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Growing market with slowing momentum

  • Based on our own estimates, volume sold in motorized private transport has increased moderately:
    • This was driven by the higher, but still low, fuel prices and increased real disposable income:
    • The market share remained stable at 84.3%.
  • The volume sold in rail passenger transport grew noticeably:
    • Regional and long-distance transport benefited equally from the solid income and employment situation, rising fuel prices and the consolidation of the long-distance bus market.
    • DB’s volume sold rose sharply. DB Long-Distance made gains due to supply and quality improvements. DB Regional recorded growth due to strong demand for S-Bahn (metro) transport and tendering profits in Schleswig-Holstein.
    • Non-Group railways recorded increases in vol­ume sold, particularly in regional transport. In long-distance transport, Locomore made gains with a new Stuttgart – Berlin service. Following insolvency during the year, Leo Express took over the company and cooperated with FlixBus subsidiary FlixTrain for sales.
    • The market share of rail passenger transport rose to 8.5%.
  • The volume sold in public road transport stagnated.
    • Long-distance bus transport shrank for the first time since market liberalization, mainly as a result of supplier consolidation. Market leader FlixBus increased its offerings during the year and achieved a market share of over 90%.
    • Local bus services, in particular in conurbations, benefited from extended supply, a rising population and employment figures, and stable trainee numbers.
    • DB’s volume sold declined due to a fall in demand for rural bus services and lost tender procedures.
    • The market share of public road transport fell to 6.3%.
  • Volume sold in air transport increased slightly:
    • Demand in German domestic air transport was driven by an increase in real disposable incomes, intense competition due to the increasing presence of low-cost airlines at major airports and the expansion of the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings.
    • Restrictions resulted in particular from the insolvency of Air Berlin since fall 2017 and personnel and planning problems at Ryanair, with the temporary suspension of the Cologne – Berlin route. Lufthansa acquired large parts of Air Berlin and thus secured a dominant position in domestic air transport.
    • The air transport market share remained stable at 0.9%.