Germany Travel and Commerce - Case Study Example

? Case Study: Germany Travel and Commerce Lecturer: Some of the most important airports in Germany include Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, Berlin Schonefeld Airport, Stuttgart and Hamburg that serve international flights. However, Frankfurt remains the country’s most significant hub and one of the major Hubs within Europe for most international flights. Hence, the essay evaluates international travels handled by the various international airports in German and their influence in the country’s commerce. Introduction Major airports in major German urban centers are long term investments with externalities and imperfect information. The positive effects of these investments include better connectivity and additional production as well as income distributed in the wider region of the airports. German aviation market is dynamic and is dominated by European giant, Lufthansa, and is host to subsidiaries, in addition German’s aviation market features Europe’s third biggest low-cost carrier, Air Berlin, which has been pursuing acquisition strategy. After low cost carriers came into the scene eight years ago in the domestic German market, they currently account for a good share of the domestic market and growth was steady until the global recession of 2007/08; nevertheless, there was reasonable growth in 2009. Internationally, low cost carriers’ growth was slow in early years of the last decade; however, in 2003 low cost carriers services grew rapidly until 2008. Today’s airports have become more than just pure transportation hubs because they are both service and communication centers and places of urban experiences on the cities perimeter. German has various major urban centers that host main airports in the country and the urban centers include Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart. The main business aviation airports include Schoenefeld Airport in Berlin, Dusseldorf Airport in Dusseldorf, Stuttgart Airport in Stuttgart, Hamburg Airport in Hamburg, Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt and Munich Airport in Munich. Dusseldorf Airport offers various major airlines to fly into it, which include Turkish Airlines, KLM flights and Emirates flights. The biggest airlines that use Frankfurt airport includeCondor, Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa flights. In Munich, the largest airlines flying into the city’s airport include Turkish Airlines, KLM flights and Qatar Airways flights. The various largest airlines flying to Berlin’s airports include KLM flights, British Airways and Turkish Airlines flights; however, other airlines like Brussels Airlines fly into Berlin. Largest airlines flying into Hamburg’s airport include Turkish Airlines, KLM flights and British Airways. The largest airlines flying to Stuttgart’s airport include Turkish Airlines, KLM flights and British Airways (Skyscanner, 2012). British Airways is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG) and shareholders who have limited liability. Turkish Airlines is Turkey’s national airline which was set up in 1933 by the country’s ministry of defense and privatized in 1990; however, the nation’s government retains 49% of stake in the airline. KLM a Royal Dutch airline was founded in 1919 making it the oldest airline in the world, however, in 1980s airlines began working closely with other airlines to increase destinations for its passengers; hence the company’s partnership in 1989 with US’s main carrier Northwest Airlines. In 2004, the company took a huge step to mergewith Air France and although the two companies work closely, KLM fliesunder its familiar name. The government of Dubai transferred ownership of emirates airline to state-owned Investment Corporation in Dubai (ICD);however, the company still remains wholly owned by the government through the ICD. Qatar Airways remains 100% government-owned; however, privatization of the company has been boomingfor years; nevertheless, the company was founded in 1993 as a private company but it was restructured in late 1990s, which brought the company under government ownership (Fay, Gleich & Wald, 2010). German air traffic law differentiates airports and airfields by subdividing them intopublic and special airports or airfields. Differentiation between public and special airports bases on two principles with the first one being that public airports are accessible to everyone, while special airports are accessible to limited user groups like corporations or military. Secondly, public airports because of the high volume of travel require unique safety measures within airport restriction zones (Fay, Gleich & Wald, 2010).The airports listed above are public and their functions includeboth commercial and cargo activities. For years, Frankfurt Airport has been considered one of the planet’s 10 biggest airports both in terms of passenger and cargo volumes. Air freight at the airport is expanding with freight and logistics corporations increasingly using Frankfurt airport (Fraport, 2012; CAPA, 2010). Exporters intending to conduct export transactions are free carryout although the government does not offer specific incentives apart from assistance offered to German businesses or branches of foreign businesses that operate in German and involve in exporting. Germany maintains various free ports within ports, which are not part of the nation’s customs territory, which enables goods to be shipped to such ports, processed, handled and reshipped without incurring costs.Moreover, German recognizes “bonded warehouse” where imported goods can be stored up to 5 years without incurring any cost or liability for duty (Burkard, n.d). German provides attractive investment climate since foreign firms are treated in the same manner as national firms and foreigners are free to invest any amount of capital in the country. German economy is heavily export-oriented since exports accounts for more than athird of the nation’s output and the country’s export-oriented economy always performs well. Germany being the largest consumer market within the EU, its significance goes beyond its borders since a huge volume of worldwide trade is carried out in Germany.For many US companies, German remainspromising in various sectors and iscrucial to all-inclusive export strategy within Europe. Therefore, Germany’s unique location in the European Union and its robust infrastructure offer many multinationals a reason to set up businesses in the countryand export products to other parts of EU from German’s airports. Hence, international travel to and from Germany is robust, since it propels the country’s export-oriented economy, which remains one of the biggest in EU. In conclusion, Germany’s robust airport infrastructure promotes the growth of the country’s economy by supporting exportation and importation of goods. German has several airports in various urban centers like Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf. These cities are home to international airports that facilitate international travel that allowscommercial flights and transport of both imports and exports. Frankfurt being the largest airport in Germany, it remains one of the main airports for Lufthansa, one of the largest airlines in the region and responsible for transportation of cargo to other parts of the world. References Fay, C., Gleich, R., & Wald, A. (2010). Introduction to aviation management. Berlin [u.a.: LIT. Burkard H. P. (n.d). International Business Practices in Germany. Burkard International Law Office. Retrieved from http://www.burkardlaw.com/doingbusinessingermany/ Fraport. (2012). 2012 Facts and figures on Frankfurt Airport. Retrieved from http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en/misc/container/facts-and-figures-2011/jcr:content.file/zadafa-2012_e_lowres.pdf Skyscanner. (2012). Airlines that fly to Stuttgart (Germany). Retrieved from http://www.skyscanner.net/flights-to/str/airlines-that-fly-to-stuttgart-airport.html Centre for Aviation. CAPA (2010). Germany: A dynamic market in which consolidation activity features strongly Retrieved from http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/germany-18890 Read More