BERLIN/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The Whitsun vacations have driven demand for air travel to and from Germany. In May, 19.7 million passengers used German airports, according to the industry association ADV on Monday. This was 10 percent more than in the same month last year, but also 12.1 percent less than in May 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic, which led to a sharp drop in air traffic.

International traffic in May was almost back to pre-crisis levels. The 14.15 million passengers in European traffic represented almost 97 percent of the figure from five years ago. Intercontinental traffic amounted to 3.44 million passengers, a good 99% compared to May 2019, meaning that the significant reduction in domestic German air traffic was almost solely responsible for the decline in the overall figure. 2.1 million domestic German passengers corresponded to less than half (48.4%) of the figure from the pre-coronavirus spring of 2019.

German airports attribute the weak demand compared to the rest of Europe to the high state-influenced costs. The air traffic tax and aviation security costs, which were increased again in May, meant that many airlines were no longer willing to fly to and from Germany. These costs are particularly significant on short domestic flights within Germany. The ADV also complains about a lack of competition on domestic German routes, which are mainly served by the Lufthansa Group, while other providers have withdrawn./ceb/DP/jha