Fraport traffic figures – June 2011: continuous trend improvement

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) closed the first half of 2011 with an 8.3 percent increase in passen­ger numbers and a 1 percent rise in air cargo traffic. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) at FRA grew by 7.1 percent, while the number of aircraft movements rose by 6.7 percent since the beginning of the year. In absolute figures, Frankfurt Airport handled more than 26.5 million passengers and nearly 1.1 million metric tons of air cargo in the first half of 2011. In the same period, almost 239,000 takeoffs and landings were recorded. MTOWs at FRA amounted to approximately 14.3 million metric tons. Passenger figures in the first two quarters of 2011 were the highest ever recorded in Frankfurt Airport’s history. This record coincides with the celebration of Frankfurt Airport’s 75th anniversary.

This particularly positive development of FRA’s annual first-half figures was also due to the high passenger numbers registered in the vacation month of June. Nearly 5.1 million passengers were handled at Frankfurt Airport – a 4.9 percent year-on-year increase. For the first time in the history of Frankfurt Airport, June passenger traffic exceeded the five million mark. MTOWs at FRA climbed 1.1 percent to approximately 2.5 million metric tons in June. The number of aircraft movements slightly declined by 0.8 percent. This was due to the decision of the German Air Navigation Services (DFS) to reduce the number of flights during the first days of operations of FRA’s new control tower. A total of around 800 flights were affected by this measure implemented to guarantee a smooth transition of operations to the new tower. Without this measure, aircraft movements would have increased by around 1.1 percent for the month of June.

With around 180,000 metric tons handled, air cargo registered a 6.4 percent year-on-year decline in June. This is also due to FRA’s extraordinarily strong cargo volume increase in the previous year. In the first six months of 2010, the strong post-recession recovery of the global economy and, at the same time, low inventory levels led to a particularly dynamic growth in cargo traffic. The recent decline is also attributable to a slight drop in cargo traffic with Asia, following the countercyclical and anti-inflationary measures in China and the impact of the earthquake in Japan.

Passenger figures at the Fraport Group’s majority-owned airports – Antalya (AYT) in Turkey, Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) in Bulgaria, and Lima (LIM) in Peru – registered an overall positive development both in June and in the first half of 2011. In the previous month, the Fraport Group’s majority-owned airports welcomed a total of approximately 10 million passengers. This corresponds to a Group-wide increase of 8.2 percent. In the first six months of 2010, the Fraport Group registered an 11.4 percent increase in passenger traffic. Nearly 43 million passengers used the Group’s airports in Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria and Peru from January to June 2011. With 1.3 million metric tons handled, Group-wide cargo volume improved by 1.8 percent in the first half of 2011. June, however, saw a year-on-year decline of 4.8 percent (approximately 270,000 metric tons).

Traffic Data Frankfurt Airport

Traffic Data Fraport Group