Fraport Traffic Figures - April 2005
Summer Season Off to a Shining Start / More Passengers and Freight Than in Any Previous April
Frankfurt am Main, Germany (ots) - All signs point to ongoing traffic growth at Frankfurt Airport (FRA). FRA registered strong growth rates in air traffic in April 2005, particularly in the cargo sector. The amount of airfreight handled at Europe's largest cargo airport climbed by 13.7 percent to 156,596 metric tons - a new April record at FRA. Passenger traffic increased by 2.5 percent to 4.3 million passengers. Thus, FRA registered stronger growth in the reporting month than in March 2005.
The forces driving FRA's airfreight growth accelerated during the reporting month. With the implementation of the new 2005 Summer Timetable (see ANR 23/2005), service frequencies on numerous routes from FRA were increased and some new routes were added - particularly for freighter flights. Obviously, CargoCity Frankfurt's excellent infrastructure - FRA was recently honoured again as the world's "Cargo Airport of the Year 2005" (see ANR 27/2005) - has been a winning factor. The noticeable tonnage growth in April 2005 was attributable mainly to cargo carried on freighters. Freight carried in the belly holds of passenger aircraft grew by two percent. Asia, the North Atlantic and Europe were the busiest airfreight markets.
In the passenger sector, the absence of departing Easter traffic in April 2005 - which this year already occurred in March - could be compensated for by the returning holiday traffic. Intercontinental traffic served as the primary growth engine. In particular, the continuing increase in Far East traffic made a positive impact. India also remained a boom market.
Another significant development in the reporting month was the strong growth in aircraft movements, which increased by 5.2 percent to 40,624. Asia, North America an South Africa, in particular, contributed most strongly to this growth. Southern Europe - with its tourist destinations in the Canary and Balearic islands as well as Italy - also experienced growth. Because of the over-proportionate increase in cargo flights, maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) increased even more noticeably by 7.1 percent to 2.3 million metric tons in April 2005, compared to the same month last year.
As expected, airmail was marked by the phase out of FRA's overnight domestic airmail hub, effective with the 2005 Summer Timetable; the 7,551 metric tons of airmail handled represented a 15.7 percent decline. The associated massive 43 percent decline in domestic airmail neutralized the noticeable 6.9 percent growth in international mail.
The Fraport Group's six airports served 5.7 million passengers in April 2005, down 3.3 percent compared to the same month last year. At the Fraport managed terminal in Antalya (AYT), the number of passengers dropped by 53 percent compared to April 2004. This was due to the inauguration of a new passenger terminal, in which Fraport is not a partner. All of the other Fraport airports achieved solid passenger growth in the reporting month.
From January to April 2005, 21.4 million passengers used the Group's airports - a increase of 1.4 percent. Cargo volume (airfreight plus airmail) grew noticeably at all of the Group's airports over the past four months - increasing by 7.4 percent to a total of 736,171 metric tons. Aircraft movements grew 0.7 percent to 226,274 takeoffs and landings.
Frankfurt Airport's Traffic Figures - April 2005
| April 2005 | Change(2) April 05/ April 04 | Jan. - April 2005 | Change(2) Jan. - April 05/04 | |
| Passengers(1) | 4,254,249 | 2.5 % | 15,596,462 | 1.0 % |
| Airfreight(1) in metric tons | 156,596 | 13.7 % | 592,961 | 8.9 % |
| Airmail in metric tons | 7,551 | -15.7 % | 34,555 | -14.6 % |
| Aircraft Movements(3) | 40,624 | 5.2 % | 155,098 | 2.9 % |
| MTOWs(3) in metric tons | 2,341,252 | 7.1 % | 8,876,128 | 5.1 % |
| Punctuality share of punctual arrivals and departures in percent | 77.7 | 73.4 |
(1) Total traffic (arrivals + departures + transit, incl. general aviation)
(2) Change over previous year
(3) Excluding military flights
Fraport Group - Traffic Figures for April 2005
| Airports | Passen- gers(1)absolute | Change in % | Cargo in metric tons (incl. airmail) | Change in % | Aircraft Move-ments absolute | Change in % |
| Frankfurt (FRA) | 4,253,713 | 2.5 | 161,876 | 11.8 | 40,624 | 5.2 |
| Antalya(2) (AYT) | 328,332 | -53.1 | n.a. | n.a. | 2,174 | -53.1 |
| Frankfurt- Hahn(3) (HHN) | 246,451 | 5.1 | 18,897 | 21.0 | 3,064 | 10.1 |
| Hanover (HAJ) | 441,854 | 8.1 | 1,350 | 10.8 | 5,777 | 9.6 |
| Lima (LIM) | 426,585 | 6.2 | 10,896 | 11.9 | 5,969 | -2.0 |
| Saarbrücken (SCN) | 33,469 | 4.7 | 0.4 | -90.0 | 1,051 | -8.2 |
| Fraport Group | 5,730,404 | -3.3 | 193,019 | 12.6 | 58,659 | 0.2 |
(1) Passengers (commercial traffic: arrivals + departures + transit)
(2) Only passengers of the Fraport managed terminal.
(3) Frankfurt-Hahn: includes cargo transported by truck
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