Allgäu Airport Memmingen: Germany's fastest airport boom!

Allgäu Airport Memmingen: Germany's fastest airport boom!

At a time when the aviation world is slowly but surely getting back on track after the corona pandemic, Allgäu Airport in Memmingen particularly stands out. The airport is currently one of the fastest growing in Germany. Current reports from Allgäu newspaper show that the airport boasts impressive growth of 256 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. There are currently around 1.1 million seats available in the winter flight schedule from October 2023 to March 2026. This means a lot of anticipation for travelers and promising development for the region.

Impressive forecasts show that passenger numbers are expected to reach 3.5 to 3.6 million by the end of 2025. This means that Memmingen Airport could be among the ten largest airports in Germany in 2024 with 3.2 million passengers, according to information from Augsburger Allgemeine.

Growth instead of stagnation

The growth of smaller airports like Memmingen is no coincidence. Airports such as Karlsruhe Baden/Baden with 184 percent and Niederrhein/Weeze with 169 percent are also leaders among the growth disciples. In contrast, the large hubs such as Frankfurt and Munich are struggling with 88 and 84 percent of their pre-Corona levels. The reason? Cost efficiency and the expanded capacity of European airlines, which are increasingly concentrating on these small airports.

The airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air are the main players in this upswing and have significantly expanded their offerings at Allgäu Airport, which has also increased the number of bookable destinations to 55. This also includes numerous capitals in Eastern Europe, which makes the airport particularly attractive. Managing director Ralf Schmid has big plans: He sees the possibility that Memmingen will become Bavaria's second largest airport in about five years, just behind Nuremberg.

Infrastructure under scrutiny

In order to accommodate this growth, several planned structural measures are in progress. These include, among other things, the construction of a new parking garage for 1,800 vehicles and the optimization of the terminal, for which building permits have already been obtained. The airport plans to hire 10 to 15 new employees per month, which will further boost operations. The current number of employees is 350.

While the number of passengers increases, the challenge of queues cannot be ignored. The increase in passengers could undermine the once charming feature of short waiting times. Schmid is therefore calling for faster processing at border controls, supported by accelerated passport control thanks to the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

Overall, the picture that emerges here is promising. Memmingen could soon become an important hub not only for travelers in the region, but also for workers from Eastern Europe, as shown by increasing use by private aircraft and charter businesses. With a solid strategy, Allgäu Airport has great opportunities to take on an even more central role in the German aviation market. It remains exciting to see how the situation will develop beyond 2024, especially with special attention to the planning that is essential for a future-proof airport infrastructure. The balance sheet for 2023 is also still expected, as an annual surplus of 2.2 million euros was achieved in 2022.

Aviation in Germany is on the road to improvement, but still Federal Statistical Office reported, Germany still had around 105.3 million departing passengers in 2024, which represents a decrease of 15 percent compared to 2019. However, a look at Memmingen shows that there is another way and that there is actually still room for improvement in the area of ​​air traffic.