On 14 July, the final of the European Football Championship UEFA EURO 2024 was held in Berlin. The day after saw a new record in the skies over Germany. DFS, the German air navigation service provider, recorded 9,979 flight movements under instrument flight rules (IFR) in German airspace on Monday, 15 July, when many fans and guests departed. So far, this has been the busiest day of 2024. At Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) and during the entire course of EURO 2024, DFS logged more flights than last year.
Record high at BER
Monday, 15 July – the day after the final in Berlin's Olympastadium – was also a record day for BER with 754 flight movements under instrument flight rules (IFR). This corresponds to an increase of 18 percent over the busiest day at BER last year (634 flight movements on 20 October 2023) and is also an all-time high since BER’s opening in October 2020.
More flights than in the same period last year
Overall, there were more flights in German airspace during the entire course of EURO 2024 than in the same period in 2023. Teams, fans, state guests and other passengers from multiple countries travelled to Germany and back home again or crossed German airspace. On the basis of first evaluations, there were 289,513 flight movements between 14 June to 14 July 2024 compared to 278,589 over the same period in 2023.
DFS ensured punctual, flexible and reliable flight operations during UEFA EURO 2024 together with its partners. These include airports, the airport coordinator, airlines, state governments, the German Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), the German Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services (BAF), the police, other parties involved and, of course, UEFA EURO 2024 GmbH. The solid working relationship led to an excellent and smooth handling of air traffic in Germany.
EURO 2024 sees new traffic record for DFS
