Aviation boomed last year in Germany, with 9.3 per cent more passengers taking off and landing from German airports, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said Wednesday. At 135.8 million, the tally was a new record. The travel industry has said strong bookings reflect the rise of cut-price airlines. Notable in the figures for last year was a surge of nearly 20 per cent in passenger numbers to and from Africa, while traffic to Asia rose 21 per cent. Domestic air travel in Germany stagnated at 21.1 million, which was less than a quarter of the 87.5 million movements to European destinations. Many Germans prefer to travel within the country by rail or car.
