Air cargo volume up for Frankfurt Airport in 2016

Jan 13, 2017: Frankfurt Airport’s (FRA) cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) increased by 1.8 percent to some 2.15 million metric tonnes in 2016. 

Cargo traffic saw a particularly strong December month, with tonnage growing by 7.6 percent to 188,635 metric tonnes. This was driven by the recovery in world trade and a rise in demand for exports in the Euro zone stimulated by the weak euro, as well as the ongoing dynamic growth of the German economy. 

In 2016, FRA served a total of 60,792,308 passengers, thus surpassing the 60 million passenger mark once again and remaining almost at the previous year's level (down 0.4 percent). Following a slowdown in the summer period of 2016 caused by geopolitical factors, passenger traffic clearly picked up again towards the end of the year. 

In December 2016, almost 4.3 million passengers passed through Frankfurt Airport (up 3.9 percent).  This represents a new December record for FRA, breaking the previous peak level of 2011. 

Stefan Schulte, Fraport AG's executive board chairman, said, "Despite a challenging environment, we were able to keep Frankfurt Airport's passenger numbers at a stable level during 2016. Particularly in view of the recovery in passenger traffic towards the end of 2016, we are optimistic about the year ahead.  In 2017, we will strengthen the low-cost segment and expect our traffic to grow again here in Frankfurt."

Airports in Fraport's international portfolio reported diverging traffic figures for the 2016 calendar year.  Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia received about 1.4 million passengers, down 2.3 percent compared to the particularly strong 2015 traffic year. Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru's capital recorded a 10.1 percent rise in traffic, with a total of 18.8 million passengers served in 2016.  The Fraport Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast combined welcomed some 4.6 million passengers, thus achieving a 21.5 percent surge in traffic year-on-year. In Turkey, the country's security situation as well as strained relations with Russia had a dampening effect on tourism and corresponding leisure air traffic.  As a result, Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera experienced a 30.9 percent decline in traffic to about 19 million passengers in 2016.  Since the beginning of September 2016, when charter flights were officially restarted from Russia, AYT has seen a noticeable recovery trend in its Russian traffic. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, posted a 1.7 percent decline in traffic to 13.3 million passengers.  In northern Germany, Hanover Airport (HAJ) also registered a slight drop of 0.8 percent to 5.5 million passengers. In contrast, China's Xi'an Airport (XIY) achieved significant double-digit growth of 12.2 percent to 37 million passengers.