The Future of Air Travel in Munich

Of course, I’m not referring to the picture. That’s a picture of a Junkers JU 52, a transport aircraft manufactured in the 30s and 40s for both civilian and military service. The Ju 52 continued in use in air fleets into the 80s, but this one has been stationary for some time just outside the Munich airport at the 'Besucherpark.' But change is happening quickly at the Franz Joseph Strauss Airport, the second busiest airport in Germany. Because of the economic crisis, the airport has seen about a 10% drop in passenger traffic since last year, causing several lesser known airlines to pull out of Munich – such as Hungarian Malev and Clickair, a low cost Spanish airline. Also Air Berlin charter line is deleting many of their intercontinental flights to Bangkok, Cape Town, Maimi, Fort Myers, Mauritius and Cuba. At the same time other airlines like Turkish, Emirates, United, and Air Dolomiti have switched to larger plans on their routes. Strongest of them all, has been Lufthansa, which has really defied the downward trend by adding a third daily flight to New York and an additional weekly flight to Tel Aviv. And taking a long-term view, planning is still moving forward on building a third runway in Munich, although organizers face at least a two year wait (and a lot of angry protests from environmentalists) before breaking any ground. For me (I fly in/out of Munich once per week), I think Munich’s airport is one of the best in Europe with easy in/out, amazing efficiency, and good access to the city.