September and first 9 months 2019: Frankfurt Airport reports stable growth (resp. +1.3% and +2.3%)

• Intercontinental traffic drives FRA’s passenger growth
• Group airports in Fraport’s international portfolio report mixed results

In September 2019, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed some 6.7 million passengers – an increase of 1.3 percent year-on-year. Correspondingly, aircraft movements climbed by 1.7 percent to 46,713 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) also rose by 1.4 percent to more than 2.9 million metric tons. In contrast, cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) shrank by 5.5 percent to 174,789 metric tons, reflecting the ongoing global economic slowdown.

In the January-to-September 2019 period, some 54 million passengers passed through Frankfurt Airport, representing an increase of 2.3 percent on the previous year. Growth was mainly driven by intercontinental traffic (up 3.4 percent), while European traffic grew at a slower 1.7 percent rate. Aircraft movements climbed to a total of 392,549 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated MTOWs expanded by 1.9 percent to almost 24.3 million metric tons in the reporting period. Only cargo volumes dropped by 2.9 percent to just under 1.6 million metric tons.

During the first nine months of the year, the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio registered mixed results. In September 2019, passenger traffic decelerated at most of Fraport’s Group airports worldwide. This can be attributed to the weaker global economy, as well as the bankruptcy of several airlines and tour operators – with other providers unable to fully absorb the additional capacity immediately.

From January to September 2019, traffic at Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU) rose by 1.9 percent to some 1.5 million passengers in the first nine months of the year (September 2019: down 10.1 percent to 172,387 passengers). Fraport’s two Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) achieved combined traffic growth of 4.6 percent to over 11.3 million passengers (September 2019: down 5.4 percent to about 1.2 million passengers). Traffic at Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru advanced by 6.7 percent to some 17.6 million passengers (September 2019: up 7.8 percent to just under 2 million passengers).

Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports closed the first nine months of 2019 with a moderate increase of 1.0 percent to nearly 26.2 million passengers overall (September 2019: down 1.6 percent to almost 4.5 million passengers). Fraport’s Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) in Bulgaria reported a total drop of 11.6 percent to around 4.6 million passengers (September 2019: down 10.8 percent to 703,163 passengers). With some 29.1 million passengers, Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera posted a traffic gain of 10.0 percent (September 2019: up 9.3 percent to about 4.8 million passengers). Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, served some 15.2 million passengers in the year to September, representing an increase of 8.1 percent (September 2019: up 5.0 percent to nearly 2 million passengers). Traffic at Xi’an Airport (XIY) in China grew by 6.2 percent to more than 35.6 million passengers (September 2019: up 5.9 percent to almost 4 million passengers).

14.10.2019