbers as “highly pleasing” as he anticipated a further rise in traffic in 2023.
“In 2022, the extremely rapid rise in passenger traffic after a still weak first quarter caused many operational challenges in the entire aviation system, including at Cologne Bonn. In 2023 the sector now has to score points for reliability. We and all of our partners at the site are working hand in hand for this.”
The 8.8 million passengers that took off from or landed at Cologne Bonn in 2022 is just under a third fewer than pre-pandemic figures in 2019 and twice as many as in 2021. July, August and September all saw more than one million passengers travel through the airport underlining that the positive development of passenger traffic correlates with holiday travel. What’s more, the passenger volumes to tourist destinations surpassed the level of 2019 by 6% with flights to Spain and Turkey seeing particularly high demand.
Cargo volumes also stabilised at a high level despite the war in Ukraine and rising inflation. In total almost 0ne million tonnes of cargo were handled at Cologne Bonn in 2022.
For 2023 the airport is anticipating passenger figures will exceed 9 million, while cargo volumes will remain level with the last two years.
