A mega year for Münster/Osnabrück
Booming passenger numbers, a refurbished runway, and a visit from G7 leaders made 2022 a milestone year for Münster/Osnabrück Airport (FMO).
Stats show that 834,000 passengers travelled through the airport in northwest Germany last year – an increase of 130 per cent compared to 2021.
The airport’s post-pandemic recovery has been far more pronounced than German airport’s average and reached 84 percent.
Among the passengers travelling through the airport in 2022 were G7 foreign ministers, who met in Münster in November. From December passengers may have noticed that the landing was particularly smooth thanks to the refurbishment runway. It was redone last year, which coincidentally was the airport’s 50th anniversary.
The year ahead is also looking promising, with new airlines, new routes and increased frequencies announced.
TUI has confirmed that it will base an aircraft (operated by SmartLynx Airlines) at the airport, providing sun-starved locals with direct flights to Mallorca, the Greek Islands, and the Canary Islands.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa plans to increase frequencies to its Frankfurt and Munich hubs this year to pre-Covid levels, with up to eight daily departures. Ryanair is also expanding with its new service to Zadar in Croatia.
New to the airport is Air Cairo, which now serves the Egyptian city of Hurghada. FMO’s destination portfolio in North Africa is further strengthened by Nouvelair’s service to Monastir in Tunisia. The existing airline partner SunExpress will improve its schedule to Antalya by offering up to three daily departures right from the beginning of the summer season. GP Aviation will operate an additional weekly frequency (in total three) to Pristina for the entire season.
That’s not all. The airport is set to open a new lounge this year, improving food and retail facilities, and will introduce a self-service solution for check-in and bag drop-off.
As ever, the airport is also looking to bolster its destination portfolio. According to search data, the key unserved cities are Istanbul, London, Vienna, Barcelona, Paris. And the key unserved leisure destinations are Malaga, Faro, Madeira, Lanzarote, Alicante.
