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Fraport AG welcomed about 4.8 million passengers at its Frankfurt Airport home base in April 2012 – up 2.8% year-on-year. The reporting month even surpassed the previous April peak figure set in 2011 by some 130,000 passengers – despite the fact that this year’s Easter break occurred earlier and shifted holiday traffic into March 2012.
Aircraft movements at Frankfurt declined due to the nighttime flight curfew (from 23:00 to 05:00) as well as the shorter Easter vacation period in April 2012. Thus, FRA registered 40,149 takeoffs and landings in April 2012, down 0.5% year-on-year. Airfreight decreased by 10.5 percent to 167,739 metric tons, while accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) dropped by 1.6% to approximately 2.4 million metric tons.
From January to April 2012, almost 17 million travelers used the FRA global hub. This represents a 3% jump compared to the same four month period last year. During this period, airfreight tonnage fell by 11.8 to 644,516 metric tons. Aircraft movements from January to April 2012 declined by 1.4% to 152,597 takeoffs and landings – due to strike-related flight cancellations and the nighttime ban at FRA.
Fraport’s five majority-owned airports around the world served a total of 7.3 million passengers in the reporting month – growing by 1.7% year-on-year. At Peru’s Lima Airport , traffic surged by 13.5% to some one million passengers year-on-year. Furthermore, LIM recently won its fifth SkyTrax Award – for the fourth consecutive year – as Best Airport in South America.
Antalya Airport on the Turkish Riviera served 1.5 million passengers in April 2012 – a 7.8% decline compared to the same month last year. This drop can be primarily attributed to a stabilization of the political and social environment in North Africa, which had resulted in many international passengers shifting their travel plans to Fraport’s Turkish airport in the spring of 2011.
On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Burgas Airport (BOJ) registered a 1.7% gain in traffic to almost 20,000 passengers. Meanwhile, Varna Airport (VAR) welcomed 26,182 passengers in April 2012, following the reopening of the airport after several months of reconstruction from mid-October 2011 to the end of February 2012.
Fraport’s Lima Airport Wins Skytrax Best Airport in South America 2012 Award
For the fifth time and the fourth year running, Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru, has won the Best Airport in South America 2012 Award. This prestigious award is presented annually by Skytrax, a London-based market research and consulting firm specializing in the air transport industry. Lima Airport’s employees were also honored for their service excellence by receiving the Best Airport Staff in South America 2012 Award – which LIM also picked up in 2011. Fraport is the majority owner of Lima Airport Partners, which has been managing and developing LIM since 2001.
Last year, Lima Airport served nearly 11.8 million passengers. Skytrax conducts annual Internet surveys with 12 million passengers of 108 nationalities, as well as users of at least 388 airport terminals worldwide: The survey measures 39 different criteria including airport access; passenger transit availability; terminal comfort and design; service; airport staff warmth and friendliness, connecting flights; baggage handling; terminal signage; cleaning; immigration and security controls; and the range of products and services offered.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
