Fraport Traffic Figures: 1st Quarter & March 2013

11-Apr-2013

Quarterly Figures Affected by Weather and Strike-Related Flight Cancellations - Cargo Segment Emerges from Cyclical Trough.

During the January-to-March 2013 period, Fraport's five majority-owned airports welcomed a total of 17.8 million passengers (up 1.6 percent) and handled 555,737 metric tons of cargo, an increase of 1.7 percent. Aircraft movements decreased in the first quarter by 2.2 percent to 162,058 takeoffs and landings. Serving about 3.6 million passengers Peru's Lima Airport continued to grow briskly with a gain of 12.9 percent year-on-year. Turkey's Antalya Airport registered a noticeable 2.2 million passengers (up 4.9 percent). The Bulgarian airports of Burgas and Varna together greeted nearly 88,500 passengers.

At Fraport's Frankfurt Airport home base, traffic results were negatively impacted by the capacity consolidation of some airlines and, in particular, by weather and strike-related cancellations during the first three months of the year. In the first quarter of 2013, about 11.9 million passengers used Frankfurt Airport - two percent fewer passengers than in the same period last year. About half of this decline can be attributed to strikes and adverse weather conditions. The domestic segment, down six percent, accounted for the majority of this drop. In contrast, intercontinental traffic continued to expand by one percent, despite the difficult business environment.

Cargo traffic figures show that Frankfurt Airport has emerged from the cyclical trough. For the first time since 2011, Germany's largest aviation hub reported a cargo gain of 1.1 percent and quarterly growth - with some 502,051 metric tons handled from January to March 2013.

In the current reporting month of March 2013, a total of 6.7 million passengers used the Fraport Group's five majority-owned airports of Frankfurt (FRA), Antalya (AYT), Burgas (BOJ), Varna (VAR) and Lima (LIM). This represents a 3.2 percent jump compared to the same month of last year.

Like with the first quarter results, Frankfurt's March 2013 traffic figures experienced a slight decline characterized by special effects and the base-year effect. Approximately 4.5 million passengers used FRA during the reporting month, representing a 1.1 percent drop year-on-year. However, without the flight disruptions registered in March 2013 FRA would have concluded the winter season with growth in passenger figures.

FRA's 7.9 percent decline in aircraft movements to 37,228 takeoffs and landings is primarily due to the approximately 1,400 weather and strike-related flight cancellations in the reporting month. The thinning out of high-traffic continental routes was further compounded by the early occurrence of Easter holidays and start of the spring school vacation in March 2013.

FRA's cargo volume grew by 4.4 percent to 195,590 metric tons in March 2013 due to many airlines expanding their cargo business - new freight connections and increased flight frequencies - and using larger aircraft. In addition to a slight improvement in the global economy - especially in Asia, North America and the BRICS countries - Germany benefits from an overall robust export industry supported by FRA for the continuous flow of airfreight-dependent goods.