Fraport traffic figures – December & full year 2011: FRA achieves new passenger records

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) concluded the year 2011 with record traffic figures again. For the first time, FRA served more than four million passengers during a December month. A total of 4.35 million passengers in December 2011 represented an increase of 12.2 percent year-on-year. New December records were also registered for aircraft movements and maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs). Aircraft movements at FRA climbed by 12.3 percent to 38,326 takeoffs and landings in December 2011, while MTOWs increased by 5.6 percent to 2.29 million metric tons. FRA’s airfreight volume reached 167,970 metric tons, down 6.5 percent compared to December 2010. Taking into account the statistical effect of the adverse winter weather in December 2010, the bottom line is that passenger traffic still grew by about five percent in December 2011.

Frankfurt Airport’s historical passenger records were all broken during the summer of 2011. With 56.44 million passengers for the full year 2011, FRA achieved a 6.5 percent gain compared to 2010. Thus, this confirms the prognosis from Fraport executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte at beginning of last year: an increase ranging between four and seven percent, a conservative estimate. “The inauguration of Frankfurt’s new runway had a very positive effect on traffic development and showed how important this capacity investment is for the positive further development of this economic hub,” said Schulte commenting on the latest traffic results.

In FRA’s other traffic categories, aircraft movements for 2011 grew by 4.9 percent to 487,162 takeoffs and landings, and MTOWs jumped by 4.6 percent to 29.25 million metric tons in 2011. After the extraordinary gains of 2010, the airfreight sector has increasingly felt the impact of the slowdown in the global economy during the course of last year. Airfreight throughput in 2011 slipped by 2.8 percent to 2.17 million metric tons. Nevertheless, this clearly exceeded the pre-crisis level of 2007.

Fraport’s majority-owned foreign airports continued to contribute to the airport company’s success. Combined, the Group’s five majority-owned airports welcomed at total of 96.63 million passengers in 2011, a 9.1 percent gain year-on-year. Aircraft movements for the Group soared by 7.1 percent to 816,330 takeoffs and landings. Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera was the overall leader with 24.96 million passengers (up 12.7 percent). Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) served 11.8 million passengers (up 14.7 percent), followed by the Bulgaria Black Sea gateways of Burgas Airport (BOJ) with 2.25 million passengers (up 19.0 percent) and Varna Airport (VAR) with 1.18 million passengers, which declined by 3.7 percent mainly because of the closure of the airport this winter for renovations.

December 2011 passenger figures for the foreign majority-owned airports are as follows: AYT with 562,509 (up12.9 percent), LIM with 988,711 (up 8.1 percent), BOJ with 23,762 (up 270.2 percent due to the renovation work at Varna), and VAR registered no traffic because of its closure.

The Fraport Group’s majority-owned airports registered a total of 5.82 million passengers in December 2011, a double-digit rise of 11.3 percent compared to the previous year.

Traffic Data Frankfurt Airport

Traffic Data Fraport Group