Germany: Munich airport eyes higher-yield international passengers

Munich airport is not planning to follow the example of Frankfurt by launching special discounts to attract low-cost carriers, but wants to instead focus on higher-yield international traffic, the hub's CE said Friday. Munich airport is Germany's second-largest and expects to increase passengers numbers 4% to 44m this year, Michael Kerkloh said. "We want to focus on our role as a major hub in Europe, that brings new profit opportunities," Kerkloh said. Frankfurt airport is seeking to make up for falling passenger numbers by attracting low-cost carriers, but big incentives it is offering for new routes to lure Ryanair have irked its main customer, Lufthansa. Kerkloh said Munich airport, which gets 55% of its traffic from Lufthansa, was not planning any new discounts to attract budget carriers. "We have normal incentives to help support new routes. We want competition between airlines but it must be fair," he said. He said the federal state of Bavaria's strong economy meant locals had more money to spend on travel, while Munich could serve as a gateway to Germany and Europe for passengers coming from Asia. Still, the number of low-cost routes operated from Munich is set to rise as budget flying becomes more prevalent in Germany and Europe. Lufthansa's budget unit Eurowings is starting flights from Munich and said earlier this week that bookings there had been above expectations. "The proportion of low-cost carriers will rise. It's currently at about 4 to 5%, while it's at 20% for similar airports like Amsterdam," Munich Airport's Kerkloh said.<br/>