Berlin Brandenburg Airport: Core business success in 2013

Successful financial year 2013

Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH can look back on a successful 2013 in terms of core business: passenger figures reached a record 26.3 million high. With growth totalling 4.2 per cent, Berlin has grown faster than the average German airport for over ten years. Sales revenues rose by a significant 14 per cent to EUR 306.6 million (2012: EUR 269.6 m) and EBITDA came in at EUR 54.9 million (2012: EUR 57.9 m).

Hartmut Mehdorn, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: 'The figures show just how robust the company is: we are recording continuous growth in our core business. This is the route we will take in the years to come. Our most important objective continues to be the swift opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport. We already have the technical issues under control and will continuously work through them.'

Heike Fölster, Chief Financial Officer: 'Healthy finances are fundamental to our company. FBB has already contributed much of the investments for the new airport. We are putting FBB in a position to achieve future investments and BER loans on its own.'

Sales revenues in the plus

Sales have risen both in Aviation (2013: EUR 192.3 m, 2012: EUR 184.3 m) and Non-Aviation (2013: EUR 47.2 m, 2012: EUR 45.2 m) as well as in Real Estate (2013: EUR 33.4 m, 2012: EUR 29.0 m). Additional revenue was generated by Construction Services, Services and Other business in the amount of EUR 33.7 million (2012: EUR 11.1 m).

Expenses were slightly down at EUR 376.3 million due to company-wide savings (2012: EUR 382.4 m). As expected, the results for the year show a deficit of EUR 181.7 million (2012 deficit: EUR 185.2 m) due to depreciation and interest payments. However, operating profit (EBITDA) remains positive and is thus virtually the same as the previous year (2013: EUR 54.9 m, 2012: EUR 57.9 m).

Outpaces the market for the 11th consecutive year

The robust key financial figures are based on the positive development in traffic in Schönefeld and Tegel over the past few years. Last year, the flight schedule featured a total of 172 destinations in 47 countries, offered by 69 airlines. In 2013, 26,319,144 passengers took off and landed at the two Berlin airports; 4.2 per cent more than in the same period the previous year. Air traffic in Berlin and Brandenburg is thus continuing to outpace the average international commercial airport in Germany (ADV average +0.7 per cent). A total of 19,591,838 passengers (+7.9 per cent) were handled in Tegel and 6,727,306 (-5.2 per cent) in Schönefeld.

Besides Frankfurt Airport, Berlin handled the most direct passengers (24.2 million) in Germany, further consolidating its position in second place in the rankings of direct traffic and thus lying over half a million passengers ahead of Munich in this segment. The majority of passengers from Schönefeld and Tegel were registered on routes to Frankfurt (1.85 million), Munich (1.83 million) and London (1.47 million).

The total number of flight movements last year was down 1.2 per cent on the year at 240,031 take-offs and landings. The number of flight movements in Schönefeld dropped to 65,268 (-9.0 per cent). 174,763 (+2.1 per cent) flight movements were recorded in Tegel. Aircraft capacity utilisation rose to 75.9 per cent (+2.0 per cent). More passengers were thus transported to and from Berlin in 2013, while the number of flight movements decreased and capacity utilisation on aircraft increased.

'The Berlin airports Schönefeld and Tegel have for the 11th time in succession performed better than the average of international commercial airports in Germany. This makes FBB the most successful airport company in Germany in its core business', said Airport CEO Mehdorn.

The biggest growth rates were recorded in European traffic (+7.8 per cent), followed by long-haul connections (+7.6 per cent). The biggest airline in the air traffic region, airberlin, continued to push ahead with the expansion of its hub at Tegel Airport in 2013. In March 2013, for example, the airline added another long-haul connection to its flight schedule in the form of a connection to the business metropolis of Chicago in the US. airberlin also increased the number of flight frequencies to Miami. Further European destinations were integrated in the hub with Warsaw, Sofia, Bucharest and Madrid. This also impacted the percentage of transfers, which increased for the fourth consecutive year to 8.1 per cent Berlin-wide. In July 2013, the second-biggest customer in Berlin - the Lufthansa Group - consolidated the local European traffic of Lufthansa outside of the Frankfurt am Main and Munich hubs and of Germanwings in the 'new' Germanwings. easyJet, the biggest airline in Schönefeld, added new connections to London-Southend, Edinburgh, Sofia and Salzburg and thus strengthened its position as the third-strongest airline in the capital region.

Above-average passenger growth continues in 2014

The above-average growth of both Berlin airports has continued throughout the first five months of 2014. Between January and May, a total of 10,590,869 passengers used the airports Schönefeld and Tegel - 6.7 per cent more than in the same period the previous year. In the first five months of the year, 2,746,484 passengers were recorded in Schönefeld; 6.5 per cent less than in the same period the previous year. At the same time, 7,844,385 passengers were handled at Tegel Airport; 6.8 per cent more than in the same period the previous year.