Meet The Team: Münster/Osnabrück Airport

Our Routes 360 Meet the Team feature brings the people and personalities within an airport’s aviation development to the forefront. This week we speak to Münster/Osnabrück Airport.

Tell us a bit about the team

We are Detlef Döbberthin and Mathias Richter, the two aviation marketing managers at Münster/Osnabrück Airport (FMO). The airport is located in the north-west of Germany close to the Dutch border. FMO is one of the few airports in Germany that is open 24/7 without slot restrictions. As a team we are responsible for attracting new airlines and new routes as well as securing additional capacity from existing carriers. Detlef looks after the leisure and VFR carriers, while Mathias takes care about network and low-cost carriers.

What recent achievements are you most proud of?

2024 was a successful year for FMO. We have attracted several new airlines such as Condor, Pegasus Airlines, Sundair and Mavi Gök Airlines, which have strengthened our leisure schedule. Existing airlines such as SunExpress have increased capacity on existing routes and Ryanair has started a new route to Alicante. With 1.29 million passengers in 2024, FMO was the fast-growing airport in Germany. This figure did not come from a low base as FMO was already one of the few airports in Germany which have recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023. This makes FMO one of the best recovered airports in Germany.

What challenges do you see in the future of route planning and how do you plan to address them?

For a smaller airport like FMO, getting on the radar of airlines is an important challenge. We are constantly trying to raise the awareness that FMO has some really interesting USPs and to provide the airlines with up-to-date data.

How do you approach market analysis when identifying potential new routes at your airport?

On hand, we have a number of routes that have been served in the past but are not currently served. Here it is all about verifying if the historical demand is still accurate. On the other hand, we use various data sources, such as online search data, to identify travel trends and potential new routes.

Click here to see FMO's unserved and underserved Route Opportunities.

How do you stay updated with industry trends and changes within the market?

As an airport, we attend various industry events to keep in touch with industry partners. We also follow a number of market and news platforms. Both help us to monitor and analyse trends and see if they apply to FMO.

Routes 360 is a powerful digital platform designed for the aviation community, allowing them to identify new route opportunities, build brand presence, and access the most up-to-date industry information, supporting route development strategies. Find out more.