Press release
A good result and a new passenger record - Hamburg Airport closes financial year 2015 with profit
07.04.2016
Press release Hamburg Airport
Hamburg Airport finished the 2015 financial year positively. The airport achieved a good result amounting to 46.0 million euros. The figure for 2014 was 40.2 million euros. Turnover for the year was 288.1 million euros (2014: 271.3 million euros). A total of 15.61 million passengers used Hamburg Airport in 2015 (2014: 14.76 million passengers). This represents 5.8 percent growth and a new passenger record for the airport.
“For Hamburg Airport, 2015 was an eventful year with gratifying
commercial success. The airport’s entire workforce has achieved a great
deal, and I am proud of the team spirit and commitment of our employees.
Together, we have achieved a new passenger record and a strong result,
at the same time further enhancing the service for our passengers with
innovative ideas,” says Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of Hamburg Airport.
“We have also seen how important the airport is for the economic
development of Hamburg. This will not change in 2016, as we offer a
continually growing selection of airlines with various price and comfort
models. We expect growth of around two percent for the current year.”
The airport’s investment volume in 2015 amounted to 50.7 million euros (-2.1 percent). The largest investment projects were the construction of the replacement Air Cargo Center and preparatory work for the comprehensive renewal of Apron 1. These investments result in a 7.4 percent increase in the balance sheet total to 500.8 million euros (2014: 466.2 million euros).
2015: Number of take-offs and landings rising less than passenger volume
More passengers flew from Hamburg in 2015 than ever before: A total of
15.610.054 million passengers used Hamburg Airport, around 850,000 more
than in 2014 – a growth rate of 5.8 percent. On average, around 42,800
passengers passed through Hamburg Airport every day in 2015. “The
deployment of larger, more modern, and more efficient aircraft from
Hamburg Airport, combined with ever improving load factors, means that
passenger numbers and aircraft movements are not directly proportional.
Because the number of passengers per flight continues to rise, the
number of aircraft movements per year is growing more slowly than the
number of passengers,” explains Michael Eggenschwiler. Compared to the
previous year, the number of passenger movements in 2015 rose by only
2.9 percent; in November it actually sunk by four percent, and in
December it grew by just one percent. The number of take-offs and
landings in 2015, 158,390, was lower than the number recorded in the
year 2000. Back then, though, only around ten million passengers used
Hamburg Airport.
Flown air freight rose by 7.4 percent to around 31,292 tonnes, whilst
air freight shipped by road declined by 13.7 percent to 21,365 tonnes.
The reasons behind this strong flown air freight result are the positive
development of the Hamburg-Dubai route operated by Emirates, and the
deployment of larger aircraft (B767-300) with more cargo capacity on the
Hamburg-New York Newark route operated by United Airlines. Lufthansa
Cargo’s road freight will return to Hamburg Airport when the new Hamburg
Airport Cargo Center opens in the second quarter of 2016.
Route network: Eleven new destinations from Hamburg Airport
A total of eleven new destinations are being served from Hamburg in the
2016 summer timetable. French airline ASL Airlines France is launching
three new routes to Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux. There are also more
services from Hamburg to eastern Europe. Both Blue Air and Tarom are
flying to the Romanian capital, Bucharest, whilst Wizz Air is flying to
Gdansk, Kiev and Skopje. Meanwhile, Air Serbia is launching operations
to the Serbian capital, Belgrade. There is also plenty of good news for
sun lovers: Eurowings has a new route to Cagliari, capital of Sardinia,
and Germania is opening a service from Hamburg to Alanya, flying to the
new, nearby airport of Gazipa?a. Both Germania and SunExpress are flying
to the Turkish resort of Bodrum.
In addition to the new destinations, new airlines are adding services to
seven successful existing routes. easyJet is expanding its network of
routes from Hamburg by adding a service to Zurich. And in the summer
timetable, easyJet is also adding two new summer holiday destinations:
Pula in Istria County on Croatia’s Adriatic coast, and Olbia on the
Italian island of Sardinia. Eurowings, too, is extending its European
network with new services to Pisa and to the holiday island of Ibiza.
The Irish carrier Ryanair is also extending its route network from
Hamburg with a new service to Palma de Mallorca. SunExpress is adding a
service from Hamburg to Varna on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
Furthermore, the Belgian carrier VLM began flights to Friedrichshafen in
February 2016. Due to insolvency, Intersky had cancelled its flights on
this route at the end of 2015. VLM is suspending its flight between
Hamburg and Rotterdam. British Airways is taking over the service
between Hamburg Airport and London City Airport from its Danish
franchise partner, Sun-Air, increasing both the frequency of flights and
the seating capacity per flight.
Outlook for 2016: Stable demand and consolidation of growth
Michael Eggenschwiler points out that Hamburg Airport will be growing in
2016, too. The CEO expects an increase in passenger numbers of two
percent for this year. “We expect stable demand, which will effectively
consolidate the strong growth that we have seen in recent years. Hamburg
Airport continues to be an important factor in setting the pace for
northern Germany’s economy and a significant employer for Hamburg and
the metropolitan region. Our environmental commitment means that, at the
same time, we are also investing in sustainable development.”