Last month, there was a notable increase in passenger traffic at the Frankfurt Airport (FRA), as almost 4.1 million travelers passed through its terminals.

As compared to 2023, this number marks an increase of about 11.1%, but despite the growth, the number of passengers is still 12.6% below the levels recorded in January 2019.

This highlights the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data

The FRA shared data showing that there was also significant growth in the cargo volumes at the airport, as it recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.6% to reach 154,296 metric tons.

There was also a 4.5% increase in the number of movements at the same time, as there were a total of 31,060 landings and takeoffs.

According to the data, there was a 6.4% increase in the maximum accumulated takeoff weight (MTOWs), which reached a total of 2.0 million metric tons.

As far as Fraport’s international portfolio is concerned, the lead was taken up by Ljubljana in Slovenia, which saw a year-on-year increase of 29.8% in passenger numbers.

Meanwhile, a 6.3% decrease was recorded by airports in Brazil, such as Porto Alegre (POA) and Fortaleza (FOR), as they collectively received about 1.1 million passengers.

More numbers

There was an impressive 21.4% growth recorded at Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru, which serviced a total of 2.0 million passengers.

A 7.4% increase was recorded in the number of passengers welcomed at Fraport’s Greek regional airports, which rose to 640,461.

Meanwhile, the Twin Star airports in Bulgaria, which include Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ), saw a decrease of 12.0%, as they received only 85,231 passengers.

The Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey also recorded a modest 4.4% increase, as it accommodated a total of 950,421 passengers.

Overall, there was a strong growth of 9.5% in the total traffic that passed through airports managed by Fraport, as it climbed to 8.9 million in January 2024.

The recovery

According to the previous FRA report, there had been a significant recovery in passenger traffic throughout 2023, as a total of 59.4 million passengers were recorded at the airport.

This was a 21.3% increase over the numbers recorded in 2022. But, the numbers were still around 15.9% below the levels recorded in 2019.

Moreover, there was a significant increase in the air traffic at FRA, as the total number of takeoffs and landings reached 430,436, which was a 12.6% increase over the figures recorded in 2023.

On the cargo front, a slight decline was recorded by Fraport, as it dropped by 3.9% as compared to last year and 9.3% as compared to 2019.

In addition, the recovery of German airports that was seen in the second quarter of 2023 was mostly due to increased passenger demand.

This was especially applicable at Frankfurt, as there was an 80% increase in passenger volumes. Based on the statistics shared by FRA, there was strong growth in the total revenue of the Group.

In the first six months of 2023, it recorded a year-on-year increase of 33.8%, which saw it reach a total of €1,804.3 million.