Frankfurt Airport Reports Marked Passenger Growth

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.