June cargo volumes at Frankfurt Airport down 16.5%

In June 2020, cargo throughput at the Frankfurt Airport (FRA), comprising airfreight and airmail, shrank by 16.5 percent to 145,562 metric tonnes (first six months: down 14.4 percent to 912,396 metric tonnes) year-on-year. The drop in cargo volumes continued to be largely a result of unavailable capacity for belly freight, which is typically shipped on passenger flights, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aircraft movements declined by 79.7 percent to 9,331 takeoffs and landings in June (first six months of 2020: down 53.0 percent to 118,693 aircraft movements). Accumulated maximum takeoff weights or MTOWs contracted by 73.0 percent to 758,935 metric tons (first six months: down 46.4 percent).

FRA served a total of 599,314 passengers, representing a 90.9 percent decline year-on-year. For the first six months of 2020, accumulated passenger traffic at FRA decreased by 63.8 percent. Main reasons for the negative trend were the continuing travel restrictions and the lower passenger demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Government travel warnings for 31 European countries were lifted in mid-June, leading to an expansion of flight offerings. As a result, FRA saw a moderate rise in passenger traffic in late June, after having experienced a 95.6 percent year-on-year drop in May 2020.

At Fraport’s Group airports worldwide, passenger traffic also remained at historically low levels. Many of the airports were still subject to comprehensive travel restrictions. Specifically, Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru continued to remain completely shut down by government order. Overall, the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio saw traffic volumes decline by between 78.1 percent and 99.8 percent year-on-year. The only exception was Xi’an Airport (XIY) in China, where passenger traffic continued to recover. While still posting a drop of 31.7 percent year-on-year, XIY welcomed some 2.6 million passengers in June 2020.