GERMANY. Frankfurt, Germany’s largest airport, registered only a slight -0.2% year-on-year drop in passengers in 2003, despite tough early and mid-year conditions.
And the share of transfer passengers at Frankfurt grew by one point to 54% – further increasing the facility’s importance as a major hub in the international air transportation system.
Fraport also met the forecast for its 2003 annual financial results, despite the many negative effects on global aviation. As planned, Fraport expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to reach about €500 million (US$633 million) for 2003.
In early 2003, fears about the Iraq war dampened travel activity. Then in March, the Iraq conflict and the SARS epidemic intensified the downward trend in air travel – which in turn was further exacerbated by the slackening world economy.
By the middle of the year, however, there were indications of a light recovery in passenger volume. With passenger traffic growing again in October, Frankfurt was able to reach the previous year’s passenger level. In the fourth quarter, passenger figures even exceeded the comparable quarter of the previous best year, thanks largely to intercontinental traffic. As the SARS crisis dissipated, the important Asian market began to stabilize.
In December 2003, Frankfurt welcomed over 3.5 million passengers – a new record figure for the month. Passenger volume increased +2.8% over the corresponding month in 2002.
Together, the six airports of the Fraport Group – Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Hahn, Hanover, and Saarbrücken airports in Germany, as well as Antalya Airport in the Turkish Riviera, and Lima Airport in Peru – handled about 70.6 million passengers in 2003, +1.9% more than in the previous year.
With over 2.4 million passengers, Frankfurt-Hahn recorded an impressive increase of +67.3% (reflecting the growth in the low cost sector). Despite the market collapse resulting from the Iraq war, Antalya welcomed some 9.7 million international passengers in 2003, just -0.4% below the previous year’s level. Hanover increased its passenger volume by +6.2% to about 5 million and Lima by +5.1% to over 4.5 million.