AIDA Cruises inks long-term agreement with Hamburg

With 124 calls in 2023, AIDA is the Port of Hamburg's largest cruise customer and an important economic contributor to the metropolitan region.

AIDA has been a regular presence at the port for more than 20 years and drew hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city with five ship inaugurals. In addition, the line has been a sponsoring partner of major maritime events, such as the Hamburg Harbour Birthday and Hamburg Cruise Days, for about a decade.

Shore power pioneer

In addition, AIDA and the city laid the foundation for sustainable development in Hamburg seven years ago, when Europe’s first shore power plant went into operation at Cruise Center Altona. In 2016, a barge began delivering LNG-supplied electricity.

'We were the first cruise line to start using shore power in Europe,' AIDA President Felix Eichhorn said. 'Since 2017 until today, AIDAsol has been regularly purchasing shore power year after year during her calls at Altona. As a long-standing partner of the Port of Hamburg, we are happy to support the Hamburg Port Authority with our experience and expertise in both the shore- and ship-side integration tests and for the opening of the new facility at the Steinwerder cruise terminal.'

At the long-term agreement signing, Senator for Economic Affairs Melanie Leonhard said the cruise industry 'makes an important contribution to adding value and employment in and around our port. Hamburg is one of the most popular cruise destinations in Europe and a pioneer in sustainability issues such as the expansion of shore power. Together with AIDA Cruises, we want to further develop our partnership and thus, also, Hamburg as a cruise location in a sustainable manner.'

1m cruisers in 2023?

Hamburg Port Authority CEO Jens Meier credited AIDA for its significant role in pushing cruise numbers to an expected 1m this year. He said the port and the line will continue to work together on sustainability.

The long-term agreement was signed just days before Seatrade Europe is scheduled to take place in Hamburg, Sept. 6-8, at Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH.