Second year of Corona hits Hamburg Airport hard again / But: strong cost discipline is paying off / Strongly increasing traffic figures expected for Easter and summer: Passengers should bring more time.
28.03.2022
The 2021 financial year was again negatively impacted by the corona pandemic: Hamburg Airport is in the red for the second time in a row. For 2021, the deficit is 94 million euros. The airport’s revenue increased by EUR 9.3 million (7.8 percent) compared to the previous year due to a slight increase in passenger numbers and strict cost discipline. In addition, an important milestone in climate protection was reached at the end of 2021: Hamburg Airport is the first major commercial airport in Germany to operate in a CO2-neutral manner. A significant increase in passenger numbers at Easter and in summer is expected for 2022. Passengers should allow more time for departure.
“Due to the ongoing corona pandemic, the recovery in air traffic fell well short of expectations. 2021 was another difficult financial year,” says Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO at Hamburg Airport. “But we are dealing responsibly with the unprecedented crisis: we have reduced our expenses to a minimum and increased effectiveness. To achieve this, all employees at Hamburg Airport pull together.”
Increased turnover and lower investments
Hamburg Airport closed the 2021 financial year with a loss of 94 million euros. The year was characterized by strong cost discipline and a successful cost reduction program. With success: With an increase in turnover of 9.3 million euros (7.8 percent compared to 2020), Hamburg Airport improved its result by around 20 million euros compared to the previous year – adjusted for federal and state subsidies. Without this funding of around 48 million euros, the loss for 2020 would have been around 113 million. Hamburg Airport received the funding for keeping the infrastructure open.
The aim is to get Hamburg Airport back into the profit zone as quickly as possible. For the current year 2022, the airport is forecasting a loss of 41 million euros. Hamburg Airport aims to be in the black by 2023, and the airport plans to be in the black again from 2024.
Hamburg Airport further reduced investments in 2021 to a total of 18.6 million euros and limited them to urgently needed measures. For comparison: In the previous year, investments amounted to 52.7 million euros, in 2019 it was 115.9 million euros. Numerous projects were already stopped or reduced in 2020. Nevertheless, necessary measures and important infrastructure projects took place in 2021: The planning for HAM BAG, the project to modernize the baggage sorting, was pushed ahead. In addition, Hamburg Airport has invested in its power infrastructure, in modernizing its combined heat and power plant and in refurbishing the terminal roofs.
Fluctuating traffic figures, but air freight almost at pre-crisis level
The recovery in air traffic in 2021 was significantly weaker than originally expected. The year started with a lockdown. Traffic figures at Hamburg Airport increased gradually over the summer, but stagnated at 40 to 50 percent of the pre-corona level. The autumn holidays were a popular travel time: In October, Hamburg Airport counted over 950,000 passengers – that is almost 60 percent compared to 2019 and the highest monthly figure since the outbreak of the pandemic. However, with increasing incidences, the traffic figures at Hamburg Airport declined again towards the end of the year. In total, around 5.3 million people flew to and from Hamburg in 2021.
While passenger numbers went through ups and downs, air freight almost reached the pre-crisis level: Despite fewer passenger planes, a total of 21,800 tons of air freight were handled in 2021. That is only 20 percent less than in 2019.
Milestone reached: CO2-neutral airport operations since the end of 2021
“Despite the crisis, Hamburg Airport is pursuing its climate protection goals with the highest priority,” explains Michael Eggenschwiler. “Hamburg Airport has been CO2-neutral since the end of 2021, making it the first major commercial airport in Germany. We thus meet the strict requirements of the European airport association Airports Council International Europe (ACI) for the certificate of CO2 neutrality.” The building blocks for CO2-neutral airport operations are: less energy consumption, innovative technologies, vehicles with alternative drive systems, nature conservation projects and high-quality compensation certificates. The long-term goal is now to completely avoid CO2 emissions. More information on the airport website: climate protection target co2 neutrality – Hamburg Airport (hamburg-airport.de)
Outlook 2022: Rising passenger numbers expected from Easter
In the first quarter of 2022, Hamburg Airport will have around 1.5 million passengers (projection). That is 55 percent fewer passengers than in the pre-corona year 2019. From Easter, Hamburg Airport expects traffic numbers to gradually increase. The current passenger forecast for the full year is around 11 million passengers.
“We look to the coming months with confidence because the long dry spell seems to be over. People’s longing for vacation is overwhelming,” says Michael Eggenschwiler. “And we have a large selection to offer in summer: 50 airlines are expected to fly directly to 115 destinations. It is very pleasing that the frequencies to the most popular destinations in Spain are at the pre-crisis level. Even more flight tickets are being offered to Turkey and Greece than in 2019.” With Bilbao, Milan-Linate and Ordu, travelers can look forward to three completely new destinations from Hamburg. Five other connections, which are returning to the Hamburg route network after a long break, ensure even more variety: Paphos, Tel Aviv, Verona, Gothenburg and Vilnius.
Summer travel wave brings challenges / Passengers should plan more time
Hamburg Airport and its partners at the site are already preparing for a sharp rise in passenger numbers in the summer. “The start of vacation will be the same as on the autobahn: everyone wants to travel at the same time,” says Michael Eggenschwiler. “This will lead to strong utilization peaks that will be similar to 2019 or even higher. We are already observing full terminals for three to four hours, which are then almost empty again for hours. This is a big challenge, especially in terms of human resource planning.”
In addition, all actors in air transport are increasingly looking for personnel. The situation in air traffic is similar to that in gastronomy: in more than two years of short-time work, skilled workers have migrated to other sectors. All make great efforts to recruit the necessary staff.
In order to be able to start their journey in a relaxed manner, Hamburg Airport recommends its passengers to be at the airport at least 2 hours before departure during the peak travel season and ideally to use the digital services such as online check-in and the baggage machines.
Annual Report 2021 as download:
Annual Report 2021
(3,2 MB)
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