Even under difficult economic conditions, Munich Airport remains a reliable engine for growth and employment. The three biggest companies at the airport – the Lufthansa Group, the Munich Airport operating company and its subsidiaries (FMG), and the airport security company (SGM) – alone have increased their total workforce by 2,800 to more than 18,300 since the summer of 2006. At the FMG annual press conference on February 3, airport CEO Dr. Michael Kerkloh said, “This shows that the Munich Airport job-generating engine has continued to move full speed ahead during the past two and a half years.” During the past five years nearly 5,000 people have found new jobs with the three biggest companies at Munich Airport.
At present approximately 30,000 people are employed at the airport by more than 500 companies and public-sector bodies. This means that the total workforce has more than doubled since the airport opened in May 1992 at its location in the Erdinger Moos region. Moreover, the airport is the region’s biggest provider of vocational training opportunities, with more than 650 apprentices and trainees using tools and manning desks across the entire airport as they gain qualifications in the most diverse range of occupations imaginable.
The impact on employment extends far beyond the airport fence: Statistically, every job at the airport generates up to two additional jobs outside the airport with suppliers, maintenance companies and other airport-related businesses. Just as significant are the airport’s so-called catalytic effects as an infrastructure facility, in other words its impact on the region and the economy: According to a new study by the European Center for Aviation Development in Darmstadt (ECAD), for instance, the excellent flight connections were an important or very important factor for 88 percent of the international companies in the airport region when selecting their location. Consequently, the surveyed companies stated that they welcome the planned capacity expansion in the form of a third runway, which 82 percent of the respondents believe is linked to a boost in regional competitiveness and economic development. Another example from the ECAD study: The purchasing power of the foreign guests arriving by air secures 44,000 jobs in the Munich Region alone.
Especially in the difficult economic situation at present, Kerkloh sees the airport expansion as a key cornerstone for ensuring that the airport can remain a reliable partner in the employment market. “As the results of the study once again make very clear, the expansion of Munich Airport is not a matter of growth for growth’s sake. It benefits the entire economic area and the people who live and work here,” says Kerkloh.
