FRANKFURT AM MAIN, June 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — With the growth trend stabilizing, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) registered new record levels for both passengers and airfreight in May 2010. FRA welcomed some 4,761,086 passengers and handled more than 200,000 metric tons of airfreight. The previous busiest May was in 2008, when the Fraport Group served 4,742,024 passengers at its FRA home base.
Passenger figures jumped a noticeable 7.1 percent in May 2010 compared to May 2009, when 4.4 million passengers used FRA. Surging by 39.7 percent year-on-year, airfreight tonnage at Frankfurt Airport reached 204,332 metric tons – making May 2010 the busiest airfreight month in Frankfurt Airport’s history.
Commenting on the latest traffic results, Fraport AG executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte said: “The extremely satisfying May 2010 figures confirm the positive trend in passenger development and again impressively underpin Frankfurt Airport’s strength, particularly in the intercontinental aviation sector. The high growth rates in airfreight tonnage result especially from Asia’s dynamic economic activity and from airfreight’s special forte of making available at short notice the capacities required by industry and trade.”
Schulte further explained that May 2010 also marked a new record for maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) in absolute terms, with 2.49 million metric tons handled. Aircraft movements improved by 2.5 percent year-on-year to 41,694 takeoffs and landings. This improvement includes a conspicuous eight percent rise in intercontinental flights, underscoring FRA’s outstanding role as an international air transportation hub.
Statistics for the year to date (January to May) give a misleading impression of the underlying pattern of growth, due to a series of extraordinary adverse effects on the air transportation industry. In the first five months of 2010, passenger traffic increased by only 0.1 percent year-on-year. Activity was depressed because of the harsh winter weather, the pilot strike and, particularly, the unprecedented almost total shutdown of flight operations during the volcanic ash cloud. However, the airfreight boom continued nearly unaffected by the flight freeze. Growth amounted to 32.7 percent in May 2010.
On the Group level, the factors curbing growth were offset by Fraport’s global diversification. The Fraport Group’s five majority-owned airports welcomed approximately 8.3 million passengers in May 2010, 14.2 percent more than in May 2009. Cargo throughput (airfreight and airmail tonnage) jumped 39.2 percent to a total of 230,064 metric tons. Aircraft movements at Frankfurt (FRA), Antalya (AYT), Lima (LIM), Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) rose 9.9 percent to 70,432 takeoffs and landings. Antalya and Lima again turned out to be the growth drivers. Turkey’s Antalya Airport registered 29.6 percent passenger growth in May 2010, while Peru’s Lima Airport welcomed 19.5 percent more passengers. Aircraft movements climbed 30.2 percent at AYT and 16.2 percent at LIM.
Frankfurt Airport’s Traffic Figures – May 2010
May Change (2) Jan. - May Change (2)
2010 May 10/ 2010 Jan. - May
May 09 10/09
Passengers (1) 4,761,086 7.1 % 19,643,164 0.1 %
Airfreight (1) 204,332 39.7 % 895,022 32.7 %
in metric tons
Airmail 6,186 -5.5 % 30,877 -5.7 %
in metric tons
Aircraft Movements 41,694 2.5 % 182,598 -2.8 %
(3)
MTOWs 2,493,531 5.3 % 10,920,820 0.0 %
in metric tons
Punctuality
share of punctual
arrivals
and departures in
percent 69.7 68.0
(1) Total traffic (arrivals + departures + transit)
(2) Change over previous year
(3) Excluding military flights
Fraport Group - Traffic Figures for May 2010
Airports Passengers([1]) Change Cargo in
metric tons
absolute in % abs. (+
airmail)
Frankfurt 4,760,662 7.1 207,522
(FRA)
Antalya 2,482,722 29.6 n.a.
(AYT) (2)
Burgas (BOJ) 87,544 9.1 594
Lima (LIM) (3) 839,040 19.5 21,943
Varna (VAR) 81,912 -3.3 6
Fraport
Group 8,251,880 14.2 230,064
Table Continued
Airports Change Aircraft Movements Change
in % absolute in %
Frankfurt (FRA) 38.0 41,694 2.5
Antalya (AYT) (2) n.a. 16,658 30.2
Burgas (BOJ) 53.1 1,006 8.2
Lima (LIM) (3) 51.1 9,971 16.2
Varna (VAR) -4.9 1,103 0.4
Fraport Group 39.2 70,432 9.9
(1) Passengers (commercial traffic: arrivals + departures + transit)
(2) Adjusted for 2009 base-year value.
(3) Figures provided by LIM
