In October 2008, accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) increased by 0.8 percent year-on-year and advanced by 1.2 percent for the 10-month January-to-October 2008 period. This growth in MTOWs reflects the greater utilization of larger aircraft at FRA; a gain in the number of wide-body jets indicates that Frankfurt’s share of the lucrative intercontinental passenger market has increased.
Current developments in the world economy with its downward business trend have impacted other traffic results. In October 2008, Frankfurt Airport served 4,718,017 passengers, down 4.9 percent year-on-year. Monthly airfreight throughput dropped by 4.1 percent year-on-year to 176,656 metric tons. Aircraft movements declined by 1.6 percent below the same period last year to 42,559 takeoffs and landings.
From January to October 2008, FRA still recorded a 0.6 percent increase in airfreight tonnage to 1,732,053 metric tons, while passenger figures slipped by 0.4 percent to 45,801,555 and aircraft movements sank by 0.8 percent to 410,795.
For the entire year of 2008, Fraport is expecting passenger traffic to drop by between 1.0 and 1.5 percent. However, Fraport expects the particularly attractive intercontinental segment to continue growing by about one percent. Group-wide, Fraport also sees about a 1 percent gain in passenger figures for the entire year.
Particularly strong passenger growth at the Fraport Group’s majority-owned airports of Antalya (AYT) in Turkey and Lima (LIM) in Peru resulted in a traffic surge of 14.7 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively. Passenger increases were also registered at the Bulgarian airports of Burgas (BOJ), up 1.3 percent, and Varna (VAR), up 2.0 percent. Traffic at Frankfurt-Hahn was stagnant, slipping slightly by 0.2 percent.
From January to October 2008, the Group’s airports (including FRA) served a total of 67,813,443 passengers and recorded a 1.6 percent jump in traffic. Cargo tonnage (airfreight plus airmail) rose by 2.0 percent to 2,086,442 metric tons, while aircraft movements also climbed by 2.0 percent to 619,128 takeoffs and landings.
