Germany’s two largest hubs are forecasting their busiest holiday season since 2019, reflecting the post-pandemic rebound in leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic. Fraport expects 3.6 million passengers at Frankfurt between 19 December 2025 and 11 January 2026, with the peak day falling today at roughly 178,000 travellers. Munich anticipates almost two million passengers over a slightly shorter window, projecting 122,000 passengers on 19 December alone.
Operationally, both airports are deploying extra staff at security checkpoints and reopening seasonal gates to spread traffic. Nevertheless, officials advise passengers to arrive at least two hours ahead for intra-Schengen flights and three hours for long-haul services, particularly as the fledgling EES biometric checks may add to processing times for non-EU nationals.
![Frankfurt and Munich airports brace for record Christmas rush; travellers urged to plan extra time]()
Demand is being fuelled by southern-sun destinations: Italy tops Munich’s departure board with 570 scheduled take-offs, while Spain follows closely with 565. At Frankfurt, additional frequencies to the Gulf and North America are absorbing capacity freed earlier in the year by short-haul cutbacks.
The surge will test Germany’s multimodal network. Deutsche Bahn reports long-distance bookings up six percent year-on-year and has reduced construction works to free up track capacity. Business travellers whose trips straddle the holiday period may need to factor in scarce seat inventory, particularly on Friday and Sunday evenings.
For mobility teams, the key takeaway is to encourage flexible travel dates, pre-booked rail seat reservations and digital parking passes to minimise day-of-travel friction. Duty-of-care programmes should also push real-time notifications so that employees can reroute quickly if weather or congestion disrupt schedules.
Operationally, both airports are deploying extra staff at security checkpoints and reopening seasonal gates to spread traffic. Nevertheless, officials advise passengers to arrive at least two hours ahead for intra-Schengen flights and three hours for long-haul services, particularly as the fledgling EES biometric checks may add to processing times for non-EU nationals.
Demand is being fuelled by southern-sun destinations: Italy tops Munich’s departure board with 570 scheduled take-offs, while Spain follows closely with 565. At Frankfurt, additional frequencies to the Gulf and North America are absorbing capacity freed earlier in the year by short-haul cutbacks.
The surge will test Germany’s multimodal network. Deutsche Bahn reports long-distance bookings up six percent year-on-year and has reduced construction works to free up track capacity. Business travellers whose trips straddle the holiday period may need to factor in scarce seat inventory, particularly on Friday and Sunday evenings.
For mobility teams, the key takeaway is to encourage flexible travel dates, pre-booked rail seat reservations and digital parking passes to minimise day-of-travel friction. Duty-of-care programmes should also push real-time notifications so that employees can reroute quickly if weather or congestion disrupt schedules.
Source: dpa / Welt / airliners.de
