MUC Airport now bigger...

once the second terminal opened, I was expecting to see a flood of new airlines and routes out of MUC...

but so far gexx and duo seem are the only two i've heard of and every time i go through the airport it seems to be running seriously under capacity...

did the existing airlines make some cushty deal with the airport to stop a flood of competitors coming in? or am i just being naive?

Yeah, we've noticed that too. The place does seem to be a bit deserted in general. I'm sure they know what they're doing though. Actually I'm not, but that second terminal was bloody expensive so I sincerely hope they know what they're doing.

Was terminal 2 constructed using taxpayers' money?

Hi
Lufthansa paid a lot of money for the second terminal which has become their second hub after Frankfurt am Main. It is exclusively for the use of Star Alliance airlines so nothing else will run out of Terminal Two. LH has a loyal business clientele madly collecting their Miles and More miles and that's why the shops in Terminal Two are more upmarket (Hermes, Ferrangamo, Bulgari...).
The airline industry as a whole is currently in recession (as are most industries at the moment) due to the economic climate and the post-9/11 lull.
Lufthansa (well, LH Passage at least) is still pulling in good solid revenues though, particularly for Business Class passengers centred on 4 routes MUC>LHR, MUC>JFK, MUC>AMS and the Emirates flight to Dubai. Those are the main earners out of Munich and the LH Business Club Lounges are always full. Such passengers do not want to sit next to hordes of students and kids, heavy travel is stressful enough, so a separate terminal makes sense to business customers and is a major selling point for Munich which also has a large catchment area. It is also not a cheap airport to fly out of for carriers so that is why Ryanair flies out of Salzburg and Easyjet is still here as it accquired the route at good conditions following its' takeover of Go.
Yes, I used to work for LH.
Katrina

when you say it isn't a cheap airport to fly out of, surely it got a lot cheaper when lufthansa moved EVERYTHING to T2?

MUC does have a massive catchment area... and is a city with a huge amount of non-nationals living here... surely that market must be attractive to other non-business class operators???

seems to me like there is some other force at work here...

I much prefer Terminal 2 to the older Term1 - I flew out of there yesterday ( currently in Milan) and will be arriving back this evening. The new shops in Terminal 2 are great - cos I live out that way it is also convenient for me to buy all my English books - and last Sunday ( yes Sunday !!! ) I popped out there to get my hair cut, by a very tasty young lady who spoke very good English!

I realize that for many of you it is a long way out - and not worth the effort - but for me it is convenient !

T2 was deserted last time I travelled through too. It was great. A very relaxing feel. Hey, if someone can afford to run the place empty, why not? If you have an hour or two to kill, take time to eat Sushi at the Mangostin restaurant there! Lovely.

Noddy it doesn't work like that. The airport authority doesn't say, oh sorry you are from terminal One, you have to use the runway with potholes and our staff will shut one eye when you take off and we'll give you a discount.
It isn't just the terminal fees (which an investor such as an airline who put money into building would get at a discount as deferred interest), there are also other factors such as turn-around.
An aircraft landing at Frankfurt Hahn can be unloaded, refueled and ready to board in around 15 minutes, it is more like 45 minutes in Munich and an hour in Frankfurt due to the size of the airport (big runways for larger planes, longer taxi times etc). When your plane is on the ground it isn't making money and if you have a small fleet where aircraft turnaround is a real cost factor (see Ryanair) then Munich is not economically viable.
The non-nationals don't fly home enough or when they do they fly business (and get their company to pay). Business class+ is the key market for LH and the like and Munich Airport fits that profile. Do not worry about T2, they are making more than enough cash...
Katrina

Ive flown to and from T2 3 times in the past 6 months with LH and each time it was deserted. Also it takes twice as long to taxi in to its parking space which is usually miles from the terminal. and it really annoys me cos whilst on the plane you pass the place the bus drops you off...but you have to sit on the plane, taxi around for another 10 mins, just to have a 10 min bus drive back to where you started from.

AND you have to go outside to get to the Sbahn, so you get cold and wet, and they have this stupid thick matting down now that is impossible to walk on in any sort of heel and makes pulling your food ladened baggage harder too. Ive about dislocated my shoulder everytime just getting to the s bahn!

Come back BMI baby! I wanna fly from T1 again!!!

silly question.why have bmi babby stopped flying to east mid?

unprofitable?

is it temp or permanent?

dunno, they stopped with no real explanation, it seemed at the beginning they stopped just over winter but I just checked the site and there is no info about them starting it again. So I guess from that it was because the route was too expensive...but their flights were always full...