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In the first three months of 2018, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed
more than 14.4 million passengers – an increase of 10.0 percent
compared to the same period of the previous year. This strong growth
was mainly attributable to the early timing of the Easter holidays
and a significant expansion of flight offerings from airlines. Cargo
throughput (airfreight + airmail) rose by 0.7 percent to 539,610
metric tons in the first quarter of 2018. Aircraft movements climbed
by 8.3 percent to a total of 113,213 takeoffs and landings.
Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) expanded by 6.1 percent
to nearly 7.1 million metric tons.
In March 2018, Frankfurt Airport served more than 5.5 million
passengers, representing strong growth of 13.2 percent year-on-year.
Spurred by the Easter holidays, European traffic – including to
tourist destinations such as Italy, Spain or Portugal – served as the
main growth driver. Cargo volumes slightly contracted by 1.7 percent
to 201,965 metric tons in the reporting month, due to the early
timing of Easter and the impact of the Chinese New Year falling late
this year. Aircraft movements were up 8.6 percent to 41,204 takeoffs
and landings, while MTOWs advanced by 6.4 percent to just under 2.6
million metric tons.
Across the Group, airports in Fraport’s international portfolio
showed largely positive performance in the first quarter of 2018.
Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in the capital of Slovenia welcomed 329,212
passengers in the first three months of the year, an increase of 14.2
percent. Fraport’s two Brazilian airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and
Porto Alegre (POA) achieved combined growth of 5.8 percent to some
3.6 million passengers. The 14 Greek regional airports saw traffic
slightly decrease by 2.1 percent to a combined total of some 1.8
million passengers. The primary contributing factor here was reduced
flight operations at the high-traffic Thessaloniki Airport (SKG),
required for runway construction works. As a result, SKG’s passenger
traffic dropped by 7.0 percent during the reporting period. In the
meantime, the SKG runway project has been completed. Traffic at Lima
Airport (LIM) in Peru advanced by 10.6 percent to about 5.3 million
passengers. On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Twin Star airports
of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) served 216,218 passengers overall, up
71.6 percent. Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey has continued its
growth path, with traffic soaring by 21.4 percent to about 2.6
million passengers. In northern Germany, Hanover Airport (HAJ) grew
by 8.5 percent to just over 1 million passengers. Pulkovo Airport
(LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, saw traffic improve by 9.6 percent
to about 3.2 million passengers in the first quarter of 2018. Xi’an
Airport (XIY) in China welcomed nearly 10.5 million passengers, an
increase of 6.3 percent.