Traffic figures for 2025: Once again around 14.8 million passengers at Hamburg Airport

Passenger numbers remain at previous year’s level despite challenging market environment / Recovery rate at around 86 percent compared with 2019 / Hamburg with top rating for international connectivity / Processes further improved and accelerated

 02.01.2026

Despite a continued challenging market environment, Hamburg Airport has maintained the previous year’s level in terms of passenger numbers: Around 14.8 million passengers used Hamburg Airport in 2025, around 77 percent of them travelling for private purposes. The recovery rate compared with the pre-Covid year 2019 is therefore around 86 percent – the top figure among major German airports excluding the hub airports Munich and Frankfurt. In terms of connectivity – the integration of an airport into the national and international air transport network – Hamburg improved further from an already high level. For the coming year, the airport expects a slight increase in passenger numbers.

 “2025 was not an easy year for aviation in Germany. The conditions for domestic air traffic in particular were a challenge,” says Christian Kunsch, Chief Executive Officer at Hamburg Airport. “All the more pleasing that, under these difficult conditions, we were able to maintain the strong result from the previous year and welcome around 14.8 million passengers at Hamburg Airport.” The recovery rate compared with the pre-Covid year 2019 remains at 86 percent. Hamburg Airport therefore continues to hold the top position among German airports with 10 to 25 million passengers.

Berit Schmitz, Managing Director at Hamburg Airport, says: “The majority of travellers to and from Hamburg fly for private reasons. Passengers between 25 and 34 years of age make up the largest age group. The share of business travellers recovered slightly for the first time last year, rising from 21 to 23 percent, but still remains well below 2019 levels.”

High load factors on Hamburg flights remain

Hamburg Airport recorded the busiest day of the year at the start of the autumn school holidays. On Sunday, 19 October, around 59,000 passengers travelled via Hamburg Airport to and from Hamburg, setting the annual record. At peak times, more than 3,000 passengers per hour passed through the terminals. As in the previous year, a total of around 127,000 aircraft took off and landed in Hamburg in 2025. The average load factor on flights was over 80 percent and thus higher than before Covid

Around 90 percent of passengers clear security in under 10 minutes

“The high load factor means that we handle more passengers and therefore more baggage per aircraft. We are very pleased that we have once again been able to improve the high reliability of our processes both for departures and arrivals,” says Berit Schmitz. Stable processes have helped reduce waiting times at the security checkpoint: Around 90 percent of travellers spend less than 10 minutes at security, and around 98 percent need less than 20 minutes. Baggage delivery has also been accelerated: On average, the first bag is on the belt after 15.7 minutes, the last after 28.2 minutes. With the introduction of the free Bag & Go service in April 2025, passengers have been able to check directly after landing when their baggage will be available on the carousel.

Top connectivity: 21st place among Europe’s airports

Over the course of the year, around 55 airlines operated approximately 120 direct destinations from Hamburg Airport. Twenty of these destinations are hub airports, from which passengers can reach more than 1,000 destinations worldwide with just one transfer. With this level of connectivity, Hamburg Airport achieves excellent results both in Germany (4th place) and in Europe (21st place out of 476 airports) in the ACI Europe connectivity ranking, which evaluates the connectivity of European airports. Connectivity indicates how well an airport is integrated into the national and international air traffic network and therefore how wide the choice of routes is for passengers.

Outlook 2026: Continued broad offering and slightly rising demand

Talks with the airlines are currently in progress and the flight schedules for summer 2026 are being prepared. “We expect to once again offer travellers from Hamburg an attractive route network and a high quality of stay at the airport in the coming year. In terms of passenger development, we are forecasting a slight increase again in 2026,” says Christian Kunsch. Hamburg Airport continues to invest in comfort and services for its passengers. The HAM Upgrade programme will be continued in 2026 – including the modernisation of further restroom facilities, lifts, escalators and waiting areas.

First new destinations from Hamburg already confirmed for 2026

The first exciting new destinations from Hamburg have already been confirmed for the coming year. Royal Jordanian is a brand new addition, connecting northern Germany with Amman (Jordan) twice a week from 28 March. If sun and beaches are on your wish list, the following new direct destinations are just right for you: Bodrum in Turkey (with Ajet from 27 June), Marrakesh in Morocco (with easyJet from 1 May) and Kalamata in Greece (with Condor, from 1 May). TAP Portugal is significantly increasing its capacity to Lisbon.

There will also be more flights to Scandinavia: Norwegian will launch new direct connections to Stockholm in May, as well as significantly more flights to Oslo. A few weeks earlier, at the end of April, SAS will begin flying to Oslo, providing travellers heading north with additional options. From the end of March, airBaltic will launch a twice-weekly connection from Hamburg to Tallinn, directly linking all three Baltic capitals.