The number of passengers using Saarbrücken Airport was around 365,000 in 2019, 8,100 higher than the previous year. This increase in passenger numbers by around 2.3% is due to growing demand for tourist flights, which at 240,000 were up around 32,000 or 15.6% on 2018.
Airport CEO Thomas Schuck is very pleased with this development, even though the airport was closed for three weeks in March to allow installation of the EMAS system. In Schuck’s words: ‘This means that we can be optimistic about2020, especially as tourist offerings have gained a further destination in Hurghada on the Red Sea, and DAT’s Berlin connection is continuing to be operated smoothly and reliably.’
One key factor in the increase in tourist destinations was growing demand for the Mediterranean hotspots of the Turkish Riviera, Greek islands and Majorca. Last summer’s daily Antalya connection increased by around 16,000 passengers, or 40%. There was also a strong rise in demand for the Greek island of Kos, served twice a week by TUIfly in 2019. The number of passengers travelling to Kos more than doubled, at 14,200. The Majorca connection also saw increased demand: 115,600 passengers opted to travel to the Balearic island, an increase of 9,600 or 9.1% on 2018. Demand for Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands remained high at around 9,000 passengers, representing an increase of 9.8%.
Majorca is therefore still the most popular tourist destination visited from SCN, followed by Antalya at just under 55,500, and the two Greek islands of Crete at 15,100 and Kos at 14,200 passengers respectively.
A fall by around 20,000 in scheduled flight passengers is primarily due to the suspension of flybmi flights, which served Munich, and the closure of the airport in March 2019.
