Quarterly figures affected by weather and strike-related flight cancellations. Aircraft movements decreased in the first quarter by 2.2 percent to 162,058 takeoffs and landings.
FRANKFURT, GERMANY – During the January-to-March 2013 period, Fraport‘s five majority-owned airports welcomed a total of 17.8 million passengers (up 1.6 percent). Aircraft movements decreased in the first quarter by 2.2 percent to 162,058 takeoffs and landings. Serving about 3.6 million passengers Peru’s Lima Airport continued to grow briskly with a gain of 12.9 percent year-on-year. Turkey’s Antalya Airport registered a noticeable 2.2 million passengers (up 4.9 percent). The Bulgarian airports of Burgas and Varna together greeted nearly 88,500 passengers.
At Fraport’s Frankfurt Airport home base, traffic results were negatively impacted by the capacity consolidation of some airlines and, in particular, by weather and strike-related cancellations during the first three months of the year. In the first quarter of 2013, about 11.9 million passengers used Frankfurt Airport – two percent fewer passengers than in the same period last year. About half of this decline can be attributed to strikes and adverse weather conditions. The domestic segment, down six percent, accounted for the majority of this drop. In contrast, intercontinental traffic continued to expand by one percent, despite the difficult business environment.
In the current reporting month of March 2013, a total of 6.7 million passengers used the Fraport Group’s five majority-owned airports of Frankfurt (FRA), Antalya (AYT), Burgas (BOJ), Varna (VAR) and Lima (LIM). This represents a 3.2 percent jump compared to the same month of last year.
Like with the first quarter results, Frankfurt’s March 2013 traffic figures experienced a slight decline characterized by special effects and the base-year effect. Approximately 4.5 million passengers used FRA during the reporting month, representing a 1.1 percent drop year-on-year. However, without the flight disruptions registered in March 2013 FRA would have concluded the winter season with growth in passenger figures.
FRA’s 7.9 percent decline in aircraft movements to 37,228 takeoffs and landings is primarily due to the approximately 1,400 weather and strike-related flight cancellations in the reporting month. The thinning out of high-traffic continental routes was further compounded by the early occurrence of Easter holidays and start of the spring school vacation in March 2013.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
