Finance Minister: Costs for air traffic must fall

In the opinion of Saxony's Finance Minister Christian Piwarz (CDU), Germany needs a significant reduction in air traffic costs. Lufthansa's decision to significantly reduce domestic German air traffic once again is an alarm signal, he said during a questioning in the state parliament. While air traffic had already returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels internationally in some cases, it was still significantly lower in Germany. Yet it is also fundamentally important for Saxony as a business location and place to live.

Piwarz believes the German government has a duty to work towards ensuring that an airline like Lufthansa can once again fly profitably or at least cover its costs on domestic German routes. "In principle, there are three things that need to be discussed," he said, naming the air traffic tax, air safety fees and federal participation in German air traffic control. In the case of security fees, there is also the possibility of the federal states participating. They are open to talks. All of this was given to Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) during his visit to Dresden this week.