Despite the climate change debate, the number of air passengers in Germany has continued to rise. This is the result of a special evaluation of the air traffic data of the Federal Statistical Office, reported the "Rheinische Post". Accordingly, there has been a monthly increase in passenger numbers in German air traffic since August 2018 compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
In the twelve months from August 2018 to July 2019, about 125.1 million passengers were taken from Germany, according to the report. In the twelve months from August 2017 to July 2018 it was 119.4 million. According to the data, the increase was particularly strong in April 2019: around 10.7 million air passengers took off in Germany during the month. A year earlier, it was 9.8 million.
Greta's heritage - or not
The climate protests had started in August 2018: At the age of 15, Greta Thunberg in Stockholm had put up a protest sign in front of the Swedish parliament to demand more climate protection from politics (read here an interview with Greta Thunberg). From this developed the international climate movement Fridays for Future. In this context, with regard to the CO2 emissions during flying, the vocabulary "flying shame" also circulated.
As part of its climate protection program, the German government wants to make flying more expensive and train travel cheaper in return. The tax on airline tickets is to be increased - depending on the route by about three to 17 euros per ticket, as evidenced by a draft published last week by the Ministry of Finance.
