GERMANY. Frankfurt Airport owner Fraport Group today announced full-year results with record revenues and EBITDA and a sharp rise in profits for 2023. The driver was a continued recovery in passenger numbers, particularly at Fraport Group’s airports outside Germany.
Revenue climbed by +25.2% year-on-year to €4 billion. Group EBITDA also rose to a new high at €1.2 billion, an increase of +16.9% year-on-year. Net profit more than doubled to €430.5 million.
In the Retail & Real Estate division, revenue climbed by +11.8% to €499 million. Retail alone posted an increase of +21.4% to €187 million. Retail revenue per passenger reached €3.30 in the year, down slightly on the 2022 figure of €3.33 but just above the 2019 figure of €3.28.
Fraport noted that Q4 shopping and services revenues per passenger grew by +12% compared to Q4 2019, while advertising revenues per passenger also recovered well.
A changing passenger mix and continued traffic recovery should buoy the Retail & Real Estate division in 2024, said Fraport.
Frankfurt Airport welcomed 59.4 million passengers in 2023, an increase of +21.3% over 2022 but still -15.9% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. However, recovery accelerated through 2023, with Q4 at 91% of pre-pandemic figures. Notably. China traffic recovery was 47% of 2019 levels across the year but rose to 78% in November and December, in encouraging news for the retail business.
Fraport’s subsidiary airports outside Germany reached 98% of pre-pandemic traffic, led by its Greek airport network, which reached levels +11.8% above 2019. Antalya Airport also achieved a new record, with a +1% increase over 2019 to 35.7 million passengers.
Milestone projects across the Fraport network include the development of Frankfurt T3, with commercial leasing and contract awards in progress; the planned opening of the new Lima Airport terminal set for 18 December 2024 and the development of Antalya Airport, with a major upgrade complete by Q1 2025.
The airport company also outlined an updated strategy and priorities for the next six years. The first is ‘Growth and sustainability’: Fraport said it plans to be the company with the world’s best know-how for operating climate-friendly airports by 2030.
The second is ‘Efficiency and innovation’, with investments in digitisation, automation and artificial intelligence forming the basis for more stable, resilient and reliable flight and airport operations.
The third priority is to be an ‘Employer of choice’. Fraport intends to become even more attractive in the labour market to attract workers amid heightened competition. The measures being introduced as part of this new strategy will also help to achieve ambitious financial targets by 2030, namely an operating result or EBITDA of €2 billion and free cash flow of €1 billion.
For fiscal year 2024, Fraport expects passenger volumes in Frankfurt to grow to between about 61 million and 65 million passengers. Group EBITDA is forecast to be between €1,260 million and €1,360 million. Profit is expected to be between €435 million and €530 million. ✈
