Restrained Tourist Bookings Continue to Impact Passenger Traffic at Frankfurt Airport

Aug. 10, 2016
Traffic continued to be impacted by restrained tourist bookings, reflecting travelers' ongoing concerns after terrorist attacks in various countries around the world.

In July, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed a total of 6.1 million passengers, representing a 2.0 percent decline year-on-year. Traffic continued to be impacted by restrained tourist bookings, reflecting travelers' ongoing concerns after terrorist attacks in various countries around the world. Nevertheless, July 2016 was FRA's busiest traffic month so far this year, primarily due to the start of the summer school vacation. With 214,841 passengers on July 31, Frankfurt Airport even recorded its fifth busiest traffic day in history. Cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) rose by 1.5 percent to 180,425 metric tons in the reporting month. Aircraft movements decreased by 2.8 percent to 42,468 takeoffs and landings. This can be attributed to airlines' ongoing consolidation measures and the general trend towards deployment of larger aircraft, as well as flight cancellations. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) also contracted slightly by 0.9 percent to 2.7 million metric tons. 

Fraport AG's international portfolio of airports continued to report mixed results in July 2016. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia welcomed 163,267 passengers in the reporting month, a 5.0 percent decline on the previous year. In contrast, Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru's capital saw traffic soar by 13.8 percent to 1.7 million passengers. The two Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast reported even stronger traffic growth. Combined, VAR and BOJ welcomed 1.3 million passengers, an increase of 23.4 percent year-on-year. Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey continued to see passenger traffic drop strongly by 40.7 percent to 2.5 million passengers. At Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, traffic also slowed by 7.3 percent year-on-year to 1.6 million passengers. In Germany, Hanover Airport (HAJ) posted a 2.1 percent gain in traffic, serving a total of 574,681 passengers. 

Xi'an Airport (XIY) in central China continued its growth path of recent months and years, with traffic advancing by 9.8 percent to 3.3 million passengers.