Air traffic controllers monitored the movements of nearly 8% more aircraft in German airspace last year than in 2022.
German Air Navigation Services (DFS) observed around 2.8 million aircraft movements, the body told dpa on request. This corresponds to an increase of around 7.7% compared to 2022.
The last time there were more aircraft movements was in 2019, when around 3.3 million movements were monitored. The figures fell sharply with the coronavirus pandemic: around 1.5 million movements were monitored in 2020 and around 1.6 million in 2021.
DFS, headquartered in Langen near Frankfurt, is responsible for safety in German airspace. The federally owned company supervises all aircraft flying according to the so-called instrument flight rules at its control centres.
According to the spokeswoman, this is the case when pilots are guided solely by the instruments and not, for example, by motorway intersections that they can see from above.
On Wednesday, DFS celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Bremen control centre. Other DFS control centres in Germany are located in Langen, Karlsruhe and Munich.
The Bremen office has around 500 employees, including air traffic controllers, flight data processors and engineers. The controllers coordinate up to 1,800 aircraft a day. They have to ensure that the aircraft maintain sufficient distance, the spokeswoman said.