German airports boast record passenger numbers
Well over 100 million travelers departed from airports across Germany in 2016 - that's a new all-time record, according to the National Statistics Office. European destinations were most popular.
Passengers galore
German airports logged a record number of 111.9 million passengers last year. The figure marked a 3.4-percent increase from a year earlier, Germany's statistics office reported.
The further away the better?
Over 88 million people using German airports in 2016 traveled to foreign destinations. That's a 3.6-percent surge year on year. The remaining close to 24 million passengers booked domestic flights (+2.8 percent).
Canary Islands and the like
Destinations in Europe were most popular, the figures revealed. A record number of 13.7 million people flew to Spain last year, with Greece also posting an above-average increase in arrivals.
Tourists staying away
By contrast, the number of people using German airports and traveling to Turkey last year dropped by 16.6 percent. That's no big surprise, given the recent political upheavals and terror attacks in the country.
Long-haul flights: mixed picture
Overall, the number of long-haul passengers starting from Germany edged up by 0.5 percent in 2016, with a bigger demand for flights to Asia and the Americas. But fewer people decided to travel to Africa (Egypt down 33.1 percent, Tunisia down 27.9 percent).