Greece remains in the category of “winner” destinations in the German travel market and in the summer of 2026, as confirmed by the findings of a new study by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), according to which our country, along with Italy and Turkey, attract the largest share of air traffic from Germany.
According to the latest data from DLR, in July 2026, approximately 74,100 takeoffs are expected from German airports, marking a 1.6% increase compared to July 2025, but this number is still 16.8% below the pre-pandemic levels of July 2019. A contributing factor to this growth remains the weakening of domestic air travel, which is at half of pre-pandemic levels.
While total air transportation remains below 2019 levels, the tourism sector shows significant growth, with holiday flights up 9.4% compared to 2019, with the busiest destinations being Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Greece.
The most important international destination remains Palma Airport in Majorca, with almost 3,550 scheduled departures in July 2026 from 23 German airports, confirming the consistently high demand in the German travel market for the Balearic Islands destination.
What’s happening at the major German hubs
Recovery varies at major German airports, with Frankfurt Airport expected to reach about 95% of its pre-pandemic 2019 levels during the peak tourist season. Munich Airport is up, but still 13% below 2019 levels, while smaller airports like Memmingen (+3.5%) and Weeze Niederrhein (+11.1%) significantly exceeded 2019 volumes.
The overview of air carriers
Based on the share of takeoffs in total German air traffic, Lufthansa remains the strongest carrier in the summer of 2026, followed by Eurowings, Ryanair, Condor, and SunExpress. While Lufthansa, with 23.5%, and Eurowings, with 31.8%, remain significantly below their 2019 shares, some airlines operating in holiday flights are showing significant growth: SunExpress exceeds the pre-pandemic level by about 62% and Air Dolomiti by about 59%. Wizz Air and its subsidiary Wizz Air Malta account for almost 60%.
Low domestic traffic
Domestic air traffic in Germany is expected to decrease slightly in the summer of 2026, reaching about half the volume of 2019. Of the 75 domestic routes, 56 are served exclusively by Lufthansa Group airlines (Lufthansa, Eurowings, and Lufthansa City Airlines), which hold a 92% market share in this sector.
