Fraport Invests EUR38 million in Phased Reconstruction of 4,000-meter-long Frankfurt Airport's Runway

Fraport AG (FSE: FRA) will soon be resuming the renovation of Runway North at Frankfurt Airport (FRA), which began in April 2003. Like last year, reconstruction of this heavily used 4,000-meter-long (four kilometers) runway will be carried out exclusively during nighttime hours in small incremental stages of 15 meters. This ensures that the runway remains open for unrestricted operations during the daytime, beginning in the early morning hours.

If everything continues according to plan, complete reconstruction of the runway should be finished by mid-2005. In 2003, 1.5 kilometers of Runway North already received complete resurfacing with a new asphalt layer. Fraport plans to reconstruct another 1.8 kilometers of the 4,000-meter-long and 60-meter-wide runway in 2004. Weather permitting, work will recommence on the night of March 1 to March 2. Fraport is investing EUR38 million in this unique infrastructure project, which is generating substantial interest from the airport industry worldwide.

Meticulous planning, precision operations and the know-how of all partners involved contributed to the successful renovation last year. The first reconstruction phase fully achieved its target. Despite the immense time pressure, nighttime construction yielded excellent results. Reconstruction of Runway North can only be done from 22:30 at night to 06:00 in the morning, so that regular runway operations are not affected during the day. Reconstruction work involves breaking up and removing the old runway surface, then applying a new layer made from a special asphalt mixture. It was particularly gratifying that there were neither any problems nor accidents at the construction site, which moved in and east-west direction along the runway.