FRA Sets New April Record with Over 5 Million Passengers – Aircraft Movements also on the Rise – Double-digit Growth at Group Airports in Ljubljana and Xi’an
Contrary to the trend of previous months, the number of aircraft movements increased in April 2015, climbing by 5.9 percent year-on-year to 39,858 takeoffs and landings. Adjusting for the non-recurrence of last year’s pilot strike, aircraft movements recorded underlying growth of approximately 0.3 percent. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOW) continued the positive growth trend of previous months. Expanding by 7.7 percent year-on-year to 2,476,798 metric tons, MTOW even set a new record in April 2015, exceeding the previous record of April 2011.
The airports in Fraport’s international portfolio reported varying traffic results, with overall positive growth in April 2015. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia’s capital city welcomed 112,310 passengers in the reporting month – posting a double-digit increase of 13.3 percent on the previous year. In Peru, Lima Airport (LIM) also recorded positive passenger growth, serving a total of 1,280,540 passengers (up 7.6 percent). At Fraport’s two Twinstar airports on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) – combined passenger numbers declined by 13.1 percent to 51,542 passengers, while traffic at Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera dropped by 7.4 percent to 1,603,832 passengers. This was partly due to a decrease in the number of Russian passengers as a result of the weak ruble. The devaluation of the Russian currency also affected Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, where traffic contracted by 5.7 percent to 937,061 passengers. Germany’s Hanover Airport (HAJ) registered only a slight decline of 0.2 percent to 434,360 passengers. In China, Xi’an Airport (XIY) recorded particularly strong growth, with traffic soaring by 15.9 percent to 2,739,238 passengers.
