Editing Transport in Germany (section)

==Air transport==
Short distances and the extensive network of motorways and railways make airplanes uncompetitive for travel within Germany. Only about 1% of all distance travelled was by plane in 2002.<ref name="transtatsde"/> But due to a decline in prices with the introduction of low-fares airlines, domestic air travel is becoming more attractive. In 2013 Germany had the fifth largest passenger air market in the world with 105,016,346 passengers.<ref>World Bank Datebase, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.AIR.PSGR</ref> However, the advent of new faster rail lines often leads to cuts in service by the airlines or even total abandonment of routes like Frankfurt-Cologne, Berlin-Hannover or Berlin-Hamburg.

=== Airlines ===
:''see: [[List of airlines of Germany]]''
[[File:Lufthansa B737-300 D-ABEK @ Düsseldorf International Airport.jpg|thumb|[[Lufthansa]] and [[Air Berlin]] aircraft]]
Germany's largest airline is [[Lufthansa]], which was privatised in the 1990s. Lufthansa also operates two regional subsidiaries under the [[Lufthansa Regional]] brand and a low-cost subsidiary, [[Eurowings]], which operates independently. Lufthansa flies a dense network of domestic, European and intercontinental routes. Germany's second-largest airline was [[Air Berlin]], which also operated a network of domestic and European destinations with a focus on leisure routes as well as some long-haul services. Air Berlin declared bankruptcy in 2017 with the last flight under its own name in October of that year.

Charter and leisure carriers include [[Condor Flugdienst|Condor]], [[TUIfly]], [[MHS Aviation (Germany)|MHS Aviation]] and [[Sundair]]. Major German cargo operators are [[Lufthansa Cargo]], [[European Air Transport Leipzig]] (which is a subsidiary of [[DHL]]) and [[AeroLogic]] (which is jointly owned by DHL and Lufthansa Cargo).

===Airports===
:''see: [[List of airports in Germany]]''
[[File:Flughäfen in Deutschland.png|thumb|Airports of Germany]]
[[Frankfurt Airport]] is Germany's largest airport, a major transportation hub in Europe and the [[List of busiest airports by passenger traffic|world's twelfth busiest airport]]. It is one of the airports with the largest number of international destinations served worldwide. Depending on whether total passengers, flights or cargo traffic are used as a measure, it ranks first, second or third in Europe alongside [[London Heathrow Airport]] and [[Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport]]. Germany's second biggest international airport is [[Munich Airport]], followed by [[Berlin Brandenburg Airport]] and [[Düsseldorf Airport]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Airports with the most passengers in Germany 2022 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1187493/airports-leading-passenger-numbers-germany/ |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref>

There are several more scheduled passenger airports throughout Germany, mainly serving European metropolitan and leisure destinations. Intercontinental long-haul routes are operated to and from the airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, [[Cologne Bonn Airport|Cologne/Bonn]], [[Hamburg Airport|Hamburg]] and [[Stuttgart Airport|Stuttgart]].

'''Airports — with paved runways:'''
* total: 318
** over 3,047 m: 14
** 2,438 to 3,047 m: 49
** 1,524 to 2,437 m: 60
** 914 to 1,523 m: 70
** under 914 m: 125 (2013 est.)

'''Airports — with unpaved runways:'''
* total: 221
**over 3,047 m: 0
**2,438 to 3,047 m: 0
**1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
**914 to 1,523 m: 35
**under 914 m: 185 (2013 est.)

'''Heliports:''' 23 (2013 est.)