Cargo transportation down at Frankfurt and at the Group’s Airports Worldwide

In July 2020, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served a total of 1,318,502 passengers, representing an 80.9 percent decline year-on-year. During the January-to-July period, accumulated passenger traffic at FRA decreased by 66.7 percent. Travel restrictions and lower passenger demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic were still the main factors behind this trend. After the 90.9 percent passenger drop in June 2020, traffic at FRA continued to rebound slightly in July due to rising tourism demand. This was helped by the lifting of government travel restrictions for countries within the European Union and the start of the holiday season. However, Frankfurt Airport’s traditionally strong intercontinental traffic still experienced very weak performance in the reporting month.  

Continuing the slide in aircraft movements, FRA reported 15,372 takeoffs and landings in July 2020 (down 67.4 percent). Accumulated maximum takeoff weights or MTOWs contracted by 65.6 percent to 1,003,698 metric tons. Cargo throughput, comprising airfreight and airmail, fell by 15.5 percent to 150,959 metric tons – still impacted by the reduced availability of capacity for belly freight (shipped on passenger flights).

The ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were also felt by the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio. Although all of the Group’s airports were operating passenger flights again by the month of July, some were still subject to comprehensive travel restrictions. At Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU), traffic plummeted by 89.9 percent to 20,992 passengers year-on-year. In Brazil, the airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) reported a total drop of 84.2 percent to 221,659 passengers. Peru’s Lima Airport, which continued to be closed to international flights, received only 69,319 passengers – representing a 96.7 percent decline year-on-year. 

Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports served a total of some 1.3 million passengers in July 2020, down 75.1 percent. The Bulgarian Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) registered a combined decrease of 81.9 percent to 226,011 passengers. Traffic at Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey shrank by 89.0 percent to 595,994 passengers. At Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, traffic markedly rebounded. While still posting a 49.1 percent decline on the previous year, LED welcomed about 1.1 million passengers. Also Xi’an Airport (XIY) in China continued its recovery, serving some 3.2 million passengers in July 2020 (down 25.4 percent year-on-year).