In summer 2025, holidaymakers from Saarbrücken will once again have interesting destinations to choose from. A total of ten destinations promise the right vacation spot for every taste. All trips can already be booked.

The two airlines SkyUp Airlines Malta and Aegean Airlines will operate the most important vacation flights to and from Saarbrücken from next summer.

Aegean Airlines is the largest airline in Greece and a Star Alliance member. In future, Aegean will serve the Saarbrücken-Rhodes route on a weekly basis. SkyUp Airlines, a Malta-based airline with a modern fleet, will fly to Djerba, Fuerteventura, Heraklion, Kos, Las Palmas and Mallorca from next summer. In addition to the client TUI, other tour operators will be able to book available contingents on the flights of the two airlines.

Sven Winterstein, Head of Flight Planning TUI Germany: "German guests love their regional departure airports and Saarlanders in particular are loyal travelers from Ensheim. The destinations are also popular and sought-after, first and foremost Spain and Greece - we have also purchased the largest range of hotels there and, together with the flights, there are plenty of vacation options that are even available at early booking conditions these days."

Airport Managing Director Thomas Schuck: "The fact that TUI, one of Europe's largest tour operators, is maintaining such an extensive range of services speaks for the desire of people in our region to travel and the airport's efficiency. By commissioning Aegean and SkyUp Malta, TUI has also gone the extra mile to make an attractive offer possible."

The summer flight offer from Saarbrücken includes the most popular vacation destinations for travelers in our region. With the islands of Kos and Djerba, two popular destinations are now included in the permanent offer. Departures to Antalya and Crete will be increased. Spanish and Turkish destinations remain the frontrunners. In short: there is something for every interest and every budget for families and couples, for active vacationers and those seeking relaxation.

The summer flight schedule is valid from March 30 to October 25, 2025 and includes the flights and package tours that are currently known and can be booked immediately. The flights can already be booked as part of the package tours offered by tour operator TUI and will soon also be available as individual flights. In the new "SCN Travel Special" category, Saarbrücken Airport is bundling special package and flight offers for its guests on its website. Special trips to Finland, Norway, Montenegro and Rimini are currently listed for 2025. Further information can be found at: www.scn-airport.de.

Saarbrücken Airport is launching "Event Wing" today (November 1), a service for marketing and booking conference rooms, indoor and outdoor areas and airport tours. The aim is to position the airport as an attractive experience and event location in addition to its role as an infrastructure service provider for airlines.

From seminars and conferences to company celebrations and after-work parties to major events with over a thousand guests and airport tours with a look behind the scenes - with the online platform "Event Wing" (www.eventwing.saarland), Saarbrücken Airport is bundling all event formats that are possible on the site in addition to flight operations for the first time.

Airport Managing Director Thomas Schuck: "The airport offers a unique atmosphere in Saarland. It is therefore only logical that we make full use of the potential offered by the location in addition to regular flight operations. In other words, we are actively marketing our conference rooms and event areas and gradually expanding the popular airport tours. Our airport should become a marker on the event map - for private leisure activities as well as for business customers. To this end, we will continue to develop the Event Wing offer. We look forward to receiving inquiries."

At www.eventwing.saarland, interested parties can find all offers at a glance, including information on bookable areas and rooms. Bookings for the popular airport tours have also been significantly simplified and can now be made online. For individual event formats, the platform offers contact with an experienced team that creates tailor-made offers.

The airport tours in particular were a challenge in the development of Event Wing, as it was necessary to reconcile an interesting offer with the safety requirements and the smooth running of flight operations. In the meantime, experienced tour guides have also been trained as guides for visitor groups.

Practical tests for the performance of the various areas at the airport include the Saar Music Festival concert (18.5.) in the airport hangar with approx. 1,500 guests, the Airport Wies'n organized by Grunder on the festival meadow and various workshops held by companies on the terminal premises.

www.eventwing.saarland

Photo: Dirk Guldner

Next year, there will be unique offers from Saarbrücken Airport with special trips to Finland, Norway and Montenegro. The flight offer for summer 2025 to the Greek island of Rhodes has also already been confirmed.

Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) is now bundling exceptional package and flight offers for its guests on its website in the new "SCN Travel Special" category. Three special trips are currently listed for 2025, which can already be booked with tour operators and travel agencies:

• Lapland - Winter magic in Finland

From January 22 to 27, tour operator Vianova will be taking you on an unforgettable winter vacation from Saarbrücken amidst the snow-covered winter forests of Lapland.

• Tromsø, Norway - Goosebump moments north of the Arctic Circle

Also in January (23.1. - 28.1.), Vianova offers a trip to the dancing northern lights and the spectacular winter landscape of northern Norway.

• Montenegro - Scenic jewel on the Adriatic Sea

DERTOUR is heading to Montenegro in April (14 - 21.4.). A country that is (still) considered an insider tip in the travel industry with its great diversity of culture and nature.

Further information on the special trips and bookings under "SCN Travel Special" at: www.flughafen-saarbrücken.de

The popular Greek island of Rhodes is already firmly on the program for the 2025 summer flight schedule.

On behalf of TUI Deutschland GmbH, the airline Aegean Airlines will operate the route between Rhodes and Saarbrücken every Sunday from June to October. With currently 64 aircraft, Aegean Airlines is the largest Greek airline and a member of the 'Star Alliance'. This is yet another airline to start operations at SCN.

Rhodes (Aegean Airlines) is now the third summer vacation destination that can be booked from SCN, alongside Mallorca (Eurowings) and Antalya (SunExpress).

From January 22 - 27, 2025, the SCN Travel Special and tour operator vianova will take you to Finnish Lapland.

The north of Finland is a true winter paradise and casts a spell over nature lovers, snow bunnies and romantics alike. There you can watch the play of colors of the northern lights by a crackling open fire, enjoy the glittering winter landscape on snowshoes or explore the vastness of untouched nature on a sporty dog sled ride.

Book your all-round carefree package now and experience unforgettable moments in a winter paradise.

From April 25 until the end of May, the German Armed Forces will deploy its personnel to Eastern Europe via Saarbrücken Airport, in addition to other civilian and military airports, as part of the NATO exercise Quadriga 2024.

The soldiers will travel through the airport terminal during regular opening hours. No restrictions on regular flight operations or for passengers are to be expected.

The Bundeswehr and NATO demonstrate their defense readiness and cold start capability in the first half of 2024 Around 90,000 soldiers - 12,000 of them from the Bundeswehr - are deployed in the large-scale NATO maneuver Steadfast Defender 2024. The German contribution of four partial exercises is known as Quadriga 2024.

From Saarbrücken, the soldiers are deployed to Hungary and Romania to carry out multinational defense exercises with NATO partners.

Due to high demand, the airline SunExpress is extending the frequency of its summer service from Saarbrücken to Antalya until November 18. The additional flights can already be booked. 

Demand for the Turkish destination Antalya offered by SunExpress remains high for the fall and winter season. The airline is therefore extending the current number of weekly flights to Antalya (7 departures/week) beyond the summer flight schedule until November 18.

"Turkey is now one of the most popular destinations from Saarbrücken. The extension of the service by SunExpress shows that the route is both attractive and economical. The result is an improved offer for our passengers and higher capacity utilization at the airport," says Thomas Schuck, Managing Director of Saarbrücken Airport.

"Antalya is not only a wonderful destination in summer, but also in winter. Especially when gray autumn and winter days prevail in Germany, we invite you to the Turkish Riviera with our flight offer. With its mild climate, multifaceted history and first-class golf courses, sports enthusiasts, culture vultures and nature lovers will get their money's worth here at any time of year," says Peter Glade, Commercial Director at SunExpress.

Flight supply and demand to vacation destinations from Saarbrücken are usually significantly higher in the spring and summer months than in the fall and winter. The destination Antalya - supplemented by the destination Izmir during the Christmas vacations - was served continuously from Saarbrücken for the first time in the winter flight schedule 2023/'24, so that a solid demand was established and both destinations will also be offered by SunExpress in the coming winter flight schedule.

On February 1, two state-of-the-art airfield fire-fighting vehicles went into service at Saarbrücken Airport. The vehicles represent a long-term investment in the safety of passengers and flight operations as a whole and are also more economical than their predecessors while offering greater performance.

The two new "Advancer FLF 60/100" fire engines were officially put into service with a performance presentation by Airport Managing Director Thomas Schuck. They will replace the two "Panther" vehicles with immediate effect.

"With the new vehicles, we are working at the highest level of safety for passengers and airlines in the long term. The models are state of the art and, with their modern equipment, not only meet current but also future requirements. They are also more economical than the previous vehicles. Nevertheless, I hope that the new vehicles will not have to be used more often than their predecessors," said Tomas Schuck.

The "Advancers" from the manufacturer Albert Ziegler GmbH, an internationally active specialist company for emergency and operations management, have a 10,000 liter water tank, a 1,100 liter foam agent tank, a 450 kg powder extinguishing system and a new type of 120 kg CO2 extinguishing system. With a so-called roof turret and a front turret, extinguishing agents can be used in parallel and independently of each other. Thermal imaging cameras and laser-supported extinguishing agent alignment ensure maximum efficiency. The extensive automation allows the crew to concentrate fully on fighting the fire.

The new vehicles are therefore more powerful and, with a weight of 30 tons on a standard chassis, also significantly lighter than their almost 20-year-old predecessors. In addition, they have regular road approval and the supply of spare parts is guaranteed for the entire service life. A total of 1.15 million euros was invested in the two "Advancers", including fire department equipment and special equipment. An investment that will pay for itself in the medium term thanks to its cost-effectiveness.

The "Panthers" are sold. One is to be used in a stone factory in Saarland in the future.

At today's annual press conference, the management presented the plans for the coming years and last year's results. It became clear that the development since the coronavirus slump has been continuously positive and the airport is in a solid economic position for the coming years.

The management of Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), Rita Gindorf-Wagner and Thomas Schuck, drew a positive balance for 2023 at the annual press conference in the airport terminal and made it clear that SCN is economically well positioned for the coming years.

The general conditions remain extremely difficult for the entire aviation industry and the travel sector. The disruptive effects of the coronavirus crisis have not yet been overcome. And with consumer reluctance to spend in the wake of economic uncertainty, inflation and crises around the world, as well as ever-increasing safety requirements and general cost increases, the industry is facing additional challenges. Saarbrücken International Airport is no exception.

Nevertheless, the airport recorded growth in all key figures last year:

• Since the coronavirus slump, passenger numbers have risen steadily, reaching over 309,000 passengers, an increase of 3.5% on the previous year.

• Almost 29,000 passengers used the scheduled connections, which corresponds to an increase of 12.8%.

• Tourist air traffic will remain the most important pillar in the future, with 280,000 passengers, an increase of 2.5% compared to the same period last year.

• The number of scheduled and tourist flight movements now stands at 2,973, an increase of 3.5 %.

The airport's development is therefore in line with the national trend. This also applies to traffic development with increasing European and decreasing domestic German frequencies. In terms of the so-called recovery rate, i.e. the ratio of the last pre-corona year to the current year, SCN's passenger figures of almost 85% are even slightly above the German average of just under 80%.

The number of passengers is expected to grow to over 345,000 in 2024.

"The airport must be structurally positioned for the coming years so that it can fulfill its role as part of the transport infrastructure and link Saarland to economic and tourist centers in Germany and abroad in the long term. In this way, it will make its contribution to growth and employment in Saarland as a business, science and tourism location. A solid economic basis with a balanced operating result and forward-looking investments in the potential of the location are crucial for this," explains Managing Director Thomas Schuck.

Managing Directors Gindorf-Wagner and Schuck explained in detail what measures the airport would take to achieve a balanced operating result by the end of the European Union's notification period in 2027. The airport will only receive state aid for the amounts necessary to offset operating losses. The security costs for the fire department, passenger and baggage control, federal police, etc. - just under EUR 1.6 million in 2023 - will not be taken into account. This is because these are sovereign activities that the SCN performs for the state and are compensated as part of a cost reimbursement.

Measures planned or, in some cases, already initiated in the process of securing the economic future affect infrastructure, passengers, employees and commercial partners in equal measure:

• Numerous investments in security (e.g. concrete elements as critical points, increased video surveillance), technology (e.g. completely refurbished runway strips and approach pylons, modern lighting) and energy management (e.g. expansion of local heating network, acquisition of PV systems on southern area) ensure that the airport is appropriately positioned for future developments.

• A new, service-oriented website with an app offers booking options for flights, travel, hotels and rental cars and assistance with current questions.

• The SCN is to be developed into an event venue, and conference rooms and event spaces are to be booked by interested parties. The spectrum ranges from workshops and after-work parties to cultural events and guided tours. The first measures are set to begin this year.

• Cooperation with existing partners such as the German Armed Forces (207 flight movements in 2023) or local maintenance and repair companies.

• The focus will also be on the further expansion of the airport as an attractive employer. 

"The airport's workforce is currently undergoing a generational change due to its age structure. A shortage of skilled workers, demographic change, competition from other large companies in the region and - due to its role in the security chain - specific technical requirements are making the search for suitable personnel equally difficult. In order to retain employees and attract new ones, we offer a wide range of benefits, from attractive pay, flexible working time models and further training measures to numerous benefits as part of our company health management program. We want to remain one of the top employers in the region in the future," emphasizes Managing Director Gindorf-Wagner.