Lufthansa strikes push Frankfurt Airport traffic down 11% in April

Fraport reported a sharp decline in passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport in April 2026, largely due to six days of strike action affecting Lufthansa operations.

Passenger numbers at Frankfurt fell 11.0% year-on-year to 4.8 million travellers, with around 500,000 passengers impacted by strikes organised by the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union and the UFO cabin crew union. Cargo traffic was also affected, slipping 0.6% to 168,526 metric tonnes because of disruptions at Lufthansa Cargo and reduced belly-freight capacity on passenger flights.

Aircraft movements at Frankfurt declined 11.6% to 34,623 takeoffs and landings, while maximum takeoff weights dropped 10.2% to approximately 2.2 million metric tonnes.

Across Fraport’s international airport portfolio, performance was mixed. Strong growth was recorded at Ljubljana Airport, where passenger traffic rose 14.5%, and at the group’s Brazilian airports in Fortaleza and Porto Alegre, which together handled 5.0% more passengers year-on-year.

By contrast, traffic declined at Jorge Chávez International Airport and at Antalya Airport, while the 14 Greek regional airports managed by Fraport posted modest growth of 3.2%.

Overall, airports actively managed by Fraport handled approximately 12.2 million passengers in April 2026, down 6.2% compared with the same month last year.