The airport handled 39.7 million travellers, one million more than the previous year, and says the dynamic growth in traffic resulted above all from strong gains in the second half of 2014, when passenger volume was actually up 4% over the same period a year earlier.

The new record also represents something of a statistical milestone for Munich Airport, namely the 20th all-time high for total passengers posted in the airport’s 22-year history at its new location.

Dr. Michael Kerkloh, the CEO of FMG, the airport’s operating company, says: “With these results, Munich Airport continues to ensure the success of Bavaria and will continue to have a major impact on the Bavarian economy and tourism.”

The strong passenger figures also resulted once again in an increase in the average load factor in Munich, which rose to a new all-time high of 75.9%.

This means that, in 2014, more than three quarters of all seats offered at Munich Airport were booked, and a total of about 377,000 take-offs and landings took place in 2014: a decrease of 1.4% from the previous year.

The airfreight segment also reported new records, and the total volume of cargo increased by 8% to a record level of over 291,000 tonnes, and when airmail is included, the cargo volume handled in Munich actually exceeded 309,000 tonnes

Airport CEO Kerkloh sees the continuing strong traffic results at Bavaria’s gateway to the world as grounds for optimism: “In 2015 we will not only vault over the 40 million barrier for total passengers, but will also record more take-offs and landings.

“That means that our Munich hub will continue growing, even if that growth is limited due to capacity constraints in our runway system.”

Again in 2014, Munich Airport felt the effects of the transition of various airlines to larger aircraft: The average departure weight of the planes increased to 82.5 tonnes.

The number of seats offered on flights to and from Munich rose by about 2% to over 52.3 million, and the increase in passenger numbers in Munich in 2014 resulted entirely from gains in international traffic.