Fraport inhibited by Frankfurt traffic growth slowdown; reliant again on international business

Fraport's name was once synonymous with most international tenders for airport concessions.

Latterly it has settled on a portfolio of mainly smaller regional airports in countries like Greece, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Brazil, while losing two of its long-standing investments in Russia and China.

It could be expected that Frankfurt Airport would be the main breadwinner in this family, but as CAPA - Centre for Aviation has noted previously, the international airports no longer play second fiddle.

While Frankfurt is inhibited by the high fees at German airports, which have doubled since 2020 - forcing LCCs to look elsewhere and with more pain to come - international airports reported twice the passenger growth level in 1H2024 once two areas that have problems of their own - Bulgaria and Brazil - were taken out of the equation.

Two of them have been lost in the last five years - Xi'an in China, which was a voluntary decision, and St Petersburg Pulkovo, which was not.

Overall, Fraport got through the COVID-19 pandemic in reasonably good financial shape, and its 1H2024 statement makes for reassuring reading again, with those international airports making a notable contribution to the bottom line.

The FY2024 forecast looks more promising still.

The question now is whether Fraport will continue with its consolidation or look for fresh opportunities elsewhere.