Passenger traffic rises at Frankfurt Airport – Fraport’s Group

airports worldwide largely report positive performance

In the first three months of 2019, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served

almost 14.8 million passengers – an increase of 2.5 percent

year-on-year. Aircraft movements rose by 3.0 percent to 116,581

takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs)

climbed by 2.9 percent to some 7.3 million metric tons. Only cargo

throughput (airfreight + airmail) declined by 2.3 percent to a total

of 527,151 metric tons, reflecting the worldwide economic slowdown.

In March 2019, Frankfurt Airport recorded year-on-year traffic growth

of 1.4 percent to about 5.6 million passengers. This increase was

achieved despite the fact that, in March last year, traffic was

additionally boosted by the earlier timing of the Easter school

holidays, falling in April this year. Aircraft movements climbed by

2.1 percent to 42,056 takeoffs and landings, while accumulated MTOWs

grew by 2.8 percent to about 2.6 million metric tons. Cargo

throughput remained almost level compared to March 2018, rising by

0.2 percent to 202,452 metric tons.

Across the Group, the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio

largely performed well in the first quarter of 2019, even though the

different timing of the Easter holidays had an impact on some

airports serving tourist destinations. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in

Slovenia closed the January-to-March period with an increase of 4.0

percent to 342,636 passengers (March 2019: up 3.0 percent to 133,641

passengers). In Brazil, the two airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto

Alegre (POA), combined, welcomed some 3.9 million passengers, posting

a gain of 11.9 percent (March 2019: up 8.3 percent to approximately

1.2 million passengers).

Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports served some 1.9 million

passengers overall in the first quarter of the year – an increase of

8.2 percent (March 2019: up 1.1 percent to a total of 713,045

passengers). The busiest airports in Fraport’s Greek portfolio

included Thessaloniki (SKG) with around 1.2 million passengers (up

20.3 percent), Chania (CHQ) on the island of Crete with 153,225

passengers (down 0.4 percent), and Rhodes (RHO) with 151,493

passengers (down 18.1 percent).

Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru advanced by 3.7 percent to some 5.5

million passengers (March 2019: up 2.2 percent to about 1.8 million

passengers). Combined traffic at the two airports of Varna (VAR) and

Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast slipped by 5.8 percent

to 203,606 passengers (March 2019: down 9.9 percent to 74,102

passengers). Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey posted a 5.8 percent

gain to more than 2.7 million passengers (March 2019: down 0.1

percent to nearly 1.1 million passengers). St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo

Airport (LED) in Russia grew by 14.7 percent to about 3.6 million

passengers (March 2019: up 16.3 percent to approximately 1.3 million

passengers). Almost 11.3 million passengers passed through Xi’an

Airport (XIY) in China in the first three months of the year,

representing an increase of 8.0 percent (March 2019: up 3.7 percent

to nearly 3.8 million passengers).