Fraport AG (FPRUF.PK,0O1R.L,FRA.DE), the owner and operator of Germany’s Frankfurt Airport, Tuesday reported a 6.3 percent drop in passengers at the Frankfurt Airport or FRA for the month of December 2012.
Passengers at FRA fell to 3.98 million in December. For the year, passengers totaled 57.5 million, up 1.9 percent from last year.
Load factor in December rose by nearly two percent year-on-year to a new December record of 73.8 percent, due to the reduction in flight movements.
In December, the airport reported a 1.5 percent decline in airfreight to 174,590 metric tons, amid a weak global economy. Aircraft movements at Frankfurt Airport dropped 10.2 percent to 34,425.
Cargo decreased 6.7 percent for the year to about 2.1 million metric tons for 2012. According to the company, the negative trend in the cargo market has been slowing with a sharp decline in cargo tonnage by the end of the year. Thus, the trend is now continuing in the right direction, the firm noted.
Aircraft movements slid 1 percent to 482,242 takeoffs and landings in 2012, amid strikes and flight cancellations.
Fraport AG executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte said, “The airline industry in Europe finds itself in a difficult economic situation. High fuel prices, the burden of the national aviation tax, and weak demand, particularly in Southern Europe, require capacity adjustments. In this environment, Frankfurt Airport with its new passenger record performed very well.”
Fraport’s five consolidated airports – Frankfurt Airport, Antalya, Burgas, Varna and Lima – together reported a 1.8 percent drop in passengers for December at 5.71 million, while cargo slid 0.1 percent and aircraft movements dropped 4.7 percent.
Lima, in Peru, saw a near 16 percent increase in passengers, while Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera, saw a 0.5 percent slide.
On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Burgas reported a 45 percent drop in passengers.
Varna’s passengers totaled 18,578 in the month. The Varna Airport was closed last year for runway rehabilitation.
The consolidated airports together served 99.4 million passengers in 2012, up 2.9 percent from last year.
The stock fell 1.6 percent on Monday to 43.10 euros.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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