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New cruise ship touches the sea for the first time in Turku

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Costa Crociere celebrated the technical launch of the new flagship Costa Smeralda at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland.


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During the ceremony, the ship officially touched the sea for the first time. The celebration, which saw the participation of the top management of Costa Cruises and the Meyer shipyards, followed the protocol established by the maritime tradition, with the flooding of the basin where the ship has taken shape in recent months.

Costa Smeralda technical launch Costa Smeralda, which will enter service from October 2019, will be the first Costa ship powered by liquefied natural gas (Lng), the cleanest fossil fuel in the world. Its use represents an environmental change that will improve the quality of the air, almost totally avoiding the emissions of particulate matter and sulfur oxides, both at sea and in port.

Lng will also reduce nitrogen oxide and CO2 emissions. In this way Costa Smeralda and its twin, which will be delivered in 2021, will contribute to achieving the sustainability objectives set by Costa Crociere and Carnival Corporation & plc, which provide for a 25% reduction in the carbon footprint by 2020.

“It is with great enthusiasm that we celebrate such an important moment,” said Neil Palomba, general manager of Costa Crociere. “Costa Smeralda represents a great innovation for the international market and an important step towards the definition of new standards for the entire sector. It is a new generation ship and will be a tribute to the best of Italy and our excellence. It was designed with passion and attention to detail to offer an unforgettable holiday experience.”

The name of the ship recalls one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in Sardinia. The names of bridges and public areas are dedicated to famous places and squares in Italy.

Costa Smeralda will also have its museum, the CoDe – Costa Design Museum, dedicated to the excellence of Italian design. “Designing and building Costa Smeralda together with Costa Crociere’s colleagues is an exciting experience,” commented Jan Meyer, CEO of the Meyer shipyard in Turku. “I believe it will be a unique and innovative ship, both from an engineering and design point of view, I am convinced that guests will appreciate all the attractions and services on board.”

The technical launch is the moment when the ship reaches its natural element, water. Construction will continue with the final phase of interior fittings ».The sister ship, also built at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, is scheduled for 2021. The Costa Smeralda debut is scheduled for October20, 2019.

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Fraport opens training center at Ljubljana Airport

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Firefighting vehicle at the new academy training center in Ljubljana

On March 6, Fraport AG inaugurated a €6 million training center for the Fraport Aviation Academy at Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia. This new training facility will allow the Fraport Group to expand its international training activities to meet the growing demand from external and the internal customers – particularly in the areas of firefighting, emergency services, crisis management, ground handling. Established in 2016, the Academy is now well positioned to serve the international training market and expects to receive more than 500 participants at the training center during 2019. The Fraport Aviation Academy Training Center features almost 1,500 square meters of space for classrooms, simulators and other specialized equipment – plus outdoor areas for “live” practical training. This will also increase training offerings for staff of the Fraport Group, which is now active at some 30 airports around the globe.

“More than ever, the aviation industry needs skilled staff to meet air traffic growth and other challenges. Our new Fraport Aviation Academy Training Center takes us to the next level in delivering professional training to external clients as well as our Group employees worldwide,” stated Michael Müller, Fraport AG’s executive board member and executive director labor relations.

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The Group’s Slovenian subsidary has been mandated to develop the Aviation Academy business. “The new training facility represents an investment in growing and strengthening Fraport Slovenija’s core business and Ljubljana Airport,” explained Zmago Skobir, managing director of Fraport Slovenija.

The Fraport Aviation Academy team already boasts over 100 professionals from the Fraport Group and key strategic partners, who together create a comprehensive learning program. The latest partners to be attracted to the Fraport Aviation Academy are Rosenbauer, a renowned manufacturer of firefighting equipment, and the Southern California Safety Institute (SCSI) – the a leading provider of accident investigation and safety training services.

They join the Academy’s partners from the Fraport Group, including the FTC Frankfurt fire training center and Fraport Twin Star in Bulgaria. Slovenian partners include the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Board of Slovene Armed Forces (Ministry of Defence), Adria Flight School, Slovenia Control (Slovenia’s air traffic control organization), the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Organizational Sciences, and Slovenia’s Training Centre for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief.

Thomas Uihlein, director of the Fraport Aviation Academy, spoke about the vision for training: “The long-term goal is not only to pass on knowledge and skills, but to link different areas of aviation into an integrated learning concept. Our vision is to make the Fraport Aviation Academy the leading skills center for the global aviation industry.”

Fraport Traffic Figures – January 2019: Starting the New Year on a Growth Path

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FraportFraport

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed nearly 4.7 million passengers in

January 2019, thus starting the year with 2.3 percent traffic growth.

Without strike and weather-related flight cancellations, passenger

traffic at FRA would have grown by about 4.3 percent.

Aircraft movements climbed by 2.3 percent to 37,676 takeoffs and

landings in the reporting month.  Maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs)

rose by 1.5 percent to about 2.4 million metric tons.  Only cargo

(airfreight + airmail) posted a decline in January 2019, dropping by

4.3 percent to 163,332 metric tons.  Decisive factors affecting cargo

traffic included weaker global trade and the resulting dip in demand.

Most of the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio also

achieved growth in January 2019.  Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU)

served 103,653 passengers, a rise of 3.3 percent.  The Brazilian

airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) registered

combined traffic of almost 1.5 million passengers, up 10.5 percent

year-on-year.

Total traffic for the 14 Greek regional airports reached 617,885

passengers, resulting in a 12.3 percent surge.  The busiest airports

included Thessaloniki (SKG) with 388,309 passengers, up 25.4 percent;

Chania (CHQ) with 50,949 passengers, up 17.8 percent; and Rhodes

(RHO) with 50,809 passengers, down 13.4 percent.

Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru, South America, saw traffic increase by

5.0 percent to around 1.9 million passengers.  On the Bulgarian Black

Sea coast, the Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR)

registered a total of 67,924 passengers, declining 6.8 percent.  On

the Turkish Rivera, Antalya Airport (AYT) received 877,161 passengers

and recorded a 9.6 percent jump in traffic.  Russia’s St. Petersburg

Airport (LED) advanced by 14.0 percent to some 1.2 million

passengers.  In China, Xi’an Airport (XIY) recorded a 13.9 percent

gain to almost 3.8 million passengers

New passenger record achieved at FRA

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FRAPORTFRAPORT

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served more than 69.5 million passengers in 2018, thus posting a new record high in the airport’s history.

Compared to 2017, traffic at Germany’s largest airport grew by some 5 million passengers or 7.8 percent. This strong growth resulted from the launch of more routes to new destinations from FRA and from airlines increasing flight frequencies.

Commenting on the 2018 traffic figures, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman Stefan Schulte said: “The previous year has proved once again that there continues to be great demand for flying. In Frankfurt, we have achieved the highest absolute passenger growth in our history. This underscores Frankfurt Airport’s position as one of Europe’s leading aviation hubs. At the same time, the extraordinary growth in air traffic overall has caused major challenges for us and the entire aviation sector. Together with our partners, we are taking efforts to restore and enhance punctuality and reliability in air

traffic.”

In full-year 2018, aircraft movements at FRA rose by 7.7 percent to 512,115 takeoffs and landings in 2018. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) also increased by 5.1 percent to some 31.6 million metric tons. Cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) posted a slight 0.7 percent decline to about 2.2 million metric tons, reflecting growing uncertainties in global trade, particularly during the second half of the year.

In December 2018, more than 4.9 million passengers traveled via Frankfurt Airport – an increase of 7.8 percent compared to December 2017. Aircraft movements climbed by 9.0 percent to 38,324 takeoffs and landings, while accumulated MTOWs grew by 6.5 percent to about 2.4 million metric tons. Cargo throughput (airmail + airfreight) expanded by 1.9 percent to 183,674 metric tons in the reporting month.

Airports in Fraport’s international portfolio also reported noticeable growth in 2018. CEO Schulte commented: “In addition to Frankfurt, most of our Group airports worldwide also achieved new passenger records last year. We continue to invest in the airports of our international portfolio, thus ensuring their long-term development. To create additional capacity, we are currently carrying out major expansion projects at our Group airports, particularly in Greece, Brazil and Peru.”

In Slovenia, Ljubljana Airport (LJU) posted a 7.7 percent traffic increase to over 1.8 million passengers in 2018. Combined traffic at the two Brazilian airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) rose by 7.0 percent to some 14.9 million passengers. Traffic at the 14 Greek regional airports advanced by 8.9 percent to a total of almost 29.9 million passengers. The three busiest gateways in Fraport’s Greek portfolio were Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) with some 6.7 million passengers (up 7.1 percent), Rhodes Airport (RHO) witharound 5.6 million passengers (up 5.0 percent), and Corfu Airport (CFU) where traffic soared by 15.3 percent to nearly 3.4 million passengers.

Lima Airport (LIM) in the capital of Peru welcomed more than 22.1 million passengers in 2018, representing an increase of 7.3 percent.

On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) closed the year with combined traffic growth of 12.2 percent to about 5.6 million passengers. Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey saw traffic advance by 22.5 percent to almost 32.3 million passengers. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia served more than 18.1 million passengers – an increase of 12.4 percent. Some 44.7 million passengers used Xi’an Airport (XIY) inChina, up 6.7 percent.

Fraport Traffic Figures November 2018: Growth Trend Continues

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Frankfurt Airport welcomed around 5.24 million passengers in November

2018, a growth of 4.7 percent year-on-year. This development was

driven by European traffic (up 6.1 percent) as well as

intercontinental traffic (up 4.3 percent). The cumulative growth in

passenger numbers for the first eleven months of the current year was

7.8 percent.

In a similar vein, aircraft movements in November increased by 5.3

percent to 41,192 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff

weights (MTOWs) rose by 3.3 percent to around 2.5 million metric

tons. Only the cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) declined in

November, falling by 2.1 percent to around 196,537 million metric

tons in response to the growing uncertainty in global trade.

The international airports in Fraport’s portfolio also enjoyed

largely positive development in November. While Ljubljana Airport

(LJU) in Slovenia saw a slight decline of 3.3 percent to 117,554

passengers, the Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto

Alegre (POA) reported significant growth of 10.8 percent to around

1.3 million passengers. The 14 regional airports in Greece saw an

overall growth of 12.8 percent to 726,159 passengers. The three

airports in the Greek portfolio with the most traffic were

Thessaloniki (SKG) with 428,897 passengers (up 16.6 percent), Rhodes

(RHO) with 68,041 passengers (minus 9.7 percent to) and Chania (CHQ)

with 59,053 passengers (up 14.6 percent). Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru

grew by 6.7 percent to about 1.8 million passengers. A total of

68,246 passengers used the Bulgarian Twin Star airports of Varna

(VAR) and Burgas (BOJ), down 6.8 percent. Antalya Airport (AYT) again

enjoyed substantial growth of 26.9 percent to around 1.2 million

passengers. Growing passenger numbers were also reported at Pulkovo

Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg with around 1.3 million passengers

(up 18.1 percent) and Xi’an (XIY) in China with around 3.6 million

passengers (up 4.8 percent)