Fraport - Leading Airport Operator

Schulte: “We Expect Passenger Figures at FRA to Rise by Well Over Four Percent in 2010”

FRA/rap> Fraport AG welcomed more than 5.1 million passengers at its Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base in the reporting month of September 2010 – a 10.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Commenting on the latest traffic figures, Fraport AG's executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte said: "The 5.1 million figure represents a new record for the month of September and confirms that we have returned to the pre-crisis traffic level of 2007."

Schulte is particularly pleased by the stabilizing growth of business travel, with double-digit growth rates for both domestic and European traffic. "We continue to be optimistic about traffic growth during the remainder of the year and have raised our forecast for 2010 from three percent to well over four percent – despite traffic losses earlier in the year due to weather conditions, the volcanic ash cloud, and strikes," explained Schulte.

During the first nine months of the year, Fraport registered a four percent year-on-year increase in traffic to 40.1 million passengers. The latest third quarter 2010 figures show even stronger growth of 8.2 percent year-on-year. "In particular, our third quarter traffic figures indicate that Frankfurt Airport has returned to a sustainable growth path," stressed Schulte. 

Frankfurt Airport's double-digit airfreight growth rates are also viewed positively, because they underscore the important role that FRA plays as an international cargo hub for Germany's export-driven economy," said Fraport's CEO. Airfreight throughput jumped by 15.4 percent year-on-year in September 2010 to 186,111 metric tons – a new historic September record. In the first three quarters of 2010 airfreight surged by 27 percent to 1.6 million metric tons.

FRA's aircraft movements climbed by 3.6 percent in September 2010 to 41,613 takeoffs and landings. In the first nine months of the year, Fraport recorded 349,029 takeoffs and landings (up 0.3 percent).

In September 2010, maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) rose by seven percent year-on-year to approximately 2.5 million metric tons. Accumulated MTOWs for the January-to-September 2010 period reached about 21 million metric tons, up 2.8 percent.

Fraport's majority-owned airports achieved particularly satisfying results. Antalya (AYT) Airport on the Turkish Riviera served 18.3 million passengers from January to September 2010 – up 18.6 percent on the same period last year. A total of 7.5 million passengers used Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru in the first nine months of 2010, up 15.5 percent year-on-year. Fraport's two airports on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast also experienced growth over the same period: Burgas Airport (BOJ) registered 1.85 million passengers (up 11.1 percent) and Varna Airport (VAR) welcomed 1.13 million passengers (up 0.7 percent).   

From January to September 2010, the number of passengers at the Fraport Group's majority-owned airports rose by 8.8 percent year-on-year to a total of 68.9 million. In September 2010 alone, passenger figures for the entire Fraport Group increased by 12.3 percent to a total of 9.4 million passengers.

Traffic Data Frankfurt Airport
Traffic Data Fraport Group