On 14 July, the final of the European Football Championship UEFA EURO 2024 was held in Berlin. The day after saw a new record in the skies over Germany. DFS, the German air navigation service provider, recorded 9,979 flight movements under instrument flight rules (IFR) in German airspace on Monday, 15 July, when many fans and guests departed. So far, this has been the busiest day of 2024. At Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) and during the entire course of EURO 2024, DFS logged more flights than last year.
Record high at BER
Monday, 15 July – the day after the final in Berlin's Olympastadium – was also a record day for BER with 754 flight movements under instrument flight rules (IFR). This corresponds to an increase of 18 percent over the busiest day at BER last year (634 flight movements on 20 October 2023) and is also an all-time high since BER’s opening in October 2020.
More flights than in the same period last year
Overall, there were more flights in German airspace during the entire course of EURO 2024 than in the same period in 2023. Teams, fans, state guests and other passengers from multiple countries travelled to Germany and back home again or crossed German airspace. On the basis of first evaluations, there were 289,513 flight movements between 14 June to 14 July 2024 compared to 278,589 over the same period in 2023.
DFS ensured punctual, flexible and reliable flight operations during UEFA EURO 2024 together with its partners. These include airports, the airport coordinator, airlines, state governments, the German Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), the German Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services (BAF), the police, other parties involved and, of course, UEFA EURO 2024 GmbH. The solid working relationship led to an excellent and smooth handling of air traffic in Germany.
Media contact:
Nanda Geelvink
Telephone: +49 (0)6103 / 707-4164
E-mail: presse@dfs.de
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EURO 2024 in air traffic figures (00:00:58)
DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), the German air navigation service provider, is a State-owned company under private law with 5,700 employees as at 31 December 2023. DFS ensures the safe and punctual flow of air traffic over Germany. Around 2,200 air traffic controllers guide more than three million flights through German airspace in peak years, up to 10,000 every day. The company operates control centres in Bremen, Karlsruhe, Langen and Munich as well as control towers at the 15 designated international airports in Germany. The subsidiary, DFS Aviation Services GmbH, markets and sells products and services related to air navigation services, and provides air traffic control at nine regional airports in Germany and at Edinburgh Airport in the United Kingdom. DFS is working on the integration of drones into air traffic and has set up a joint venture, Droniq GmbH, with Deutsche Telekom. Other subsidiaries include R. Eisenschmidt GmbH, which markets publications and products for general aviation, and Kaufbeuren ATM Training GmbH (KAT), which provides training for military air traffic services personnel. The joint venture FCS Flight Calibration Services GmbH offers flight inspection services.