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Leipzig / Dresden (dpa / sn) - Corona lockdown and travel restrictions have caused a drastic drop in passenger numbers at the two Saxon airports in Leipzig / Halle and Dresden last year.
As Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG announced on Friday, a total of around 918,341 passengers were registered in 2020, a good 78 percent fewer than in the previous year.
On the other hand, cargo throughput at Leipzig / Halle Airport increased significantly: in 2020 it rose by 11.7 percent to just under 1.4 million tons.
In December alone, air freight increased by 35 percent.
"For 2021 we expect further freight growth and a gradual recovery in passenger numbers as soon as the travel restrictions abate," said managing director Götz Ahmelmann.
He expects that the transport of medical goods and protective equipment will also play an important role this year.
Vaccines could also be handled in Leipzig / Halle.
Thanks to a special certification, sensitive pharmaceutical products can also be handled at the airport.
So far, millions of masks, protective gloves and corona rapid tests have already been flown in via Leipzig / Halle and distributed across Europe, it said.
A total of around 60 freight airlines head for Leipzig / Halle Airport and serve a route network with more than 280 destinations worldwide.