Approximately 38 million passengers – a gain of more than 3 million over the previous year – used Bavaria's international aviation hub in 2011.

With this 9 percent increase in passenger traffic, Munich was Germany's fastest-growing airport last year. Since it opened in 1992, the airport's annual passenger numbers have more than tripled.

Munich Airport also achieved a substantial increase in total take-offs and landings. The number of aircraft movements rose by 20,000, or 5 percent, to 410,000, and was thus only 5 percent short of the record results of 2007 and 2008. "Without the steadily worsening bottlenecks in our runway system, we would have achieved even stronger gains," explained Dr Michael Kerkloh, the president and CEO of Munich Airport. Kerkloh added, "During the peak periods we have no more available slots for take-offs and landings, so that many connections requested by airlines cannot be implemented."

Demand for transportation services in the cargo sector at Munich Airport also showed a strong increase yet again in 2011. The total freight turnover of 286,000 tons represents a new record. Combined with airmail, the volume of flown airfreight topped 300,000 tons for the first time ever. This was a 6 percent gain over the 2010 figure.

The airlines operating in Munich responded to the surge in demand for passenger and freight services by increasing their service frequencies and – when their fleet mix allowed it – using larger aircraft. The market put the substantial rise in the number of available seats to good use. As a result, the average load factor of the aircraft matched the record level of 74 percent set in the previous year despite the higher supply.

The European traffic segment at Munich Airport showed particularly strong gains: The wide range of European destinations offered from Munich attracted 22.2 million passengers, or 11 percent more than in 2010. The 5.7 million passengers flying on intercontinental routes represented a nearly 7 percent jump over the previous year's total. Traffic on flights within Germany, at approximately 10 million passengers, was up by nearly 5 percent.

"Now the priority is to take decisive action to ensure that Munich Airport's success story will continue," said Michael Kerkloh. "With the new satellite terminal and the planned third runway, we are laying the groundwork for our airport to handle the projected future traffic growth. This is essential for Munich Airport's ability to continue meeting the rising mobility requirements of the population and ideally performing its important role as an engine for economic growth and employment."