Kunst meets Thomas Schnalke
“I believe that climate-neutral aviation is possible”
How does an international airport deal with a global pandemic and the restrictions it imposes? Why is this place a key hub for all forms of transport? What role does climate neutrality play? And how can an airport become digitally transformed even further? VIVID publisher Rainer Kunst discussed this and much more with Thomas Schnalke, CEO of the international airport in Düsseldorf.
At your New Year’s reception in 2020, after the record year of 2019, you predicted that this trend cannot continue forever – without knowing that a few weeks later the pandemic would paralyse global air traffic for a long time. How did you deal with this crisis and how did it affect you economically?
Our first thought was: it might take a few months and then things will pick up again, just like with other disasters and crises before. For example, the Air Berlin crisis, which we mastered. Or the financial crisis, when things went down a little bit and then recovered. But what has been going on last year and this year is simply extraordinary for the entire industry. We are experiencing a massive slump that will not be repairable anytime soon. After the summer just gone, however, I feel a bit more optimistic. People want to travel again, want to go on holiday, want to visit relatives and friends. Here everything is ready for this - once the coronavirus rules become more established. In the summer holidays of this year we have already had 50 percent of the passenger volume we had in the record year of 2019. We assume that in 2025 we will again reach the traffic level of 2019.
What does this mean for your personnel?
Of course, we used short-time work as an essential tool to reduce costs. Unfortunately that was not enough and we had to adjust workforce numbers. At the beginning of 2020 we still had around 2,000 employees at Düsseldorf Airport, now we are well below 2,000. We achieved this primarily with socially acceptable offers such as early retirement, semi-retirement and severance payments. So now we have the finishing line in our sights.
Let’s look further ahead. Until 2019 you have been growing steadily. What are the success factors of Düsseldorf Airport?
Clearly: the location. We have a very good infrastructure in the middle of this huge metropolitan area with around 18 million people within a radius of 100 kilometres. With our own train station we are perfectly connected to the train network and we can also easily be reached by car and public transport. I am convinced we are in a perfect place to meet the future.
Climate change is the most important issue of our times. Against this background, how can air traffic be possible in the future?
This is a topic that affects the entire industry and all its participants – the airlines as well as the airports and all the relevant service providers. I believe that climate-neutral aviation is possible. But that it can only be achieved gradually. The first step is synthetic kerosene. With regards to that there are currently discussions about awarded quantities and blending quotas. In the short-haul sector the subject of electric aircrafts, the so called air-taxies, will also play a part. I’m not quite sure yet how significant its role will be, we will certainly have to wait and see how things develop. But I think it will be of some importance. Big technological leaps towards new aircrafts will certainly take a little more time. At the moment the aircrafts that are coming onto the market are equipped with combustion engines running on synthetic kerosene, however, they cannot run on electricity. And these planes will be in service for at least 30 years, we mustn’t forget that. We also have to take into account people’s longing for travel and flying. We have put climate neutrality – also motivated by the industry – at the top of our agenda.
Düsseldorf Airport itself also wants to become climate neutral – CO2 emissions are to be reduced to zero by 2015 and even to net zero by 2050. How are you going to achieve that?
For example, by focusing on renewable energies. We will have to increase photovoltaic use and get a lot more heat pumps. We are buying in green power, but in the future we will aim towards generating more power ourselves. The many vehicles on our premises are gradually being turned into electric powered ones. And a compensation project is currently being planned – to reforest a nearby area in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The expansion of the airport’s capacity has been on the agenda for several years. Recently, however, there was some political resistance when it was claimed that for now the expansion cannot be justified due the coronavirus-related economic downturn. What do you think about that?
The expansion lies within the scope of planning laws and this is about a decision that is effective in the long-term. We applied to use our existing infrastructure in a more flexible and improved way, and only during the daytime peak hours. Even now, with around 50 percent of the pre-crisis passenger volume, we are already very busy during these peak times, for example during the early morning hours. We are talking about a long-term goal to be achieved over the next few decades, and for this we have to create the necessary planning certainty. Sometimes I wish that politicians incorporated this aspect in more detail in their discussions and would not just switch to short-term party politics or campaigning.
You touched on this earlier: Düsseldorf Airport is already a transport hub. In the future, how will you include people who travel by train, car or public transport even more?
We have our own train station, which offers plenty of capacity. In this respect we are destined to welcome people who choose to come by train. We are, of course, already doing this. However, people reaching us by train will certainly become more important, just as our inbound commuters: Düsseldorf is one of the largest commuter cities and I believe that as a transport hub we can also serve commuters - who can park their cars here and continue their journey using public transport. This connection, which already exists for the most part, will have to become more integrated in the future. Digitalisation offers a lot of opportunities to achieve this.
How are you driving digitalisation forward?
For example, when it comes to booking our services, such as the VIP service, the lounges or parking. The aim is to make these services even more convenient and comprehensive with the help of digitalisation. For example, in the future I will be able to book a parking space and at the same time get an indication of how much the coffee in the restaurant costs. Making prices more flexible is also an issue - for example, time- or demand-dependent parking. And then we want to use digital tools to link different forms of mobility and reinforce our role as a mobility hub. A lot of exciting things are going to happen in the next few years.
The airport also lives from trade and income from rentals, marketing and events. There have definitely been some changes due to Covid. How will you position yourselves in this sector in the future?
In the retail business, we have exactly the same underlying conditions as downtown, namely the digitalisation of trade. Retail, gastronomy and also events on our premises will merge much more in the future, which will also play a big role for the advertising industry. This will be a combination of small promotional events on site and digital offers. Catering has grown a lot at the airport anyway and that is bound to be the case in the post-Covid period as well. The catering on board the aircraft has declined considerably in recent years and we have filled this gap at the airports. That has worked out well.
So, the airport seems to be a good place for brand presentation.
The airport is basically a huge marketplace, with up to 90,000 people from all over the world per day in normal times. And therefore, it is indeed a very good presentation opportunity for brands.
Why is Düsseldorf a great city?
Düsseldorf is extremely diverse and cosmopolitan on the one hand, but still down-to-earth and a bit homely on the other.
What is your personal goal for the next three years?
The most important thing is to set up the airport in such a way that it is fit for the future, with regards to the topics and focal points that we have just discussed. Everything must work out, of course this won’t come together by magic, it has to be properly organised and has to lead to tangible projects. And I would like to manage all of this successfully.
About Thomas Schnalke
since 04/2019 Chairman of the Executive Board Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH
07/2016-03/2019 Spokesman of the Executive Board Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH
11/2001-06/2016 Managing Director Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH
1999-2001 Commercial Manager at HOCHTIEF Airport GmbH
1987-1991 Haniel Group (including commercial manager at ELG Haniel)
Thomas Schnalke graduated in business administration (with diploma) from the University of Applied Sciences of North-East Lower Saxony in Lüneburg. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the German Air Transport Association (BDL).
Born in Lüneburg in 1962, he lives in Düsseldorf with his wife and 11-year-old son.
Interview Tom Corrinth
Pictures Frank Beer